G O V E R N M E N T  OF A U S T R A L I A

minister  for Northern Australia

PRESS RELEASE BY THE MINISTER FOR NORTHERN AUSTRALIA,

DR REX PATTERSON .

DARWIN - SIX MONTHS LATER

!

The Minister for Northern Australia, Dr Rex Patterson,

said today that six months after Cyclone Tracy -

Australia's worst natural disaster - Darwin is showing j

strong signs of recovery. Dr Patterson said the AustralianÂ·

Government's massive rebuilding program, with contracts

already let for 1,300 homes worth $58 million, was gaining ' Ã¢ÂÂ

momentum and construction would start in about a month.  ,

The successful contractors had requested a three month ,

period before a start to building of homes so that they

could establish large construction camps, recruit staff {

and arrange for the orderly delivery of building . Â·

materials. Â·  ,

He said nearly 500 applications had so far been received

for the special low interest home loan provided by the

Government. The limit on this 6 per cent interest loan

scheme was $42,000 which was repayable over 45 years.

On the business assistance front, Dr Patterson said the

special fund to help local business recover had been

very successful. The Darwin Business Relief Loan Fund

had so far approved 140 loans totalling $2,206,000.

This scheme provided a concessional 5 per cent interest

loan with no repayment at all for the first year..

Dr Patterson said the fund had helped many businesses

which otherwise would have folded, to resume trading.

The Minister revealed that because of the strong

demand from business for this form of assistance .  '

consideration was being given to more than doubling

the initial amount allocated for the scheme.

Dr Patterson said caravans and demountables bought -by the Government to provide temporary accommodation

were arriving at a steady rate.  In this area alone,

$15 million would be spent on the purchase of some 1,200 ;

caravans and 500 transportable homes. .

If anything, community spirit in Darwin was n o w  probably

stronger than it had ever been before because the

cyclone and its aftermath had brought people closer

together. He refuted statements by ’Jeremiahs' in !

some quarters who said there was no justification for

the massive expenditure it would take to rebuild Darwin,

that there was no financial reason for Darwin because

it had little industry and that mining, the beef .  ,

industry and other ventures were "going bad" in the '

Territory. These were defeatist attitudes based on

erraneous grounds. Dr Patterson said the rebuilding :

of Darwin was important not only to the Territory but

the nation as well. Darwin was the administrative and :

service centre for the Territory, the regional port

for the Top End, and an important defence and communicatiohs

base. It had become an increasingly popular tourist ;

centre and a staging post for tourist activity in the

Top End. The Prime Minister, Mr Whitlam, had pledged

a determined and unremitting effort to rebuild the city

to pre-cyclone levels. Dr Patterson went on to say'

Darwin was the capital of an important area of Australia

which had a very bright future. .

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Mineral production in the Territory last year had

been a record $14T.9 million compared with $105.9

million the previous year. On Groote Eylandt, Gemco

was spending a further $10 million expanding its .

manganese mining operations, with last years production

earning about $29 million. At McArthur River, Mount

Isa Mines Holdings would spend $6 million on a pilot

plant to carry out tests on a vast lead-zinc deposit.

The $360 million Nabalco bauxite mining plant at .

Gove was making a considerable contribution to the

Territory’s development both in employment and

earnings. ’

Last year Nabalco had sold bauxite worth $6,500,000

...and alumina worth $41 million. Total production of

bauxite had been 3,000,000 tons of which half had

been processed into alumina, producing about 700,000

tons.

A major project in the Territory which .would have'a

very big economic impact on Darwin would be the

development of the Ranger uranium deposits at a cost

of more than $100 million. Already the Australian

Atomic Energy Commission had drawn up a $4.4 million

program for the next financial year in the Territory.

Darwin would be a main base for the Operations Section

of the A.E.C’s Exploration Division.

The Minister said the pastoral industry last year had

been worth $26.4 million to the Territory. This .

included 112,000 head of cattle sent interstate and '

34,000 head slaughtered for export-beef. Dr Patterson

said the beef industry in the Territory like the rest

of Australia was experiencing difficult times because

of the depressed world market but he was optimistic

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that beef prices would increase. Prices were already

firming in America and, looking at the supply position

in America and Japan, he was hopeful that there would

be an upward movement in beef prices. '

The Australian Government was providing carry on finance

for Territory cattlemen and had enabled the Katherine

Meatworks to open this season with the help of a

$1.4 million loan. The high and reliable rainfall of

the Top End made it a good area for raising beef.

The Minister said the Darwin Reconstruction Commission

had an immediate priority that overshadowed its

broader responsibility - the aim to provide everyone

living in Darwin by Christmas 1975 with accommodation

" that is at least proof against the Wet. He said the.

Commission had drawn up a detailed program of works to

cover its activities in the next financial year.

Naturally, the emphasis was on rehousing. However, it

had ordered a resumption of contracts worth $50 million

which had been suspended by the cyclone. These included

the Casuarina Hospital complex, office blocks, flats

and community facilities. .

The Darwin Reconstruction Commission had also considered

a five year program to cover all aspects of the city’s

reconstruction and the suggested priorities. This

program would touch the lives of every individual

within a 40 kilometre radius of the Darwin Post Office.

It dealt with the general planning goals, projected

population growth, the estimated workforce available

and the population’s needs. "

Dr Patterson said few people realised the enormity

of the task which confronted the Commission or the

groundwork needed before the application of bricks and

mortar. Of the 12,000 houses and flats hit by Tracy,

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only 400 were left basically intact. Giving Darwin

people their democratic right to express their

views on the building code, the new town plan and

the surge area' had consumed much time. The'revised

town plan and a draft building code had been tabled at

the March meeting of the Darwin Reconstruction Commission.

Under the Reconstruction Act, the town plan had to go

on public display for one month in Darwin and southern

capitals where evacuees were living. There had been

more than 1,200 objections. All had to be individually

checked out, and the revised plan was approved by the

Commission early in June. .

It had to be remembered, Dr Patterson said, that small

towns on the Queensland coast hit by cyclones in their .

early stages of development had rebuilt and gone on to

become thriving cities with a rich hinterland. Darwin

would do the same. Experience overseas indicated that

areas devastated by natural disasters, when rebuilt,

covered about three times the original urban area.

