Regional Planning in Australia

Abstract

The growth of regional consciousness in Australia has become quite marked and from time to time it is vocal and practical. Very early in Australian history New Zealand severed its connection with New South Wales and soon there were six separate colonies, now states, and several territories. It is not generally realized how large are these states in com? parison with those of other countries; for example, those of Canada and the United States of America. In the United States, Texas is the largest state with 263,644 square miles. Of the forty-eight states, eight have less than 10,000 square miles, nineteen others have about 50,000, and seven have about 100,000 square miles. In Canada each of the eleven provinces has rather more than 200,000 square miles. In Australia, the areas of the states in square miles are as follows: New South Wales, 309,433; Victoria, 87,884; Queensland, 670,500; South Australia, 380,070; Western Australia, 975,920; Northern Territory, 523,620; Tasmania, 26,215. This factor of size and the consequent sense of remoteness have in the past been instrumental in bringing about the present states, and more recently there has been considerable demand for new states, notably in the Northern Territory, the New England district of New South Wales,1 Western Australia and Queensland.* Contemporaneously with this desire for smaller states, strengthened by the growth of federal authority, an increase in centralization has taken place within each state. There have recently been two Commonwealth-wide referenda seeking to increase still further the powers of the central federal government, which in itself may be a logical outcome in a maturing Australia. During World War Two a serious lack of precise information was felt in government departments and probably hindered the proper prosecution of the war. In many country districts the spirit of self-help engendered by Volunteer Defence Corps, Air Raid Precautions and the raising of funds for war purposes resulted in the formation of leagues for fact-finding to help and spur on the work of local development and local government and to impress central authorities with the need for new public works for the returning servicemen and women. Some local municipal and shire councils (local government areas) have for a number of years been preparing privately plans for the orientation and future development of their areas. An outstanding example is that of Shepparton in Victoria. 3 Furthermore town planning by trained town planners is becoming recognized and practised, and public administration is taking on a new aspect.