Naval Board Chief of Naval Staff: Vice-Admiral H. D. Stevenson, CBE Deputy Chief of Naval Staff: Rear-Admiral G. V. Gladstone, DSC and Bar Chief of Naval Personnel: Rear-Admiral A. G. McFarlane Chief of Naval Technical Services: Rear- Chief of Naval Supply and Works: Chief of the General Staff: Lieutenant- Chief of Personnel: Major-General C. M. I. Chief of Materiel: Major-General M. Chief of Reserves: Major-General B. A. MBE, ED Special Deputy (Army) to Secretary, Department of Defence: J. B. R. Livermore, DFC Air Board Chief of the Air Staff: Air Marshal J. A. Rowland, DFC, AFC Air Member for Personnel: Air Vice- Air Member for Technical Services: Air Natural Disasters Organisation Director-General: Major-General A. B. Stretton, CBE DEPARTMENT OF NORTHERN Secretary: R. S. Livingston DEPARTMENT OF THE NORTHERN Secretary: T. A. O'Brien Darwin Reconstruction Commission Chairman: A. J. Powell DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND Secretary: Dr P. Wilenski Public Service Arbitrator: J. E. Taylor, CBE **Head Office in Darwin DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Secretary: K. N. Jones, CBE Australian Universities Commission Chairman: Prof. (Em) P. H. Karmel, CBE DEPARTMENT OF THE SPECIAL MINISTER Secretary: P. J. Lawler, OBE Priorities Review Staff Director: A. S. Holmes Christmas Island Administrator: C. Webb Cocos (Keeling) Islands Official Representative: C. McManus Australian Archives Director: J. P. Dunner Australian War Memorial Director: N. J. Flanagan Grants Commission Chairman: Sir Leslie Melville, KBE National Library of Australia Director-General: Dr G. Chandler Australian Bureau of Statistics Commonwealth Statistician: J. P. O'Neill DEPARTMENT OF REPATRIATION Repatriation Commission Chairman, and Permanent Head of the DEPARTMENT OF URBAN AND Secretary: R. B. Lansdown Cities Commission Chairman: E. G. Warrell National Capital Development Commission Commissioner: A. J. W. Powell POSTMASTER-GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs: E. F. Lane Overseas Telecommunications Chairman: Sir Arthur Petfield DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND Secretary: A. S. Reiher Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation Director: P. G. Collins (Acting) AUSTRALIAN HIGH COMMISSIONERS IN OTHER COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES Britain: Sir J. Bunting, CBE: Canada: H. M. Loveday; New Zealand: B. C. Hill; India: B. A. Grant; Sri Lanka: H. Marshall; Fiji: H. W. Bullock; Ghana: D. W. Evans; Hong Kong: H. D. White (Commissioner); Malaysia: A. R. Parsons, Malta: I. E. Nicholson: Nigeria: W. H. Bray; Tanzania: J. A. Forsythe; Uganda: W. P. J. Handmer (resident in Nairobi); Kenya: W. P. J. Handmer; Singapore: R. N. Birch; Trinidad & Tobago: J. S. Nicholls (Trade Commissioner); Nauru: A. L. Fogg, MBE; Bangladesh: P. J. Flood; Botswana: Dr J. Cumes (resident in Pretoria); Cyprus: D. J. Horne (resident in Athens); Lesotho; Dr J. Cumes (resident in Pretoria); Mauritius: J. A. Forsythe (resident in Dar-es-Salaam); Swaziland: Dr J. Cumes (resident in Pretoria); Tonga: H. W. Bullock (resident in Suva); Western Samoa: H. W. Bullock (resident in Suva); Zambia: J. A. Forsythe (resident in Dar-es-Salaam); Jamaica: J. H. A. Hoyle; British Solomon Islands: P. Jackson (Commissioner). COMMONWEALTH HIGH COMMISSIONERS Britain: Rt Hon. Sir Morrice James, GCMG: AUSTRALIAN REPRESENTATION IN NON-COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES Afghanistan: (Ambassador) (resident in Islamabad); Algeria: (Ambassador); Argentina: (Ambassador); Austria: (Ambassador); Bahrain: (Consul-General); Belgium: (Ambassador); Brazil: (Ambassador); Bulgaria: (Ambassador) (resident in Belgrade); Burma: (Ambassador); Chile: (Ambassador); Chinese People's Republic: (Ambassador); Czechoslovakia: (Ambassador) (resident in Vienna); Denmark: (Ambassador)†; Arab Republic of Egypt: (Ambassador); Ethiopia: (Ambassador) (resident in Nairobi); European Communities: (Representative); Finland: (Ambassador) (resident in Stockholm); France: (Ambassador); Federal Republic of Germany: (Ambassador); German Democratic Republic: (Ambassador) (resident in Warsaw): Greece: (Ambassador); Holy See: (Ambassador) (resident in Ankara); Hungary: (Ambassador) (resident in Vienna); Indonesia: (Ambassador); Iran: (Ambassador); Ireland: (Ambassador); Israel: (Ambassador); Italy: (Ambassador); Japan: (Ambassador); Khmer Republic: (Ambassador); Republic of Korea: (Ambas sador); Democratic Republic of Korea: (Ambassador)†; Laos: (Ambassador); Lebanon: (Ambassador); Luxembourg: (Ambassador) in (resident Brussels); Mexico: (Ambassador); Mongolia: (Ambassador) (resident in Moscow); Nepal: (Ambassador) (resident in New Delhi); Netherlands: (Ambassador); New Caledonia: (Consul); Norway: (Ambassador) (resident in Stockholm); O.E.C.D.: (Ambassador); Pakistan: (Ambassador); Peru: (Ambassador); Philippines: Ambassador); Poland: (Ambassador); Portugal: (Ambassador); Romania: (Ambassador); (resident in Belgrade); Saudi Arabia: (Ambassador); South Africa: (Ambassador); Spain: (Ambassador); Sweden: (Ambassador); Switzerland: (Ambassador); Thailand: (Ambassador); Turkey: (Ambassador); U.S.S.R.: (Ambassador); United Nations: (Ambassador, New York), (Ambassador, Geneva); United States: (Ambassador) (Ambassador); Uruguay: (resident in Buenos Aires); Venezuela: (Ambassador) in (resident Brazilia); Republic of Vietnam: (Ambassador); Democratic Republic of Vietnam: (Ambassador); Yugoslavia: (Ambassador). † designates local resident Chargé d'Affaires ad interim STATES OF THE COMMONWEALTH AND AUSTRALIAN TERRITORIES NEW SOUTH WALES The State of New South Wales lies on the eastern (Pacific) coast of Australia, almost entirely between the 29th and 36th parallels of south latitude. To the south it is separated from Victoria by the Murray River, but the boundary with South Australia to the west and the greater part of that with Queensland to the north is merely a straight line on the map. The area of New South Wales (inclusive of a dependency, Lord Howe Island, five square miles, but exclusive of the Australian Capital Territory, 910 square miles) is 309,433 square miles, a little over two and a half times that of Great Britain and Ireland. The estimated population as at 30th September 1974 was 4,799,700 of whom an estimated 2,874,380 lived in Sydney, the State capital. HISTORY The name New South Wales was given to the eastern part of Australia on its discovery by Captain Cook in 1770, but the first settlement was not formed until 1788, at Sydney under Captain Phillip. Settlement for a time was slow, because a passage over the Blue Mountains, giving access to the interior plains, was not discovered until 1813. In 1828 the total population was only 36,598, but the discovery of gold in 1851 attracted many settlers. Responsible Government was established in 1856. For further information about New South Wales see the Official Year Book of New South Wales D LORD HOWE ISLAND This island lies 436 miles north-east from Sydney. Its area is five square miles and its estimated population as at 30th June 1972 was 240. For purposes of representation in Parliament it is included in one of the Sydney electorates. A Board of Control under the Chief Secretary's Department, Sydney, administers the island. CONSTITUTION The Constitution Act of 1902 (No. 32 of 1902) provides that the Legislature of New South Wales 'shall, subject to the provisions of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, have power to make laws for the peace, welfare and good government of New South Wales in all cases whatsoever'. The Legislature consists of the Crown and two Houses; the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. The Governor is the local representative of the Crown. His functions are defined partly by statutes and partly by Letters Patent and Instructions to the Governor issued under the Royal Sign Manual. He acts on the advice of the Executive Council or of a Minister of the Crown, except in limited spheres where he possesses discretionary power, e.g. in regard to the dissolution of Parliament. The Executive Council consists of members of the Ministry formed by the leader of the dominant party in the Legislative Assembly, and the Governor presides over its deliberations. In compliance with a referendum assented to in May 1933, the Legislative Council was reconstituted on 23rd April 1934. The new House consisted of sixty members, elected by the combined vote of members of the existing Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly, provision being made for the retirement of fifteen members in rotation every three years, and the members being therefore initially elected in groups for three, six, nine and twelve years respectively. The Legislative Assembly consists of ninety-six members elected under a system of universal adult suffrage for up to three years. By Act No. 33 of 1950 any bill prolonging the life of the Assembly beyond the period of three years cannot be presented for the Royal Assent until it has been approved by a referendum. The Act also provides that any bill repealing or amending its provisions similarly requires approval by referendum. Any person enrolled as an elector may be elected to the Assembly, except members of the Legislative Council or of the Federal Legislature. Bills appropriating money or imposing taxation and bills affecting the Assembly itself must originate in the Assembly, and by its power over supply this House controls the Executive. Adult British subjects, men and women, are qualified for enrolment as electors when they have resided in the Commonwealth for a period of six months, in the State for three months, and in any sub-division of an electoral district for one month preceding the date of claim for enrolment. Since 1894 each elector has been entitled to one vote only, and voting has been compulsory since 1928. The electoral law provides that electorates are to be redistributed whenever directed by the Governor. In the event of there being no direction by the Governor, a distribution must take place on the expiration of five years from the date of the last redistribution. The redistribution is made by the Electoral Districts Commissioners, who may make use of the services of any of the officers and employees of the Public Service. |