Abstract
WHEN the Commonwealth of Australia was established, the administration of mining affairs, including geological work, was left with the six independent States. The consequence is that Australia is to-day the only dominion without a national geological survey, a situation which is viewed with grave dissatisfaction by its scientific workers. Every effort hitherto made to remedy the position has failed owing to official opposition from some, but not all, of the State Departments of Mines. A conference between Commonwealth and State officers, held in Melbourne last month, was but little more successful than any of its predecessors. Political, rather than scientific, considerations appear to dominate the issue, and this further failure to agree upon the establishment of a national body, either by the Commonwealth alone or by the States acting jointly, is greatly to be regretted.
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Geological Survey of Australia. Nature 138, 21 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138021d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138021d0