["On the Ashburton", The West Australian, Saturday 15 May 1920, page 7]
ON THE ASHBURTON.
VICE-REGAL AND MINISTERIAL TOUR.
LACK OF SHIPPIIG FACILITIES.
Roebourne. May 14.
At Onslow his Excellency the Governor upset the programme arranged by the member for the North Province. It is customary for steamers to anchor two miles off the jetty, and land passengers by motor launch. The members of the Ashburton Road Board were to have come off to the Gorgon to meet his Excellency, the Minister for Education, and other members of the party. His Excellency, however, insisted on going ashore, even at the risk of a wetting, to see for himself what Ashburton pioneers have to endure. The population of Onslow is small, not more than eighty Europeans in all, but the country beyond is claimed to be one of the best sheep and cattle districts in the North-West. But the pastoralists have a grievance. There are no shipping facilities as Onslow, and the nearest outlet for their stock is Mullewa, at the head of the railway, 600 miles away. One station owner remarked: "If we could get boats to ship the stock, we could from our station alone send away 10,000 head of fat wethers and 600 bullocks annually. In a dry season the surplus stock has simply to die, as it is impossible to overland it to Mullewa." This was not one isolated story. Station awners say they dare not stock up to the fullest ospacity, owing to the lack of an outlet.
"We must have a jetty," is the somewhat pitiful cry of the little band of settlers who are keeping the British flag flying in this outpost of the Empire; and truly their plight is a sorry one. At the end of four and a half miles of a two-foot gauge horse tramway, which connects the township with the sea there is a jetty one third of a mile long, and the depth of water at the seaward end is only twelve feet. Two miles further out the Gorgon was compelled to anchor, and discharge her cargo into lighters. It is impossible to ship stock in any quantity, and the rates for lightering cargo range from 20s. to 30s. per ton. An additional charge of from 3s. 6d. to 11s. per ton is made for conveying goods from the jetty to the town. "It is ten years since a member of the Government visited Onslow," the Minister for Education (Mr. Colebatch) was informed by Mr. J. J. Hooley, the acting chairman of the Road Board, "and members of the board are hopeful that the present visit of the Minister will atone for past neglect."
At a reception tendered to the members of the vice-regal and ministerial parties one speaker observed that the settlers were at the end of ten years of drought. Only one inch of rain had fallen during eighteen months prior to March last. Since then the district had been blessed with two and a quarter inches. A sea jetty would be the salvation of the district. Lead and copper mines were shut down, owing to the absence of shipping facilities. A large quantity of lead ore had been lying stocked for eighteen months, waiting for a ship to take it away.
The Minister was sympathetic. He admitted that a new jetty was a prime necessity. There were three proposals before the Government. One was to extend the present jetty 7,000 feet. which would give a depth of 22 feet at the seaward end, and with the necessary tramway extension, would cost not less than £120,000. The second proposal was to erect a jetty at Parkes Reef, which would necessitate building a bridge across the Ashburton River at a total cost of £100,000. The third project was one which, Mr. Colebatch said, he knew the engineer for the North-West favoured strongly. It was to construct a new jetty at Beadon Point, 14 miles from the existing township. At this point 24 feet extra could be obtained half a mile from the shore. A survey was being completed, and he had been told since his arrival at Onslow that the results of the investigation had been eminently satisfactory. The proposition seemed to be the most practicable one; and if the jetty were built, the next question would be whether it would be better to build a tram line from there to Onslow, or to move the township to the vicinity of the new jetty. If the latter scheme was favoured, the Minister said he felt sure the Government would extend most generous treatment to those who were already settled in the present township.
