§ MR. WATT (Glasgow, Camlachie)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will state if negotiations are still in progress between Her Majesty's and the Chinese Governments with reference to the importation of Chinese into the Australian Colonies; and whether Her Majesty's Government have directed inquiries to be made as to the statements which have appeared in the press, to the effect that the northern territory (known as tropical Australia) is unsuitable for white labour, and as to whether Chinese and Coolie, or other, labour is most suitable and economical?
§ * SIR J. FERGUSSONI explained on the first day of the present month the position of the matter referred to. At present the Australian Governments are taking the necessary steps to carry out the agreement arrived at in the Inter-colonial Conference. As regards the second paragraph, it is well known that in tropical Australia, as well as elsewhere in the tropics, coloured labourers are better suited than white men for hard work out of doors.