§ MR. HOGANI beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is fully satisfied as to the validity of the Ordinance conferring upon the British New Guinea Syndicate the right of acquiring land to the extent of 250,000 acres in that dependency, in view of the fact that clause 20 of the amended Act for the administration of British New Guinea makes it mandatory on the Government of Queensland to consult the Governments of the other contributing colonies on all matters other than those of ordinary administration, and that this provision has admittedly not been complied with?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIESThe provision to which the Question, of the honourable Member refers is part of an agreement between the Imperial Government and the Governments of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria, which was scheduled to a Queensland Act. Assuming that the provision is applicable to the grant of land in question, the omission of the Government of Queensland to act upon it would not affect the validity of a British New Guinea Ordinance, but I understand that the Queensland Government considered that they were entitled to decide the question as an act of ordinary administration.