[“Further Economy”, Daily News (Perth, WA), Wednesday 07 November 1917, page 7]
FURTHER ECONOMY.
NORTH-WEST NATIVE HOSPITALS.
CLOSED BY THE GOVERNMENT.
ANNUAL SAVING OF £2,000.
The Colonial Secretary (Mr. H. P. Colebatch) stated this morning that at yesterday’s meeting of Cabinet, the Government decided to close the lock hospitals at Bernier and Dorre Islands, which were established in 1908, for the treatment of natives suffering from venereal disease. The Minister stated that the hospitals had proved very costly, the cost per head per annum of the natives treated being £70. This excessive cost, he explained, was largely due to the difficulties of transport and medical attention, the island being about 20 miles from Carnarvon. It is proposed to transfer the natives to islands near Port Hedland and Derby, and it is expected by this means to afford very much better treatment to the natives, and also effect a saving of about £2,000 per year. The decision was one of the results arising from the recent visit of the Chief Protector of Aborigines to the north.
AB notes:
Some would later argue that the closure of the hospitals was humanitarian (just as their establishment was said to be),
but the Scaddan government’s growing debt was probably the main factor.
