The New Australia [antikvár]

Author's Note i don't much like prefaces, but perhaps a few words are called for about this book's size. It might be said to be two books in one: a book about Australia's rediscovery in terms of its mineral wealth, and a travel book about this very big country. Although it is primarily an informational book, it does contain comment as well as description and background. The book could have been more compact if it had been set in smaller type. However, I feel that most readers will welcome the ll-on-12-point text that is easy to read. Note to the Third Edition Although the book remains the same size, a good deal of new material has been accommodated in this updated edition. Indeed, the revision has involved the setting or resetting of about 15,000 words. The New Australia is that kind of country. The discovery of what appears to be one of the world's great reservoirs of natural gas, on the North-West Shelf of the continent, could have results as revolutionary for Western Australia as the iron ore discoveries. Space for two short chapters on this has been chiselled out of the text: one of these deals with the $6,000 million pilbara plan that was announced in October 1972. The final pages of the book—about the Japan-Australia economic relationship and Australian attitudes to foreign investment—have been given some further thought and entirely rewritten. Ayers Rock, I am happy to report, is exactly as it was two years ago. Less happily, so is the inadequate tourist accommodation in the magnificent Rock's vicinity. -C.S.