No Announcement

Administrator Of

Papua

EARLY in May in the House of Repre sentatives, Canberra, the Minister in Charge of Pacific Territories was pressed to state whether any appoint ment had yet been made of an Adminis trator of Papua, to succeed the late Sir Hubert Murray.

The Minister replied: “No decision had yet been arrived at as to the appoint ment.”

Enquiries made by the “P.1.M.”, on the eve of going to press, brought the state ment that no further information was available.

Petition By Planters

TITHE following memorial has been sub- JL rhitted to the Australian Prime Mini ster and Cabinet by the Planters’

Association of Papua, on the question of the appointment of a new Administrator for the Territory of Papua.

We respectively suggest that the Com monwealth Government give most seri ous consideration to this Petition, deal ing with the appointment of a new Ad ministrator for Papua.

We wish you to understand there is no desire on our part to criticise the late Sir Hubert Murray’s administration of Papua. We all recognise his great ability and scholarship as a Judge, and his never-failing attention to the health and the future of the natives. We recognise that these qualifications were necessary in the early days of Papua, and that the Commonwealth Government was lucky in having selected such a man, to open up a wild and unknown country like Papua.

Those days, however, are over, and some thing more than a native policy is re quired, if Papua is to pull its weight in the Empire team.

And, however excellent the qualifica tions of the late Sir Hubert Murray, he was not a financial genius, neither had he any liking or regard for agriculture or commerce; and this is clearly shown in the present condition of finance, agricul ture and public works throughout the country. The care and protection of the native was the one and only concern of the late Sir Hubert Murray, and his officials have all been trained to that end. But, now that these native problems are over, the settlement of economic problems is the main duty of the Exe cutive.

The new Administrator to be appointed, should have a sound knowledge of finance and agriculture, and should be able to lead the officials into new paths and en courage new ideas, thus bringing the Territory up to date. There is a great amount of work to be done in agricul ture, transport, housing and public health. In our opinion his position is go ing to be a very difficult one, for many reasons.

For instance, our main product, copra, has collapsed, and development is at a standstill, and it is anticipated there will be a great deal of European and native unemployment. The small native coco nut growers, who years ago were forced to plant coconuts, must also suffer. If oil is not discovered, the position in re gard to revenue will be very serious. It will be gathered, from the unsatisfactory forecast, that it will be necessary that the new Administrator should have

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youth, vigour and vision to combat such conditions.

The Planters’ Association of Papua is not a political institution, but members feel on this occasion that they, represent ing as they do the bulk of the capital invested in the country and the largest employers of European and native labour, should be allowed to express their views, when the selection of an Administrator is under consideration.

A young man with outstanding ability is required, and we very respectfully sug gest that to secure the right man he should be paid at least double the present allowance.

Editorial Note

THE Planters’ Association do not ap pear to have recognised the difficul ties under which Sir Hubert Murray worked; while their faith in the Com monwealth Government is naive and touching. Their appeal is based on the assumption that the Australian Govern ment knows something of conditions in Papua, and is eager for its development and economic progress.

The facts are that, with the exception of two or three permanent officials, Can berra is blankly ignorant of conditions in the Pacific Territories, and quite in different about their fate. That state of affairs broke the heart of the best Pacific Administrator Australia ever had, General Tom Griffiths, and he finally resigned from New Guinea, and retired. In Papua, year after year, Sir Hubert Murray fought on against Australian inertia and in difference. Again and again, being un able to get any claim or decision at Can berra, he acted boldly on his own ac count, and defied the “authorities” to undo what he had done. On a number of occasions, his personal intervention and fierce representations in Canberra

saved Papuan producers from disaster.

The wonder is not that Sir Hubert did so little for agriculture and commerce in Papua, but that he accomplished so much. If proof of this argument is needed, look at the Mandated Territory—measure up, there, the development and commer cial progress that have taken place, under an Administration that has at least £lOO,OOO p.a. of gold-royalty revenue.

Blame for this stagnation may be allotted in many places—but it must come back, ultimately, to Canberra.

The Papuan Planters’ Association may get “a young man of outstanding ability” at “double the present allowance”; but, within five years, he would either be dead of a broken heart, or have battered his head off against the wall of official inertia.

We have heard the Papuan Planters’ argument, many times. We are convinced that it is not new personnel that is needed in the Administrative services, but far-reaching, drastic reform in the system under which the Territorities are governed from Canberra.