Government' of Papua

and New Guinea Resentment of "Canberra Control"

WHEN the Papua Bill, 1940 (now law) was before the Australian House of Representatives on August 8, Mr. A.

E. Green made a number of interesting comments. These have some significance, because Mr. Green is a Labour member, and there is a possibility that the Labour Party will control the Government of Australia (including Papua and New Guinea) after September 21; “This bill was introduced in May last’’, said Mr. Green. “One might have ex pected the Bill to contain provisions giv ing the 1,500 or 2,000 white people in the territory some say in the government of the place in which they live, but no such provision has been made. Far from ex

tending the democratic right of self government to this community, the Bill provides for keeping all power of ad ministration exclusively in the hands of officials.

“We have been told that the only con stitution enjoyed by the people of Papua was that conferred in the Papua Act.

Now we have a Bill before us which seeks to apply to Papua the general principles of the legislation under which New Guinea is governed. It is as if the people of Australia, when they were about to inaugurate federation, were asked to model their constitution on that of the black republic of Haiti. The constitution of New Guinea, if it can be called such, is one of the most primitive in the British Empire, and it is a retrograde step to apply its provisions to the government of Papua. It is no wonder that the people of Papua are intensely dissatisfied. I have here an extract from the ‘Papuan Courier’— “ ‘The changes which will give most concern in this Territory are those which reduce the rank of the head of the Gov ernment from Lieutenant-Governor to Administrator and the amendment which takes away the practical power to appoint officers, and reserves such power entirely to Canberra. This is the beginning of the end and Papua will now be dragged down to the administrative level of Darwin and Rabaul. Everything important will be decided in Canberra . . .

“ ‘There must be some pain in the Territory at the loss of the few rights of self government which we have enjoyed for over fifty years; now we must fall under the dominion of the clerks in Can berra.’

“Until recently the territory was under the administration of Sir Hubert Murray who. with the rank of Lieutenant-Gov ernor, proved himself one of the finest and most capable men in the colonial service in any nart of the British Empire.

The office of Lieutenant-Governor, which carried with it the right to appoint the administrative staff, is now to be abolished, and the staff is to be selected from Canberra.

“The selection of some of the highest officials in the territories have not re flected much credit on Canberra. The trouble is due, not so much to those who are doing the spade work, as to the action of administrative heads. In New Guinea, a man was anpointed as administrator because he had political ‘puli’. He is en tirely unfitted for the job which he occu pies, and his presence there is a cause of discord.

“Therefore, it is regrettable that the Government proposes to abolish the office of Lieutenant-Governor in Papua, and substitute for it the lower position of Administrator, at the same time reducing the salary from £l,BOO a year to £1,500.

The Administrator, if he does his job, will have to be travelling almost con tinuously in order to keep in touch with natives and settlers. These journeys have to be made by sea,-and along rivers which pass through territory where the natives are more or less hostile. Much of the country is fever-stricken, and white men are subject to the constant risk of infection from malaria.

“I regret that it is not proposed to establish the Legislative Council in Papua on a broader basis of representa tion. It seems extraordinary that Aus tralians, on going to Papua—and most of the residents hail from the Common wealth-should find themselves disfran chised although they are still within Aus tralian territory. If this Government fails to give to the white residents of Papua a voice in the control of their affairs, the Labour party, when it assumes office in this Parliament, will immediately give to them some semblance of democratic government. The residents of Papua and

the Mandated Territory desire to be directly represented in this Parliament, so that their views can be placed before the Government by a man with intimate knowledge of their requirements.

“If the committee which was appointed last year to survey the possibility of establishing a combined administration of Papua and New Guinea had recommended the amalgamation of the two administrations, the Government would now have a golden opportunity to abandon the present make-shift arrangement of governing the territories separately. They reported:— “ ‘The two territories of Papua and New Guinea are so similar in natural resources, population and physical characteristics, geographical conditions and native races that if they had been acquired at the same time and undel similar title, it is highly improbable that they would have been divided into separate political units. The size of the combined area would have made a certain amount of decentralisation desirable, but

it is not large as compared with other colonial territories. Generally speaking, it seems desirable that contiguous terri tories in the same geogranhical area and with the same problems should be governed as one political unit, “ 'The two territories however were ac quired at different times and under diff erent titles and their history as separate units makes a combined administration difficult for a variety of reasons. These factors may be classified as follows:—(a) Difference of laws, administrative methods and conditions, (b) Difficulties arising from different financial position. (c) Considerations arising under the mandate.’

“As the committee recognised that the people in both territories were of similar types, and that conditions generally in the two territories were alike, the only obstacle remaining to an amalgamation of the two administrations would be con siderations arising under the mandate, As a matter of fact, a difference of opinion arose as to whether this really

presented any difficulty. A representative of one of the territories thought that it could be overcome comparatively easily.

“As we have made no distinction be tween the territories in the steps we have already taken for their defence, it seems to me that both territories could be con sidered as being part and parcel of the Commonwealth. Dealing with the differ ence in respect of native policy the com mittee remarked—‘There is a higher mini mum wage and a shorter oeriod of in denture in Papua than in the Mandated Territory.’

“This difficulty could easily be over come because the Mandated Territorv is the wealthier, and could afford to 'pay the wages now being paid in Papua. In respect of the supply of native labour the committee obierved—‘New Guinea has drawn on the native population to a greater extent than Papua and there is a demand for further supplies in that territory. The Papuan employers want to conserve their supply and'would oppose a combined administration if it would mean access by New Guinea employers to Papua’s labour supply.’

“This difficulty also could be overcome by regulation. A large number of Chinese were brought by the Germans to New Guinea. The original Chinese have now died out, and most of those remaining were born there. The residents of Papua are afraid of any move which might allow these Chinese to flood the Papuan labour market. If that fear be justified, sufficient safeguards could be provided by regulations.

“Dealing with native education the committee stated—‘Papua has adonted a policy of native education thrpugh the Missions and gives a per capita subsidy subject to inspection and examination.

This policy has not been adopted in New Guinea.’

“I have visited mission schools in New Guinea, particularly near Rabaul, and I know at first hand that the education given to the native boys of the Mandated Territory is not inferior to that provided in Papua. I see no substance in that claim.’’

Mr. Eric Johnson, of Orange, N.S.W., and Miss Esme Bock, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. A, Bock, of Port Moresby, were married on August 2 in St. John's Church, Port Moresby. Miss Lorna James was bridesmaid; Mr. R. B.

Leslie acted as best man. The bride is a daughter of Papua. Her parents Mr. and Mrs, W. A, Bock (Mr. Bock was formerl> Government Printer) have been residents of the Territory for over 20 years. Mr.

Johnson has been on the staff of the Bank of N.S.W. in Port Moresby for two years.

Mr. Paul Nordmann died on the island of Tikehau, in French Oceania, on July 8, aged 46. He began life as an employee of the old German firm, D.H. & P.G.; then he was on the staff of Societe Commercial de I’Oceanie, and, later, he was agent for a French firm on Mopiha Island. As a trader and as a captain of local schooners he was well known and highly esteemed. He was a brother of Mr.

Oscar Nordmann of Papeete.