Wau, Ng

A Bomb From

Queer Political Manoeuvres Win Strike for NGG Miners and Force Senator Foil to Leave Company's Board.

IT is presumed that the strike of Europeans employed by New Guinea Goldfields Ltd. on the Morobe gold field—which, although reduced by numer ous departures and returns to work, was still officially in existence at the begin ning of July—was the real reason for the decision by Senator Foil (Australian Minister for Information) to resign his directorships on the allied boards of New Guinea Goldfields Ltd. and Mt. Isa Ltd.

Senator Foil had held those director ships for a long time, and they did not seem to conflict with his duties as an Australian Minister: but when Mr. Mc- Laren, a representative of the Wau Labour Party, arrived in Canberra in June, and began to whip up Australian Labour Party interest in a strike which it had apparently been trying to forget, Senator Foil’s New Guinea interests un expectedly became an acute embarrass ment to the Government.

This is supposition: but it does appear as if the Labour Party, having itself been jolted into belated recognition of the strike in New Guinea, suddenly rea lised that it, through the unfortunate Senator Foil, might put the Menzies Government “on the spot”.

It started, on June 20, a discordant and purposeless row in the House about

1 S d^ threemonthsold

ra^ call y de^ d -'. lt manoeuvred Mr.

CoUms (then Territories Minister) into a NGG strtohs re had re^rie™ ‘ hat “f fhaf i„5 ad u 01 grievances, and

attending to de i a^ m

finding to those grievances; and then began to direct pointed attention to f er tnd i^n 0n r C ?H a Minis '

prel, wat

a close connection between the presence ° f sena^° r /° n in cabinet, and the Government’s failure to recognise the merits of the goldfields strike, as acknowledged by Minister Collins. * It was clever. No one really believed that Senator Foil would so misuse his position. But the Menzies strategists at Canberra saw what was coming, and leaped into action. f T £f NGG strikers were promised most £• th 2 ir d fT ds; Senator Foil resigned his directorships; the Labour Party chuckled its satisfaction over a neat tactical victory; and Mr. McLaren retired from Canberra still rather stunned by unexpected detonation and bomb-like effect of his modest little cracker from Wau.

And, if the “PIM” dare make' k a forecast, it is that a Canberra cane will be laid sharply across the seat of a pair of Rabaul pants, for allowing the Wau strike to drift along to the point where it nearly tripped up the Australian Goveminent.

H6r6 th 6 0 N S 2 °’ K Ward m ° V6d the V 7 adjournment of the House, at Canberra, so as to direct attention to

the NG goldfields strike; and the Aus tralian Parliament, at a time when the Empire faces the greatest crisis to itl

long history, thereupondevoteT s“eral

hours of its precious time to discussing something that did not deserve five min? utes—a little strike that never should have occurred; and that having occu ,T ed ’ should have been settled

SS dis-

Ssm

of the ex-miners among the Labour members, can be so donated) covered endless pages of “Hansard”

Mr Ward demanded action Whv had the Government allowed toe striketo drift along threemonths? The New Guinea miners wanted only Australian conditions—a 44-hours week 30/- instead of 25/- per ffir overtime abolition of drv-boHr£ minor concessions, and a right to occupy their houses (from which the company now was ejecting them) pending settle ment of the dispute. He appealed for the provision in New Guinea of machin ery whereby a tribunal could be set up for the arbitration and settlement of such disputes The Sl f hippt ‘ Wfl<? thpn

sonSly and at YengthMd^Sfeout^hS

ding any new light’ by Mr. Johnson (who followed the late “Texas” Green in the Kalgoorlie seat) Mr Forde Sir Charles Marr and Mr James There were subtle references to the invidious nosition of Senator "Poll Then Mr ‘ Lazzarin * taunted the Terri tories Minister (Mr Polling witvi npv mittin S the discussion to drag on un necessarily. Was he in favour of indus trial arbitration?

Mr. Collins: Definitely!

Mr. Lazzarini: Then why does he not introduce the system in New Guinea?

FINALLY, after further exchanges, Mr.

Collins made a long statement about the New Guinea affair, and explained that delay had occurred, while detailed information was being obtained from New Guinea. He denied that the Government had been, in a sense, co operating with the company, by doing nothing and letting the strike fizzle out —starving them out, the Labour mem bers had called it.

The Minister said the strike began on March 13, and, within a few days, 100 men were involved; that the Administra tor, at Wau, between April 1 and 3, tried to arbitrate and settle, but could report only a deadlock, whereupon the strikers withdrew the safety men; that on April 9, the company suspended all under ground operations, and the lower levels became flooded; on May 5, men began to resume work at Edie Creek; on June 3, the Administrator reported that 32 had returned to work, 7 had applied to do so, 3 had gone to jobs elsewhere, 30 had left the goldfield, and 22 were apparently still on strike.

Obviously, with such figures, the Min ister might have claimed that the strike was virtually over, and there was noth ’ ing more to be done; and that, no doubt, is what he would have liked. But this Government has a majority of only one, and balances uncertainly upon a knife-edge of Labour goodwill. He tem porised, pleaded, argued—and was lost.

Under a barrage of questions. Mr. Col lins said that the labour conditions in the New Guinea mines were “unreason able”—in fact, he considered them “intolerable”.

A member: Then why have you done nothing for three months?

Mr. Collins: We are guided by the Administration—we have been waiting to see whether the matter could be settled in New Guinea.

Later in the discussion, the Minister pointed out that the strikers withdrew the safety men on April 3, a procedure which was generally condemned. “This caused a division among the strikers and, to a large extent, has influenced the majority of the men to return to work.”

Mr.- Ward: That is untrue. They were driven back by starvation! rE Minister, presenting then the case for the company, said that the management made the following points against the strikers;— The strike was called before the management was given an oppor tunity to hear or deal with any claims or so-called grievances.

No list of claims has even been submitted since the strike began, with the exception that a minimum wage of £l/10/- per shift be first conceded. Even this claim was not submitted until a fortnight after the strike was called.

All safety men were withdrawn from the mines regardless of the fact that their withdrawal was known by the strike committee to be certain to prejudice the future safety and economic working of the mines, par ticularly Edie Creek.

Alluvial mining in which a rate of 3/10 has been paid was called ‘black”, regardless of the fact that the alluvial miners voted against the strike.

Finally, the Minister said that he was in communication with the company, to see if the men could be conceded higher wages per shift, shorter hours, and other things, including the provision of indus trial arbitration machinery in the Terri

tory. The company had cancelled its proposal to evict the strikers from the houses (which it owns, and they occupy).

But still the Labour men were dissatisfied. They by now had been virtually promised everything the NG strikers sought, but they wanted a guaran- Mmist e r do if NG Goldfields would not agree to his proposals. (This clearly was a reference to the possible Cabinet influence of Senator Foil on whose position, as a director of NGG, comments were made dur- °? bate - T ) « ... .

Mr. Collins: If the company will not agree to the proposals that have been made, I shall recommend to Cabinet that action be taken to impose them.

The Labour leader (Mr. Curtin): “I accept that undertaking.”

But the discussion dragged on for another hour, during which the Minister and Senator Foil were further nagged at, and the system of administering the

Territories was destructively criticised, Further questioned in the House on June 24, Mr. Collins said that the evic tions had been stayed; negotiations were pending between the company and the men regarding labour conditions and pay; all but 15 of the original 100 strik ers were back at work—and the 15 could not be re-employed, for the present, owing to the flooding of the mines, fol lowing the withdrawal of the safety men when there was a final settlement, industrial conditions on the Morobe goldfield would be “completely reviewed”.

J Mrs. E. Davenport, widow of the late Captain Henry Davenport, of Rewa Fiji died recently in Suva at the age of 77* Born in Samoa, she travelled widely in the Pacific with her husband and had lived at one time or another in the Caroline Islands, Philippine Islands and New Guinea.