Papuans' Appeal

High Court Upholds Papuans' Appeal Compensation For an Aerodrome Site

THE High Court of Australia has unani mously upheld the apneal of Kila Kila natives against the valuation by the Central Court of Parma of 89 acres of land resumed by the Administra tion for an aerodrome.

Leader of the appeal was Geita Sebea, headman of the Kila people; and the case for the Papuans was prepared by Mr.

R. D. Bertie, Pt. Moresby solicitor."

The Papuan Administration leased the land, used as a garden area by the natives, in 1937 at £l5 a year, for 10 years. Later, the land was resumed. To the Adminis tration’s offer of £269 as compensation, the natives replied with a claim for £4,479/12/6, plus 10 per cent, for compul sory acquisition, and £l,OOO damages for severance.

Mr. Justice Gore, in the Central Court of Papua, last year, awarded the natives £454. They made an appeal to the High Court last February. It was adiourned for several months, while the High Court judges sought information from Judge Gore on native customs and other questions.

Finally, the case was argued in Mel bourne in mid-October, Mr. T. W. Smith annearing for the Territory of Papua.

Judgment was reserved.

In Sydney on November 25. Mr. Justice Starke gave judgment, upholding the ap neal. He ordered the case to be remitted to the Papuan Court to award compensa tion on the basis of the value of the land at January 1, 1939. The respondent was required to pay costs of the appeal.

The High Court judge expressed the hope that the Administration of Papua would consider appropriating the com pensation payable for the permanent wel fare of the natives and “not allow it to be wasted in exchange for shells, beads, or coloured cloths”.

"We'll Buy Food"

From Our Own Correspondent

Pt. Moresby. Dec. 17.

WHEN Geita Sebea was questioned what he would do with the large sum of money coming to him and his tribes men as the result of the successful appeal, he replied simply, “Give it to all our people and their relations to buy food”.

And this answer reflects the general attitude in Papua to-day as the result of the exceptional drought, which has des troyed many native gardens. Food, or the shortage of it. has caused grave concern, even in districts noted for excessive rainfall.

Geita Sebea and his people will receive nearly £5,000 for onlv 89 acres and this seems at first sight ah enormous sum for natives to handle. It should be realised, though, that this sum must be divided among approximately 300 people, and that the land represented almost their only remaining garden-lands. The sum of £l5 per head seems small recompense for land which, as Geita stated in Court, had been theirs for three generations and which was sufficient to provide food for their whole village.

Though Kila Kila, as with most villages in Papua, has been affected gravely by the drought, many of the natives are finding employment in Pt. Moresby. They buy European food with their wages and dis tribute it among their friends and rela tions. Villages further out, not having this opportunity, have suffered severely.