Angau Increases Its Grip On Papua

But Mr. Ward "Knows Nothing About It"

rE continuance of military govern ment in Papua, 18 months after the last Jap had been thrown out of the Territory, is one of the remarkable political developments in the Pacific War.

The Australian Government, being little better than an unco-ordinated gang of bumble-footed blunderers, allows bureaucracy to do what it likes with the Territories; and, as the Australian public is completely indifferent to what happens there, there is no check on anyone. So the Australian Army, through a branch called ANGAU (Australian and New Guinea Administrative Unit) is running the Territories in its own way, irrespec tive of cost, and without any regard for the interests of the thousands of civilians who were compulsorily removed from both Territories when the Japs in vaded.

The Australian Department of External Territories sometimes goes through motions indicating that it regards itself as the administrative authority for the Territories. Actually, it is merely a cipher and a name.

The enemy had gone from Papua by the end of 1942, and there is no reason whatever why civil administration cannot be restored there—except that scores of worthy lads are not anxious to be dis turbed in the enjoyment of pay and privileges and military titles such as they never dreamed of prior to 1940, and which the over-burdened Australian taxpayer is providing. The enemy—battered and isolated and broken, but still potentially dangerous—remains in parts of the Mandated Territory, so the latter is not in the same position as Papua—although Morobe district seems quite safe.

ALL other South Pacific Territories re covered from the enemy—we refer particularly to the British Solomons, the British Gilbert Islands, and Dutch New Guinea—were handed over im mediately by the American commanders to British and Dutch officials of the re spective civil administrations. Those officials went in to such places as Tulagi, Tarawa and Hollandia with the first parties of liberating troops; and the Americans retained only such powers as were necessary for their military opera tions.

But the Americans took no such action in the Australian Territories x of Papua and New Guinea—they, quite correctly, left administration to their Allies, the Australian Army. The Aus tralian Army, unlike the American Army, made no effort to restore civil adminis tration in Papua; and, presumably, it will follow the same policy in New Guinea.

The Papuan civil administrative struc ture, headed by the competent and very experienced Administrator, Mr. Leonard Murray, is kept idle in Australia; while an elaborate and expensive organisation, headed by a full major-general and sprinkled liberally with colonels, majors and captains, is having a pleasant time in the Territory, being in no way re sponsible to the Australian Department and enjoying the unchecked authority and unlimited money available to the Army in wartime.

ONE might tolerate this thing, if the civilians of Papua were getting some benefit out of it—if the money were being spent for the development of the country, and the permanent benefit of the European settlers. But nothing like that, is in sight. ANGAU guards the Territory most jealously against civilian intrusion—while another lot of bureau

crats fights the homeless civilians in Australia over their claims for compen sation for war damage and for property seized by the Army. The high panjan drums of ANGAU know only too well that if civilians once got back to Papua, and brought the light of publicity upon what is happening there, their “cushy jobs” would not last very long.

A man who has known Papua for decades, and who lately had a chance of examining conditions there, was not blinded by Brass-hat effulgence. Here is what he says in a private letter; “I am tipping the biggest slump Papua ever has had—and very soon—and a good thing, too.

As soon as the Army withdraws, and expenditure according to Army standards ceases, Papua— and ANGAU—will have to subsist on charity from Canberra, “There is practically no local revenue here now. I don’t think that Canberra will be very generous; and I am sure that the Australian taxpayer will not stand for ANGAU employing 50 personnel in the administration of a district which, before the war, was quite well served by 5. I have just been into one of the more im portant district areas; and ANGAU is doing things there in magnificent style—regal, almost.

It is a Fool’s Paradise—a rotten set-up, because it is getting the whole administrative structure completely out of focus.”

BUT the best evidence of what is hap pening under ANGAU comes from ANGAU itself. On May 24, 1944, the officer commanding ANGAU informed the directors of the mission organisations in Papua that definite arrangements had been made to commence a training school at Port Moresby under the auspices of ANGAU. Some European teachers had been gathered from the Education Department of the former Territory of New Guinea, and it was hoped to supple ment their numbers from Australia. It was proposed to arrange for 200 young Papuans to come into training.

“The school will be absolutely un denominational and secular,” said the General, “although, of course, every care will be taken to inculcate what we, what ever our denominational tenets, claim to be the foundation and basic requirements of a true Christian faith. No religious instruction, as such, will be given at the school, but every facility will be afforded for visits by Chaplains of the various denominations.” The Missions were in vited to send students by Ist June, 1944.

This announcement came as a bomb shell to the Missions, who have been en trusted with native education in the Australian Pacific Territories for a very long time.

Its implications were disturbing. It showed (a) that ANGAU regards itself as so solidly established that it can plan for permanent administrative conditions in the Territory; (b) that it has sufficient authority—derived from Heaven knows where, but presumably from Army Head quarters—to organise a plan of native education and put it into operation; (c) that it thinks so little of the past record and present interests of the Mission bodies that it formulates a native education plan without any consultation with people who have devoted themselves to native education for many decades.

The impertinence of the invitation to the Missions to send students by June 1, 1944, was, of course, the impertinence of ignorance. But the directors of Missions may be excused if they did not see it that way. rE heads of the Missions made very urgent representations on the sub ject—and especially did they address themselves to Mr. E. J. Ward, Australian

Minister for External Territories. This brought a disclosure of peculiar piquancy.

Mr. Ward wrote to the head of the Methodist Mission, stating that he had not received any information regarding ANGAll’s native education plan; but he had immediately instituted inquiries, and he would let the director of the Mission know the result as soon as possible.

There, in a sentence, we have the essence of the whole ANGAU set-up in relation to the Territory of Papua. The Major-General in command announces a plan for the establishment of a training school for 200 native Papuans—which obviously ties in with a general plan of administration, and has certain per manent features, and must be part of administrative policy; and the Minister in charge of the Department of External Affairs knows as much about it as he knows about the native contract labour system, which he proposes arbitrarily to abolish.

HOW long, O Lord—how long is this ragtime set-up to continue!

We know that governmental and administrative conditions in Australia, due to the weakness and inefficiency of the professional politicians in Canberra, have become demoralised and almost chaotic. Reductio ad absurdum surely was reached in the first week of August, when we saw Australia’s Prime Minister pleading soulfully with the striking coal miners, and Central New South Wales industrially convulsed because a retail butcher sacked his office girl.

These conditions seem to have spread to the Territories, where an officer with out experience of tropical administration is introducing policy measures, while the responsible Minister “knows nothing about it”—and while the Territory’s own civil administration, which ought to have been back on the job a year ago, is standing by idly in Australia.