Trusteeship

New Guinea Under Trusteeship Explanation by Australian Minister Evatt

Prom Our Own Correspondent CANBERRA, March 20.

AUSTRALIA must have the exclusive administering authority in the pre sent mandates when those mandates come under the trusteeship of the United Nations’ Organisation, The Australian Minister for External Affairs (Dr. Evatt) said in a long foreign affairs speech in the House of Represen tatives on March 13 that any new agree ment would be acceptable to Australia only if it provided for the Government to administer the Territories, The existing “C” class mandate would provide the basis for the new trusteeship agreement.

Like the present mandate, the agree ment must permit the Territories to be administered as an integral portion of Australia, and under Australian laws, sub ject, of course, to the general duty laid down in the charter and also contained in the mandate to promote the welfare and advancement of the Territories’ in habitants.

One vital difference between the systems dealt with fortification. The Mandated Territories were kept out of the system of collective security. Territories brought under the trusteeship system will play their appropriate part in securitv agree ments. The charter provided that the trusteeship agreement might designate the whole or any part of a trust territory as a strategic area.

Dr. Evatt said: “We shall accordingly ask for the right to establish bases for security’s sake in the mandates. The Japanese took advantage of the League mandate system and installed fortifica tions on their mandates in the Carolines and Marshalls, in direct contravention of the mandate terms.

“We have nothing to fear from bring ing our future administration under the similar review of the new Trusteeship Council, the functions of which will only be advisory.

“Pears of the status of New Guinea under the new charter are baseless. The object of the trusteeship system is to pro mote the welfare of the inhabitants of non-self-governing Territories, their social, political and economic develop ment, and their advancement towards self-government or independence “There is to be an expert Trusteeship Council, responsible primarily to the General Assembly of the United Nations, in order to supervise the due perform ance by the authorities administering trust territories of their obligations under the charter. The trusteeship system is to apply to such non-self-governing terri tories only as are placed under the sys tem by voluntary agreements concurred in by the States directly concerned and approved by the General Assembly.

“The charter fully safeguards the posi tion of the Mandatory States. The terms upon which a Mandated Territory is brought under the trusteeship system must be agreed to by the Mandatory State.

Pending the conclusion of a trusteeship agreement in respect of a Mandated Ter ritory, nothing in the charter shall alter in any way the rights existing under the mandate.”

American Bases

fT!HE Australian Government will not JL admit American claims to Pacific Territories merely because America

captured them during the war. Dr. EVatt made this clear. He hinted at the forma tion of a regional defence area in the South-West Pacific.

Australia was at least as vitally con cerned as any other nation in ensuring that provision was made for the future security of the Pacific. The Government would enter into no commitments which would lessen the control of the Australian people over their own Territories.

“Any consideration of plans for the joint use of any bases in Australia’s de pendent Territories should be preceded by an overall defence arrangement for the region of the Western Pacific, including the islands formerly mandated to Japan,” he said.

“As an incident of any such arrange

ment Australia should be entitled to re ciprocal use of foreign bases in the region.

“This would provide for an overall in crease in the security both of Australia and of all other United Nations with in terests in the region. The Australian Government realises this country’s security is dependent largely on our closest co-operation with the British Commonwealth and the United States of America, Any hindrance to the maxi mum degree of co-oneration with either is contrary to the interests of all these countries. Detailed means of implement ing a security policy for the Pacific have not yet been worked out.”