Benefits To New Guinea

Widows

JjEFORE the Australian Parliament dissolved in October, Senator Cameron (in reply to questions by Senator Rankin ) made the following statement in respect of benefits applying to widows and dependants of civilians lost in New Guineor dur ing the war: — EARLY in 1942, after the invasion of New Guinea by the Japanese, many of the public servants and other civilians of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea were detained*t>y the enemy.

It was first ascertained in October, 1945, after the surrender of Japan, that the majority of those people had lost their lives while held by the Japanese. Fol lowing full consideration of the circum stances in which those lives were lost, the Government approved, as a special case, of the New Guinea civilian war pension scheirie. The approval of the Govern ment provides for the rates and condition of eligibility for pensions to dependants under this scheme to be determined under similar conditions to those prescribed in the Australian Soldiers Repatriation Act.

The grant of pensions was later extended to include full educational benefits ap plicable to children of deceased service men and the domestic for widows with children and any increases of repatriation pension rates have also been made available. The question of extend ing the New Guinea civilan war pension scheme to provide other benefits is still under consideration.

Authorisations for the grant of bene fits under the New Guinea civilian war pension scheme are necessarily a matter for the Department of External Terri tories, but every assistance is received from the Repatriation Department, which actually arranges payment of all allow ances. No disagreement exists between the Departments of Repatriation and Ex ternal Territories on this matter and all benefits approved under the New Guinea civilian war pension scheme are being paid to the widows and dependants.

One of the most brilliant Fijian stu dents and teachers, 33-year-old Semesa K. Sikivou, BA, left Suva, on August 22, for London, where he will take a post graduate course at London University. He attended the Rewa Fijian Central School, and later was a teacher at Davuilevu and the Suva Methodist Boys’ School.

After Army service he went, with Re habilitation Board assistance, to the new Teachers’ Training College, Nasinu, and finally to Auckland University College, where he graduated BA. Recently he has been teaching at Queen Victoria School. A series of farewell gatherings included a dinner-party given by an all- Fijian organisation at the Grand Pacific Hotel. The hosts were members of the Fijian Teachers’ Association, formed when the Fijian teachers declined mem bership in the Indian-dominated Fiji Teachers’ Association.

Pere Louis de la Trinite, of the Car melite Order, better known as Admiral Georges Thierry d’Argenlieu, attended the recent Resistance Movement gala at the champs Elysees Theatre in Paris.

D’Argenlieu’s ways were - somewhat auto cratic and he was not popular with American Forces or French civilians in New Caledonia when he was French High Commissioner during the'war. He served in World War I with distinction, became a monk between wars, emerged with the rank of Admiral from World War II and has now returned again to his monastery.