Administration

Papua-New Guinea

Senior Positions Filled After

Long Delay

THE Australian Minister for Territories, in August, an nounced the following appoint ments:— Brigadier D. M. Cleland, to be Assistant Administrator.

Mr. S. A. Lonergan, to be Government Secretary.

Mr. J. H. Jones, to be Director of District Services and Native Affairs.

Last October, the Australian Gov ernment invited applications for two Deputy Administratorships, and 120 were received.

The decision of the then Minister, Mr. Spender, to accept appointment as Ambassador in Washington, caused a delay in the proposed arrangement. The outlook was further altered by the change in the status of the Territories Minis ter, and the decision to appoint Mr.

J. R. Halligan as Adviser to the new Minister (he now is really a kind of liaison officer between the Aus tralian Government, the Trustee ship Council of the United Nations and the South Pacific Commission), and bring in Mr. Lambert as Sec retary of the Territories Depart ment. As a result, it was decided to have one Assistant Administrator.

The selection of Mr. Cleland caused no surprise. Because of the way he has discharged the duties of various positions under war and peace conditions, he has been in high favour in Canberra for years.

There is no surprise, either, in Mr. Lonergan’s appointment. He has been “Acting” for a long time, and he has filled the position so efficiently that he could not be passed over.

Mr. J. H. Jones also has been in high official favour —his was the name most frequently mentioned as the second Deputy Administrator.

He goes from “Acting” Secretary for Planning and Development (a new post) back to District Services, to be again Director of the most im portant field department.

It is significant that there is no word of the Planning and Develop ment job being filled. It is probable that that responsibility will devolve upon the new Assistant Adminis trator. who is well fitted for it.

Territories’ Reaction To

New Appointments

A private note from an old resi dent of New Britain:— The appointments of Brigadier Cleland as Assistant Administrator, Steve Lonergan as Government

Secretary, and J. H. Jones as Direc tor of District Services, have given much satisfaction to all. They know their jobs, if given any sort of free hand.

I take it that Mr. Cleland may be able to act as a brake on too much administrative idealism, and that he and Jones (fast friends during later Angau days) will work to gether.

But the thing is, is it too late to bring about the required reforms and tighten up?

The rot among natives has gone far—very far—and that goes for the Services, as they are so much affected by the slackness, sloth, general distaste for work and lack of real interest in native welfare, that a come-back will be hard to stage.