Papua-New Guinea

Details Of Current Expenditure In

IE national Budget, presented in Australia at the end of Sep tember, showed that, in the • ending June 30, 1952, it is pro id to spend the following sums ’apua-New Guinea: —

idden away in sections of the get, other than Territories, are iunts like these, earmarked for mditure in or in connection l the Territories: — Guinea civilian war insions, education bene £ and medical treat ent £31,000 (Last year, £26,475.) .ries for personnel of orks & Housing Dept.

Papua-New Guinea .. £44,651 (Last year, £20,571. This akes provision for 1 rector, £2,016; 1 assist it, £1,644; 23 engineers, chitects, etc., £20,525; 5 nior clerks, etc., £5,050; countant, assistant ac untant, £2,260; 11 ?rks, £9,536; and 4 Dremen, £3,620.) dings, works, fittings rniture, for Dept, of orks & Housing .. .. £25,000 (Last year, £2,698.) lighthouse equipment £20,000 lighthouse services . £20,000 ithouse vessel £2,000 le foregoing adds more than ,000 to the formal total of 5i ions; yet there are protests in Territories because expected nations have been “cut,” and > of unwilling retrenchments are ring Southwards. lese are the Territories which— pt for a beggarly £40,000 p.a. n to Papua—were self-support before World War II; and were, ied, passing rich on the revenues r derived from their planting mining industries.

What has happened since 1942?

Ask the post-war Socialist regime, which multiplied staffs, molly coddled and partly demoralised native labour, and (in the begin ning) went after private enterprise (described as “exploiters”) with a big axe.

There are no details of the £5,371,000 noted above. Some of it, presumably, consists of the money for public works which the separately-controlled Works and Housing organisation has been sent there to spend.

Incidentally, the £44,651 provided for Works and Housing salaries lists only 47 technicians. Early in 1951, there were 1,000 Europeans in the employ of Works and Housing in Papua-New Guinea. Evidently, the 47 are members of the Common wealth Public Service, and about 950 are, like the native workers, casual employees.

No ordinary person could tell, from the Australian Budget, what moneys actually are ear-marked for New Guinea. For example, the Departments of Civil Aviation, and of Defence are spending large sums in the Territories, in addition to the £si millions, but none can say how much.

The expenditure of £si millions (in addition to at least a million of local revenue) in one year in Papua- New Guinea seems high; yet it is at least £1 million short of what had been planned, before Australia’s finances, were “Faddenised” in August. Maybe, it was just as well that the Australian financial earth quake occurred all this lavish expenditure, plus the incredible waste that has been taking place in certain directions, has been creating in New Guinea a false economy that inevitably must have led to trouble.

Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Shirt, of the London Mission Society and their two small children were in Sydney on furlough in November after spending two years on Bern, Gilbert Islands. Mrs. Shirt described Bern as a “thin covering of sandy soil and stubble, with a few coconuts and pandanus.” Virtually all of their food was brought in on the mission ship, John Williams, which called every six months.

Sir Alan Edward Rose, K.C. has been appointed Chief Justice of Ceylon. He served in Fiji as Chief Police Magistrate from 1929 until 1931, when he was transferred as Crown Counsel, Northern Rhodesia.

He was knighted last year.

£ £ 1951-53 1950-51 it to Administra- •n for expenses, ;luding native welre, development, war mage and recon- •uctioo 5,371,000 4,356,991 ting P-NG Laws . . 6,000 6,000 >ol of Pacific Adnistration 20,000 19,487 ping service 58,000 88,650 nents on behalf of rmer Administ’ns 59.400 22,745 or. of plantations, id, roads 35,000 8,919 ary services .. 1,000 978 irt on Administram 4,000 lo Timber Invest’n 2,000 — thouse maintenance 7.650 7,948 aing Thouse vessel 7,650 — 1 5,571,000 4,511,718