Extraordinary complexity

“Verbosity” Says

Mr. James

The Absurd Business of

Permits

Extraordinary complexity

and verbosity were a feature of all laws and regulations in the territory of Papua-New Guinea, aid Mr. E. A. James, member for sapua, at the Legislative Council neeting in Moresby in May. To irove his point he quoted a form lat now must be filled in by any ne requiring a permit to enter 'apua.

He said that it was necessary to ive name, occupation, date of birth, lace of birth, nationality, the date f arrival in Australia from some here or other, where he had been uring the past five years, marital :ate and, if married, name of Douse, his or her present address nd names of children. He said lat until recently, all the permit lat had been necessary for a bona de resident of Papua was a simple >rm issued by the Customs.

The Chief Collector of Customs, jplying, said that the new regula ons were designed only to bring apuan regulations into line with ew Guinea. Moreover, Mr. James mfused “Permit to Enter the Ter tory” with a “Permit to Re-enter.”

Permits to Enter are issued in Australia to persons who are going to the Territory for the first time.

Permits to‘ re-enter the Territory are issued by the Customs Depart ment in the Territory either on written or oral application of the residents concerned. There never had been any necessity to fill in a form for a re-entry permit.

Residents travelling from Papua to New Guinea or vice versa, are not required to fill in any form.

“Very Disappointing/’

Says J.T.

The assurance that the regula tions in question were just to “bring Papua into line with New Guinea” is not likely to placate

Mr. James —or any pre-war resident of Papua to whom this now oft-repeated phrase is like a red rag to a bull. In spite of the Chief Collector’s explanations there still are many mysteries in the per mit field.

In February, I filled in the form described by Mr. James and finally received a “Permit to Enter.” I put it carefully away in a folder, and there it still is, although in the meantime I have travelled a few thousand miles around New Guinea and back to Australia. No one in quired tenderly about it, or wished to look at it, or put a rubber stamp upon it —which, of course, was all very disappointing.

I entered New Guinea by the back door —that is, via the Hebrides and the Solomons —and the first port

of call in P-NG is Kieta, in Bougain ville There, I fully expected to be asked to produce my Permit and to be inspected for spots and assorted rashes. Both my Permit and I were ignored. So was everyone else.

I gathered that the European medical assistant at that port had come out prepared to do his duty, but that about 50 natives from Kieta, on their way to Rabaul, had beaten him to it and had simply walked on board and mingled with those already there. Hence any state of quarantine in which we were supposed to exist had already been broken. Anyway, that was one passenger’s theory—but it might be that they don’t have inspections there.

When I got to Rabaul I decided to go on in the ship to Kavieng.

I found a Customs officer in a wharf shed, acquainted him of the fact and asked if he wished to see my baggage. He wanted to know where it was and when I said, “On the ship,” he said that was OK. At Kavieng, complete with luggage, I got off the ship; and I returned by plane.

In Lae, when I finally left for Port Moresby, someone asked my name and address. In Moresby, an hour later, I was again asked the same thing, and ticked off on a list.

Ten days later, when I left for Australia, I found that all I had to do was to pay my airways fare.

There were no clearances necessary; no permits. This really shook me, because never before have I managed to get out of any country without filling in at least one form. I scarcely believed it and until the moment

the plane took off, expected to be thrown off it for not having com plied with some regulation or other, When I inquired, privily, of a Papuan resident what the score was, I was informed that if you leave Papua for Australia no permit or papers are necessary; but if you leave from New Guinea, you have

Jto have some sort of document. [This may be true, or just a libel :on TNG by the Papuan resident— :but if the former is the case I sug gest that, for once, New Guinea be into line with Papua.

In Brisbane, apart from demand ing to know if I carried any fire jarms, and looking coldly at the souvenir butter-knife I had acquired jin Port Moresby (P-NG takes the jprize for the country most devoid ;of souvenirs likely to be collected hy travellers) Authority passed me (through without formalities.

There were, as well, the minimum :of formalities in the Hebrides and (the Solomons. This all leads to the (conclusion that travel in the South west Pacific is bureaucrat-free; a (delightful change from the other •side (Fiji, Samoa, etc.) where since Ithe war Officialdom has had a pos itive rush of form-filling to the head—J.T.