Members of Papua-N. Guinea's

LegCo State Their Views

While most of the major measures dealt with at the recent session of he Papua-New Guinea Legislative Council are reported elsewhere in this ssue, the following brief highlights on debates on subjects which ranged rom the temporarily defunct desiccated coconut industry to drinking permits for natives, are currently of interest to, or are being discussed by, •esidents of the two Territories:

Tell Australia About

The Territory

[TULL marks went to Mr. Don Barrett, elected member for NG Islands for his uggestion that the Administration establish Territory publicity and liaison bureau i Sydney to tell Australian people about he Territory. (There is a tremendous amount of Aus ralian interest in New Guinea at present; ut most of it is ill-informed and, short f press censorship, the problem is how > persuade Australian newspapers to resent the facts about New Guinea with ut twisting them to produce “reader iterest”—in other words, sensationalism.)

Discourtesy To Our American

Aliens

RATHER DWYER, commenting upon the recent Aliens Registration Ordinance lid that it carried a danger of un ecessary discourtesy, particularly to merican residents, most of whom were tigaged on missionary, medical and edu itional work. Thousands of Americans ad died in P-NG during the war, he ointed out and suggested that for irtain non-British persons whose bona des were beyond doubt some provision lould be made for exemption from ;gistration.

Hallstrom Trust And Natives

Come Into Line

N future neither the native residents of New Guinea nor the Hallstrom Live ;ock Trust will have unrestricted right » take native birds as has been the case i the past.

Certain birds (notably the Birds of iradise) have been protected from Euro »ans but it has been an "open go” as far > natives were concerned. Greater ovement of natives and an increased itive trade in plumes, and consequent roads into the bird population, are the :asons given for the new legislation hich will restrict the natives to their vn traditional hunting grounds for these irposes.

In future the Hallstrom Trust will have obtain a Collector’s licence to cover s operations—which will bring it into ic with other collectors. In the past ie Hallstrom Trust has collected a great any birds, etc., from New Guinea, for ie Taronga Zoo in Sydney, for exchange stween Taronga Zoo and other overseas ios, and sometimes as straight out gifts overseas dignitaries or institutions, resumably there was some clause in the ;reement under which the Hallstrom rust was set up to permit this. In the ■dinary way it is difficult to send either cal fauna or artifacts out of the country.

But More Efficient Weapons

For The Job

A T the same time that this added protection is given to New Guinea birds, however, there was introduced a new

ordinance which will provide for the issuing of shot-gun licences to natives, on the New Guinea side of the Territory where these permits have hitherto been unknown. A European has always been able to acquire a shooting licence for his "shoot-boy,” but In Papua, natives them selves have been able, for the last 50 years, to obtain licences to own shot guns and hunt with them on their own account.

At present there are 1,775 shotgun licences held by natives In Papua—and eight permits for .22 rifles.

The new legislation was (for once in a while) “designed to bring New Guinea into line with Papua” Instead of the other way about but several Legco members from NG expressed concern, either because they felt that the natives

would be thus encouraged to do som* private feuding; or because they might d« damage to themselves by not properlj caring for the firearms.

Mr. Ivan Champion, of Papua, in supporting the bill, said that in half s century in that Territory there had been only one attempted murder by the holden of a permit and not more than thret: accidents. The Director of District Services (Mr. A. A. Roberts) said tha, permits would be granted only to native* who knew how to use guns. He madt light of the argument that the permit: might lead to the indiscriminate rlesi truction of native fauna—natives had been hunting with other weapons for centuries and had always been aware of the neec for conservation of fauna, he said.

High Cost Of A Healthy Ng

A PART from Dutch New Guinea: Papua-New Guinea was spending lessi per head of population on health than any other Pacific territory, said Dr. J. T r Gunther, Director of Health. Malaria: tuberculosis, yaws and other diseases could be controlled but it would take large sums of money—and control of any one of these diseases would be a capita) investment that was well worth while: TB, he believed, could be controlled within 15 years—if sufficient money were avail-1 able. And the expenditure of £150,000 could eradicate yaws—by injecting every individual in the country with penicillins Malaria could also be controlled but not with the amount of money available in the present budget. (Expenditure by the Department of Health in the coming year is estimated at £1,350,000).

Better Be British

Member Simogen would like to see New Guinea brought withim the British Commonwealth of (Although Papua is an Australian terri-i tory, and so British, the New Guinea part of the Territory is a UN Trusteeship Territory; Simogen’s plea is, therefore,: tantamount to a plea for Australian! annexation).

Simogen doubted very much whethen United Nations missions which visited tho country understood what was being done there. On the other hand, Australians: who had settled down in the country; really knew the native way of life in m way that strangers—although they were always giving their views on the country; —could not understand. “It would be a: good thing,” said Simogen, “if we wero British; our children, who should have as greater understanding than we have.a should be British.”

Drinking Natives—With Or

Without Permits

T'VURING the debate on the Bill to pro-i hibit the sale of intoxicating liquoin to natives, another native member, A.i Satin, said that in practically every dis-< trict in P-NG Europeans were liquor to the natives. In his opinion, ifii half-castes were to be permitted to drinfcl he saw no reason why selected, intelligent): natives, such as members of the Natives Constabulary, could not be allowed too drink as well.

Getting Desiccated Coconut

Back On The Market

THE Assistant Director of Public Health of the University of Melbourne, Dr.

M. Wilson, was in the Territory on a second visit, said Dr. Gunther during the second reading of the Pure Food Ordinance amendment bill; and a bacteriologist had also arrived from Aus tralia and would remain in the Territory until February.

Both specialists are working on the desiccated coconut industry and trying to pin-point the source of contamination of P-NG coconut which was suspected of causing a typhoid outbreak in Australia.

It was thought at the time of Dr.

Wilson’s first visit some weeks ago that bush rats might be the cause of con tamination in local desiccated coconut and that the purity of the product could be controlled by sterilisation at the pack ing stage. However, according to Dr.

Gunther’s remarks to the Legislative Council, it appears now that the solution is not so simple and that investigations will have to extend back to the process ing and control of the persons employed.