Gallery

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From The Press Gallery

With more than 50 Bills and rdinances dealt with, the October eeting of the Legislative Council is the heaviest since the Council is inaugurated in 1951. It pro iced plenty of highlights, and a ir sprinkling of sidelights—like ese: SSISTANT Administrator John L Gunther gave the council something it’s never had be re—real Government leadership the House. With a more active position to deal with, he re atedly made it clear to his side 3t what their attitude should be.

A.nd he seldom failed to give an swer to the implied questions in e addresses of the unofficial ;mbers.

His answers didn’t always satisfy b members, of course, but as the miber for Papua, E. A. James, t it, “At least he’s game to have go, and not just sit there, as By’ve done in the past, and just ,re at you.” rOWEVER, some of the Govern - L ment members did some sitting and staring—a fact which was ven home without mercy by the official members at every oppor lity during the first days of the ig session. r inally, Agriculture Director try Dwyer could stand it no ger. le pushed himself up out of his lir, scratched his head, and an inced in that ambling, good ;ured style of his, “I just want say that it’d take a Houdini to a word in edgeways here in the t few days. We’ve got so used to ng talked at by you people that just have to sit here now and oy it.”

EW Papuan member of the Council, Mahura Rarua-Rarua, who took the place of Merari kson, made a valiant attempt to rcome stage fright during his iden speech, but sat down after ing on God’s help to assist him carrying out his future duties on Council. hs speech in its entirety was y 95 words. [is confidence couldn’t have been ped any, either, when the South 'ific Post came out with a front e story quoting a Hanuabada ler as saying Rarua-Rarua didn’t e the backing of the native pie. .owever, that opinion was mptly refuted by another group natives, whose spokesman rang Post and said that his group Light Rarua-Rarua did have the ive support.

Maybe self-government in Papua isn’t so far off after all if the in digenes have learned to play poli tics to that extent.

Anyhow, R-R should really do very well, if only he remembers to get on his feet more often than Merari Dickson did.

NEW member, and former Dis trict Commissioner lan Downs, turned out to be a showman.

A trick he developed early was to turn from side to side in the council as he talked, gesticulating and pointing, as if intending to get his points across to each member in person.

At one stage he managed to make a complete full turn in the Chamber, talking the whole way round.

By the time Administrator Cle land, in the chair, had issued a sharp rebuke—“ Please address the chair and don’t turn your back!”— Downs had faced the front again.

He didn’t look very penitent, either.

THAT veteran native MLC, Simo gun, never exactly servile, started off his week by being critical of the Administration. He had a go at the increased Customs duties, at problems of land and of a Sepik bridge.

And he almost had a go at an other matter—the matter of why Administration transport hadn’t turned up one day to bring the native members to the Council.

They had been late, and Simogun was annoyed, and possibly having in mind a success he had in similar circumstances a few years ago when he complained in the Council about the inefficiency of his Papuan houseboy (he turned out to be a

New Guinea boy) he was all set to say something about this, But wiser heads convinced him he would only make a fool of him self, T HE Press Gallery (that is, those A desks on the stage) has cer tainly grown in the last few years. This session was covered by the ABC, South Pacific Post, the Administration PRO, AAP-Reuter, and PIM.

The ABC and AAP-Reuter both did an impressive job in getting the

highlights of the Council reported down south.

DOWNS and Dudley Jones could never have been accused of loafing during the Council.

Even when there were no sessions, they spent their mornings at their desks in the Chamber, studying up Bills or planning future action.

Jimmy James, with the weight of the Budget debate on him, worked no less, but did it at home with aid of midnight oil.

It all paid off with a high stan dard of debating—far better and more to the point than most I’ve reported in Federal and State

Parliaments In Australia.-

Inder

Stuart