[?]fficulties of South

Inions From London

[?]D Anberra

[?]fficulties of South [?]cifk Federation

From a London Correspondent HAD the privilege of hearing, at the annual conference of the Commonwealth Council of the iservative Party (held here in ; week of April) some discussion that idea that some sort of leration of the South Pacific mds Territories may be possible. i discussion, in the main, was ndly. he Council has an Australasian dy Group; and the Group lently had been giving the idea te consideration. ,epresentatives of the Group said t the present system—remote trol from London, Canberra, llington, Washington, Paris, and ; Hague—could hardly be in the t interests of the Islanders; jreas some sort of Federation Id bring them closer together, [ improve their status. ; was pointed out, however, that constitutional difficulties in the r of a Federation—especially the [culties of entering into any ti Federation with the French— e “of a frightening nature”, here were other complications the existence of United Nations isteeships in the large Terri es of New Guinea and Western 10a. he report pointed out that jhinery for at least the examina i of a Federation plan existed ;ady in the South Pacific Com sion—now an advisory body ported by the six nations -with ritories in the South Pacific, he Group also emphasises the ger of overcrowded Asia, as seen n the South Pacific. Under ;ain conditions, the 12 million pie in Australia and NZ, and three millions in the Islands, Id easily be swamped by a th wards surge of the 1,000 [ions in south-east Asia,

Indifference

he Group made a clear-cut and cal statement; but the Con ;nce generally gave the mi ssion that it was too deeply cerned with affairs in Cyprus, ita, Africa, etc., to be bothered i consideration of the peaceful th Pacific. he meeting scarcely listened a carefully prepared address by s N. C. Goad, on the South ific situation; but when a nese gentleman present insisted voicing a bitter complaint about e unfair exclusion of Chinese n Australia and New Zealand”, got a lot of attention, rankly, I think the British here Britain give far too much atten

tion to the demands of Africans and Asians, and not nearly enough to the conditions in the British Dominions. There has been some rather sharp comments about it lately i n the more sober newspapers, and in the Parliament.

The complaint of Sir Eric Harrison (Australian High Commissioner) that the “Commonwealth was completely fed up with the lack of British Commonwealth publicity in Britain” was given sympathetic treatment in the responsible newspapers.

“I feel that a political Federation, somehow including Australia and New Zealand, would be difficult to achieve in the South Pacific area,” writes an experienced official in an Australian Department. “But I am more hopeful concerning a common market, or free trade area, or the like. I can see a strong community of interest between the

Melanesian countries, and some sort of Union should not be too difficult to organise.” , Fiji Governor s Lommeni interest in the idea of developing closer relations between the South Pacific Territories was expressed by the Governor of Fiji, Sir Ronald Garvey, when he spoke briefly on April 28 to a party of political observers from American Samoa, w ho had come to study administra tion methods in a British Crown Colony.

Sir Ronald emphasised the value of such visits, and said he looked forward to the day when a measure of Pan-Pacific Federation would come about. He expressed the hope that this subject would receive wider attention and consideration —and he said that he, personally, favoured closer relations on an inter-governmental basis.