Commentary

irt Appeal Now

G's Only Hope

TAIN occurrences —or lack of une—in the Australian Parlia ient and Press, in relation to 5 in Papua and New Guinea iscussed in an article on page ititled “Strange News Black m P-NG Tax Rebellion”, lerto, the residents of the cry, suffering the arrogance the contempt of Australian ter Hasluck, have been sure they had only to expose the ter in his true colours, and and Parliament would rush to aid. They put their faith in rime Minister and in certain apers. r, they know better, ti the exception of a very small of Parliamentarians (who, in turn, are kept more or less essed by the MenzieS Party), ment and Press apparently ganged up to defeat the Tax lion. “The trouble in New a was promoted by ratbags— i it and you will kill it”, rs to be their policy. ;ver a people had right and j on their side, they are the ; of Papua and New Guinea, decided to resist the high id, dictatorial methods of Mr. ck. They were completely ed in every step they have Mr. Hasluck, through his ates in the Menzies Cabinet, is friends in the leading Aus ti newspapers, has succeeded in ing a news black-out. The fiian people literally know ig of what has been happen

I P-Ng.

ticians and newspapers, partly ?h ignorance, partly by design, created the impression that [’erritorians are resisting in tax. Nothing could be further the truth —as is shown by the y of the events of the last months. le esteemed Territorians in August disapproved the Tax s’ challenge to the Papua and Guinea Act, before the High ;n, perhaps, they had some ication. They believed that and Parliament surely would to their aid. Now, we hope, see the situation in clearer i Territorians have only one left—namely, an appeal to the :s. As they cannot get help Press and Parliament, on the ids of justice, they at least can

force the issue by challenging the validity of the laws under which they are being oppressed.

Territorians now, while sniping at the Government through the Legis lative Council by-elections, should stand solidly behind the Taxpayers’

Association in its appeal to the highest constitutional authority.

This thing may not end in the High Court. Even if the High Court finds for the Taxpayers, Canberra —in its present temper probably would carry the appeal on to the Privy Council. * * *

What Follows Burns

Report in Fiji

THE Burns Commission of Inquiry into Fiji’s fundamental problems is practically ended, and a re port of great significance now is awaited. (See news article on page 47).

Those who have followed events in Fiji over many years now hope that, in 1960, Britain will make two major moves in relation to Fiji, namely— • A sum of at least £2O millions will be made available for develop mental purposes in Fiji. • There will be a serious effort made to promote a closer relation ship between Fiji’s basic interests (the Fijian community, the Indian community, and the huge invest ment there of Australian capital) and the future development of primary and secondary industries through instrumentalities made available by Britain.

If those moves are made, based on the report and recommendations which Sir Alan Burns is expected to produce, there is no real reason why they should not succeed. Everything will depend upon the competency of the British Colonial Office people and the nature of the co-operation given by the three basic interests who must implement the report, referred to.

The spirit of co-operation and mutual goodwill already is present in the Colony. It is the task of the British Colonial Office to shape and harness It Our great fear at the present time is that the British Colonial Office, embarrassed by its more acute problems in Africa and elsewhere, will not appreciate the urgency of Fiji’s problems, and will dither witn them as it has dithered for the last couple of decades.

It is vital to the success of any new moves, based on the Burns

Commission’s findings, that the Colonial Office make available tn Fiji the services of competent men The shaping of Fiji’s future admin istration and development is no task for stiff-necked bureaucrats or semi superannuated office-holders. Fiji in the past, has had, as its chief executives, some superbly good men. and some of deplorable calibre. On this occasion, the Colonial Office must give us of its best.

The alternative which surely will follow continued population growth and unavailability of land— does not bear thinking about. * * *

Territorions Don't Matte.

—They Only Have To Pay

West Australian Liberal

Member of Australia’s Federal Parliament, Mr. F. C. Chaney, was talking through his hat when, in defending Territories Minister Hasluck in Parliament in Canberra in late August, he said that so long as the Minister can retain the con fidence of the “people to whom the Territory rightly belongs”, it matters little what his critics think.

Three-quarters of the natives of Papua-New Guinea have never heard of Mr. Hasluck: and of the re mainder, only a tiny minority would have any opinion on whether they had “confidence” in him or not.

Most of them are confident that Australia and the P-NG Adminis

tration will do the right thing by them, but individual Ministers mean nothing.

If Prime Minister Menzies were to take complete leave of his political senses and give Labour member E. J. Ward back his old job, it would cause no crisis amongst the native population. And the European and Chinese communities might even like it.

One thing that can be said in favour of Mr. Ward’s regime is that, at the end of it, he was so taken up with more personal affairs at home in Australia that he allowed the Ad ministration in Port Moresby to have some say in running the Terri tory.

That has changed since Mr.

Hasluck took office. Everything is now run from Canberra. Legislation is framed there, and then forced through the P-NG Legislative Coun cil by official members who are specifially forbidden to vote accord ing to their consciences. If voting were by secret ballot in P-NG Legco, then Mr. Hasluck’s taxation bill would have been defeated at the outset.

It is a well-known fact that several of the official members of the P-NG Legco petitioned the Gov ernor-General about voting on the taxation issue as they thought fit; and were instructed that they must vote according to official policy.

The tax fight is a long story, with scores of side issues. Mr. Hasluck over-simplifies it now when he answers all criticism by saying that P-NG tax is about half the Aus tralian rate, and company tax is only 4 - in the £. The newspapers follow his line and the public swallows it whole. The implication is that Territorians are escaping their civil obligations and making a big fuss about nothing.

The principal of income taxation has not been the point of con troversy. Nor has the initial rate — although what it is five years from now will be more interesting than what it is today.

Had Mr. Hasluck made one con ciliatory move towards meeting Territorians’ request for an in dependent inquiry on the whole Territory taxing system, the tax war would never had proceeded to the ridiculous stage it has reached to day, when the validity of the whole Papua-New Guinea Act is in ques tion before the High Court.

But, in this, as in other things, Mr. Hasluck adopted his Mother - Knows-Best attitude, refused to listen to men who have had years of experience in the Territory, and, as a result, Australian-type income tax, with all its ramifications of Pay-As-You-Earn, provisional tax and undistributed profits tax, has been introduced.

The Australian system is one of

the most vicious and most com plicated in the world. Australians have grown up with it, yet it needs experts who have devoted years to its study to interpret aspects of it.

The task of introducing income tax to the Territory—if income tax were found necessary—would have been far simpler and less disrupting to a primitive territory not yet emerged from the frontier stage, if the comparatively simple, straight forward systems of neighbouring Solomon Islands, or Fiji, or Singa pore, had been used as a pattern.

Mr. Hasluck may be a knight in shining armour to his Parliamentary colleagues, but to Territorians he is the most unpopular Minister they ever have had. According to Mr.

Chaney, what the White Territori ans thing doesn’t matter. But does this childish piece of political rhetoric bear analysis?

The 18,000 Europeans—over 3,000 of them Public Servants—and the approximately 3,000 Chinese in the Territory, are the only elements that save the Territory from being a stone-age wilderness. They make up the nice comfortable base from which Ministers can shape their policies for enlightening the savages, and for thus standing well in the eyes of such august bodies as the United Nations.

Even people like Messrs. Hasluck and Chaney must, in their more private moments, concede that those 20,000 non-indigenes of P-NG have their uses. * * *

Britain Dashes into

A General Election

BRITAIN rushes to the polls on October 8 —although Parlia ment’s life does not expire until May, 1960. Why the haste?

Britain has had a nice, warm, dry summer. She is better in condition, economically, than at any time since war came in 1939. Labour politics have not flourished under the gentlemanly Mr. Gaitskell and the now worn-out Welsh tiger, Aneurin Bevan.

Betting in London is four to one on the Conservatives.

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the Party!

By May next, electoral purring could turn to public snarling—and the dreaded Socialists might get back into power.

At present, the state of Parties is: Conservatives, 339; Labour, 277; Liberals, 6; Independents, 2; and there are 6 vacancies.

Domestic issues are completely overshadowed by international affairs. There are more men and

more armaments battle-reac Europe today than ever bef« peace-time. The Cold War sit is improving; but everyc Europe knows that one inca move could start the shooting shooting would mean the j obliteration of mankind am works.

Even if there is no shootin morrow’s problems are f u terrors—how to feed a world p« tion that is rapidly doubling how to keep the factories ru in the face of Europe’s new mon Market; how to meet surging nationalism in Asia Africa.

Above all, how to meet the trating challenge of Muscovite munism.

For, despite the dove-like cs Mr. Krushchev, the Cold Wa, is on. No need for shooting, Moscow, while Communists finding new friends in every W* country.

The Big Boys behind the s are going to point out that P Macmillan has shown a quie; expected degree of skill and ni n g in handling interna* affairs, to Britain’s advantage; that the job should be left ii hands.

Unless something unexpected up in the five short weeks be'; announcement and electiop, tH what the British will do.