Commentary

v Hurricane Proof

Jttle Niue?

E news from Niue isn’t good.

Fhe friendly little island has ust had its second major hurn within eleven months.

February last year the Island, a population a little more than natives who are New Zealand ms was struck by the worst n on record. Of Niue’s 770 lings, 320 had to be completely ilt and another 160 repaired; total damage was in the nature 750,000. Niue got a lot of help l everybody in repairing the age —many Pacific Territories Australia and New Zealand ited goods and money. And in last eleven months it has done nrageous amount for itself. No -bodied man left the island for months. id now, this January, she has l struck again. Damage to ;es this time, according to early rts—and early reports of this ire frequently tend to be ex srated—have resulted in 4,000 of 4,700 population being made eless. lis sounds incredible, even tak into account that by no means Niue’s housing been restored to nal since last February and is of builders are still working e. However, it is not unexpected some people might wonder just many of the houses demolished his latest blow were those re b to modern methods since Feb •y last year. These new homes ; designed to withstand hurri es, and built of concrete brick r the same style of the houses ; survived the first blow without culty. re Niue’s new hurricane-proof ses not hurricane-proof at all? perhaps there is some other ex lation, and the next few weeks tocktaking on battered Niue may fide it. ☆ ☆ ☆

ne to Stop Fence

ting on Dutch NG

USTRALLIA’S Minister for Ex tern a 1 Affairs, Mr. Richard Casey, was created a life peer January. Shortly after the an mcement, Lord Casey resigned portfolio and thereupon set off rain of speculation about a suc sor. mong those tipped for the post

were the Attorney-General, Sir Garfield Barwick, and the Minister for Territories, Mr. Paul Hasluck.

Prime Minister Menzies settled the question in early February by an nouncing that he would take oyer the important External Affairs portfolio himself, but whether this is to be a permanent move nobody seems to know. Predictions are that Sir Garfield Barwick will still take the post, just as soon as he is finished with various pieces of legis lation he has on hand— including, no doubt, the forthcoming challenge in the High Court on the validity of the Papua-New Guinea Act. This will be a vital matter for Papua- New Guinea and also, of course, for the Commonwealth, and it has already been announced that S r Garfield will personally lead in the Court hearing.

Meanwhile, it is unlikely thera will be any changes in Australia’s handling of foreign affairs while Mr. Menzies is at the helm. Aus tralia can still be depended upon to push the barrow of closer Aus tralian-Asian relations, which in cludes extending the friendly hand to Indonesia.

But what some people would like to know is how long can Australia continue to be friendly with both Indonesia and the Netherlands over the Dutch New Guinea issue? A conference to be held in Hollandia in the first week of March should at any rate give us a pointer on whether Australia has adopted a more realistic attitude on the ques tion.

The conference, between Aus tralian and Netherlands Govern ment officers, will survey the pro gress made in the administrative liaison between NNG and P-NG, which has been in active operation since 1957.

The conference will be the sequel to the Canberra conference of October, 1958, which set the pace that has since been followed.

In purely administrative matters there has been much progress in the two Territories, a fact which will be noted in March. But on political matters the two countries don’t see eye to eye, and at the conference the Dutch can be de pended on to press their view that NNG and P-NG will have to work much closer together on matters that count.

The Dutch view is that the only real questions on the issue are these (see December PIM, p. 37): • Whether or not Australia will subscribe to the Dutch viewpoint that the existing co-operation in the administrative field should be widened to a full-fledged, financial economic and military co-operation.

• Whether or not Australia, hav ing decided, will then make per fectly clear internationally—to In donesia and to everybody else, in cluding the United States —that it either will or will not militarily back the Dutch if their position in NNG is attacked by any third party, and • Whether the Australian Gov ernment, having made up its mind to adopt a course, will make quite clear within Australia what its guiding principles for the future are to be, so that there will be no mis understanding among political parties, trade unions and the public generally on where Australia stands.

What this amounts to, of course, is that the Dutch want to know when Autralia will stop fence sitting on the Dutch New Guinea issue.

And that’s a fair question.

There are already signs that the natives on the Netherlands side of the border want to see the ultimate political union of the whole island of New Guinea, and in the mean time they want a closer acquaint ance with the natives in the Aus tralian Territory.

This closer liaison, this political union, with all its implications, can be worked out through the Dutch — not through Indonesia. Now is the time for Australia to tell the Dutch that they are prepared to meet them, or not. ☆ ☆ ☆

It's Time For Air

Changes in P-NG

Announcements of important changes affecting Papua-New Guinea air services always, it is true, appear to be “imminent”. They have especially been “imminent” for the last year or two. But now it seems the announcement that is imminent as this issue of PIM goes to press might really be it.

Nevertheless, whether the Aus tralian Cabinet makes its announce ment this month or next (and it could just as easily be next month) there isn’t any doubt that Qantas will be pulling out of the New Guinea domestic scene and that TAA will, for a start, be going in. Ansett- ANA also will be there it seems, which is what it has been pressing for for a long time.

Whether or not the new arrange ments will make everybody happy, remains to be seen. Not enough final decisions have yet been made to be able to predict just what is going to develop in New Guinea in the next 12 months, and there will be time enough to consider more fully when the pattern emerges more clearly. On just what basis will Ansett go into New Guinea? What is the future of MAL?

One good thing will certainly come cut of it all: cheaper air fares to the Territory, and within it. It seems

that the Australian domestic fare structure will be used on New Guinea services. There isn’t any doubt that New Guinea people have been paying for their air services.

The fares there are well up in the clouds in comparison, for instance, with those charged in Fiji by Qantas-operated Fiji Airways. The reason for this, so New Guinea people have always been told, is that New Guinea is still a pioneer country and that a great deal of donkey work still has to be done that isn’t a paying proposition for the airlines.

That is so, but the pioneer air stage in New Guinea seems to have lasted a long time, considering that New Guinea was making pretty in telligent use of aircraft at a time in the early 1930 s when few other Pacific Territories had even set eyes on one.

If they still want to pioneer, then let them pioneer with those lower fares. Some of the competition that is now promised should help along the experiment, and the support of the New Guinea public, on that point at least, can safely be guaranteed. ☆ ☆ ☆

Being Educated

For Independence

WEST Samoans began reading a new newspaper during January o T° r x, at least an old friend, Savah, the Government Gazette in a dress so different that it is not recognisable.

The new Savali, with photographs and stories is a monthly at the moment, but it will probably appear more frequently after a few months, ft 18 produced by the recently created office of the Director of Public Relations, and is entirely in me Samoan language. It is a good

editorially 1 technically and

Why the appearance of such a paper at this time?

Saiaoa is on the threshold ,?Ll ndep ! n £ ence > and Political de velopments have been so rapid, there O ff 6ol J- a ver 7 ur &ent demand for publlc information ser \uce. All the people have yet to be when ?w 6 0f the , issues involved when they are asked to vote on Samoa s future status The initial the Public Relations depart- SSJfoff to ? e i p get all thi s P innf° U o t 0 them —keep them Sd e to to rmatSn Vernment decislons

situation. XrTl!

tory on the threshold of indenend Sf’iSft ° nl . y now has It tagSto better example! think of a