New P-NG Council Composition

'Aimed At Future Needs'

From a PIM Correspondent in Port Moresby and AAP-Reuter There have been columns of space in the Territory Press recently over charges that the composition of the 65-member P-NG Legislative Council to be elected in 1964 is against the wishes of the native people.

f HADING the attack has been Mr.

I. L. Chipper, Rabaul business lan and MLC, and to the defence as come the Acting Administrator, )r. John Gunther.

The present Council has 37 mem ers—with Europeans in the majority.

Tie 65-member Council will have a ative majority. Only 10 of the new Council will be officials—the remain ig 55 will be elected, mostly on a ommon roll ( PIM, Nov., p. 5).

The decision to enlarge the Coun il was made by the Commonwealth jovernment after a select committee ad made a survey of Territory pinion and reported back to the legislative Council at a special sitting i October.

Mr. Chipper has charged that the elect Committee on Political De elopment ignored the native de lands for closer balance of Euro ean and native representation in the roposed new Council, and that lead ig Australian businessmen were reatly concerned over the proposed atio.

Tolai View Mr. Chipper purchased a full page i the new pidgin-language newspaper Ju Gini Toktok to present to natives is view that the Select Committee fas going against their own wishes.

In Rabaul, leading Tolai business lan Stanis Boramilat also criticised ie decision to allow a 4-to-l native lajority.

He said he felt there should be no lore than three natives to every two European members. He said some Australians might erroneously get the npression that “the native people /anted to throw the Europeans out”, tut the natives wanted the Australians a stay.

Boramilat said he would voice his pinions at a meeting of the Rabaul )istrict Advisory Council, of which ie was a member.

Dr. Gunther in reply said the lative people had generally asked for tie committee for a two to one majority of elected natives over the

elected Europeans, but the committee decided on a four to one native

majority.

He added: “We did this because we were looking forward to 1966, not just 1964, and we believed that it would be quite natural to the people to want to take more and more con trol over their own destiny.

“We believe we have correctly an ticipated the peoples’ wishes and this was a proper thing to do.

“We believe the people will want the kind of arrangement the Select Committee proposed for a very much longer period of time than they would want a situation where the Council, if you include official members, would have almost equal number of in digenous and non-indigenous groups.”

After quoting Mr. Chipper’s state ment that businessmen in Australia

: elt the committee’s recommendations vould cause loss of faith in the Tern ary by Australian investors, Dr. 3unther added, “This I strongly deny.

“I have said previously and I say igain that if the people continue to ;alk about insecurity, they beget in security.

“If the people continue to bring to ;he attention of Australian investors >uch things as whether a four-to-one Dr a two-to-one majority is the right Dne, they will create a doubt in the ninds of the Australian people.”

Dr. Gunther said that for some ;ime there had not been a large in low of capital into the Territory— but on the other hand, there had not Deen a great outflow of reinvestment :apital.

“A great deal of reinvestment is Saking place, clearly indicating that Australians here have faith in the future.”

He added: “If there is any way of measuring Australian opinion on Territory investment, I would suggest that we watch Steamships Trading Company shares, a company which bias all its investments in the Terri tory. Since the announcement of the proposals for the new Council, and the confirmation of these proposals by the Commonwealth Government, Steamships shares have done nothing more than react as the market has reacted to overseas events.

“If there had been such a loss of faith as Mr. Chipper claims, then one would have expected that Steamships shares would have reacted down wards. This is definitely not so.

“If everybody in the Territory shows that they have faith in the country, then I am certain that they will persuade people who do not live in the country also to have faith in it.”

Mr. J. L. Chipper.