A Bang And A Whimper Mark

The End Of A Political Era

From a Port Moresby Correspondent Papua-New Guinea ended a political era in November with both a bang and a whimper. The Legislative Council was prorogued to make way for a largely-elected House of Assembly next year, and the emotional display which marked the last hour of the sitting was in contrast to the earlier up and-at-em approach of many of the honourable members.

THE attacks were natural enough: The Administration had chosen this last council to put through a number of controversial bills.

And so, no doubt, was the emo tion. Island councils are more often than not debating societies rather than legislatures, and not even the move a few years ago from the old Red Cross Hall down on the beach to the present grand chambers with air conditioning and headphone inter

preting services ever really changed the easy atmosphere of the P-NG Council. By next year, with 64 mem bers, 54 of them elected, the old ways will surely go.

“Today is the end of a chapter,” said Dr. John Gunther, the House leader.

In the verbal back-slapping which folowed there were special tributes for the doctor (“a true leader of the House,” said Mr. Ron Slaughter); for the Administrator, Sir Donald Cleland, who sat as president for the last time because the House next year will elect its own Speaker; and for Mr. B. Fairfax-Ross, the Council’s senior nominated member, and best debater by far, who announced that he wouldn’t be standing for election.

Everybody agreed that the Council wouldn’t be the same without “Fax”.

Public Service But all that was at the end. At the beginning, most controversial of the bills was the Public Service Bill, which lays down the future develop ment of the Territory’s Public Ser vice.

The main argument was: Would there be two separate divisions, one for natives and one for Europeans, or would there be one division with separate pay scales?

The whole subject has been a hot one for more than 12 months, with the Public Service Association fight ing some fierce battles within and without its ranks.

Finally the Association decided it wanted a divided Public Service—a Territorial one organised on local conditions, assisted by an expatriate one. After convincing the Govern ment that this was what it should set up, the public servants then changed their minds. A divided Public Service

would cause racial problems, they said. They wanted a single service.

The Government took the view that a single service, with differing rates of pay for locals and others, would be just as racially divided any how, and pushed ahead with its bill for a Public Service with two divi sions.

In November, the elected members went in for attack. The result: The Government backed down and an nounced it would set up one service, with separate pay scales.

Furthermore, th e members ex tracted an important undertaking that separate legislation would be intro duced for a scheme to compensate expatriate public servants who were replaced by natives as the Territory advanced.

Local Government The Local Government Bill gen erated almost as much heat, and almost as much confusion. Mr. lan Downs, who never loses an oppor tunity to tell the Administration that it has a mania for grabbing cash and wasting it as soon as it gets it, had a field day.

The bill creates multi-racial local government councils with wide taxing powers. The bill’s opponents said the taxing powers were far too wide.

Councils could tax pigs, goats “and other animals”, such things as bicycles “and other vehicles”, land

(without saying how), and there was a blanket provision which seemed to mean that councils could tax just about anything else they wanted (ineluding probably copra and cocoa as Mr. Fairfax-Ross pointed out).

The Government was so tax happy, fumed Mr. Downs, that it was willing to give local government powers given to “no central government in the world outside of a dictatorship”.

TL r . i- j .

The Government replied that there ivere at east six safeguards which would allow Greater Authority to cane the wrists of councils that got too big for their boots-a view which the elected members treated with the derision it deserved. c ii The Government finally saw the light to the extent of accepting amendments in three important particulars, including the method of taxing land, but would not remove the blanket tax provisions.

Only some of the Legco members at that final setting will live to fight it another day.

In t^e m i xe d bag of adjournment speeches there was a proposal by Mr. j G hn stuntz for the establishment of an economic advisory committee, composed of non-officials, who would advise on economic development; a suggestion by Ruben Taureka that P-NG design its own flag; a plan by Mr. Fairfax-Ross for a city to be B and a commen t y statements which k Minist er for Territories. Mr. Has , , , . , j. > uck > was supposed to have made during conversations in the Tern ory recently about the future of the De partment of Native Affairs. Mr.

P said he did not think a very 7 - , , , useful purpose had bee y th® Minister denying something whic suggested that a number of other people must be liars”.