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A statement made on the Nauruan question in May by Australia’s new Minister for Territories, Mr. C. E. Barnes, might not have answered all the queries that could be raised on this ticklish problem. But it certainly made an effort to answer most of those that could be answered by a Ministerial handout designed for general release, and thus it went a great deal further than would any statement on the same subject made by Mr. Barnes’ pre decessor, Mr. Paul Hasluck (who is now Australia’s Minister for External Affairs).

Mr. Barnes’ Nauruan state ment was typical of the new approach in Territories. Since Mr. Barnes’ appointment he has shown he is not scared to open his mouth outside of Parliament as well as in it, and that he believes that people have a right to know something of what is going on in Australia’s Island territories.