Mr. Hasluck May Shape Well

In New Pacific Role

By R. W. Robson.

The quick rise of Paul Hasluck in the Australian world of politics and diplomacy is a notable thing. It is of interest to the people of Papua and New Guinea because they had him, for a dozen years, as a tireless and uncompromising Minister for Territories.

T is of interest to other South Pacific Territories especially lose directed by Britain and New ;aland —because they are going to e much more of him in the future ian in the past.

Only a few months ago (in Novem ;r, 1963), Mr. Hasluck disappeared iddenly from the Papua-New Guinea cture. He was briefly Australian [inister for Defence, and this was st when Australia began to look ore closely at her defences than at ly time since World War 11.

Then, presto! Paul M. C. Hasluck >pears as Australia’s Minister for sternal Affairs (in other, and upler words, Foreign Minister) and tipped in some authoritative larters as successor to Australia’s sary and fed-up Prime Minister, Sir obert Menzies.

Even as this is written, Mr. Hasluck in South-East Asia, looking over e most difficult and prickly section his new domain; and before this in print, he will be on his way to ashington and London to sit beside r Robert Menzies in conferences tiich will have a sharp bearing upon fiitical and defence alignments in e South Pacific and the South-East dan areas.

Australia's Obligations

Never before, in Australia’s history, s Australia’s relationship with her ighbours to the eastward, north ird and northwestward been more iportant.

Britain is getting ready to move out Fiji, the Solomons, the Gilbert and lice Islands and the New Hebrides, d Australia must accept new obli tions there, or suffer grievously in sstige. and economically.

Britain and USA are determined maintain the Malaysia-Vietnam rrier between Communist Asia and 5 East Indies, as protection both to j European countries of the South cific, and the southern flank of the nerican defence line against Red

Asia: and clearly they expect Aus tralia’s help.

And Australia, unequivocally, has accepted obligations regarding the future of Papua and New Guinea which bring her directly into contact with Indonesia. Statements just made publicly and deliberately by Mr.

Hasluck, as Foreign Minister, after visiting Djakarta, Saigon, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore show that Australia now is ranged beside Britain and United States in main taining and protecting the Malaysia- Vietnam Line.

Hasluck's Qualities So the qualities of Mr. Hasluck, who now has accepted responsibilities second in importance only to those of Prime Minister Menzies, are of concern to all the millions of people who live within Australia’s growing sphere of influence in the South-East Asia-South Pacific area. How com petent is he likely to be, as adviser of the Australian Prime Minister and Government in foreign affairs, and as a diplomat?

Probably, apart from Menzies him

Mr. Hasluck.

there is no man in the Australian met better qualified to be Foreign ister. He has great natural ability, has been a student of inter nal affairs all his life, and he be guided by Menzies, who is icularly wise in that field, and m he admires. r. Hasluck is highly educated, his long early experience as an ►rial writer and as a high official he External Affairs Department given him exceptional skill in narising a complex situation for tive presentation to his col ics, He is a conscientious, working administrator. His is “British” type of personality— fairly tall, a square-set face, ed moustache, sure and confident ing. He probably will make a first impression in the many sdingly important conferences e he will represent Australia in lext couple of years.

P-NG's Stubborn Boss far, one would say, a very appointment. But how will he ; as a diplomat? Those who known him for a dozen years e uncompromising boss of Papua New Guinea do not turn their ibs down, at this stage; nor do manifest ill-will; but they are dating a little. his direction and control of ralian Territories, Mr. Hasluck two distinctions: he held the olio for a record time (1951- ); and he presided over the in iction of the first self-government finery in Papua-New Guinea. was handicapped, at the start, ise he inherited there much of economic mess created by the and the political confusions left by the late Leftist-Labour iter E. J. Ward, the Hasluck mark upon P-NG ry is clear and ineradicable, and ms to fall into three periods, ere was the uncertain, fumbling d, when he was getting some lance of order into the Adminis n, and trying to reconcile his rather advanced ideas regarding e rights with some very con tive policies which dominated erra thinking. ere was the middle period, , in order to force his own ies —now clearly-defined—into ition in the face of endless nent and disputation, he assumed >owers of a dictator and would c no local interference and, with fited money and complaisant •nnel, built a tremendous ad trative machine in P-NG. id there was the brief final

;riod, when the Hasluck policies of

mtrolled politico-social evolution

ime into headlong collision with the nited Nations instrumentalities hich created the newly-constituted ouse of Assembly.

Few commentators have pointed out —but it surely is apparent that e Hasluck plan in P-NG, pain lly and conscientiously formulated, id directed to the establishment of competent self-governing country two or three generations, could not issibly “jell” with the extraordinary commendations of Sir Hugh Foot’s N Mission, which proposed to make iliticians and administrators out of imitive savages in five years.

PIM of August, 1962, said: “The port of the Trusteeship Council’s siting Mission . . . was the biggest imbshell Australia and P-NG have ceived since the Japanese invaded ibaul in 1942 . . . Some of it . . . ight have been written by the Idest nationalist in the Afro-Asian DC.”

Hasluck and Foot Report Not a hint of it ever was pub hed; but it always was the opinion PIM that the Foot Report, and the ly in which it was forced upon jstralia, destroyed the Hasluck plan

R P-Ng.

The Minister loyally carried out ; wishes of the Australian Cabinet, dictated by the Trusteeship nmcil; but his heart had gone out the job—a man as competent and perienced as he could not possibly j real value in the Foot Report, lich was to dominate and shape P -3 after 1963. If anyone doubts is, let him read the public state snts made by Mr. Hasluck since became Defence and then Foreign inister.

Mr. Hasluck’s record in P-NG obably will be often analysed in i future. In this writer’s opinion, was marred by two outstanding jits. He was far too slow in at :king, at its base, the greatest stacle to rapid social and economic ogress among New Guineans— mely, almost complete village iteracy; and he insisted on retaining d much local administrative power his own hands, so that high icials, from the Administrator wn, tended to become mere )hers.

Much of the ’Fifties had gone he re Mr. Hasluck got to grips with ; fundamental problem of village iteracy; but he was attacking it Dst energetically when the Foot ission charged in and insisted that istralia should do, in 1963-64, what ; Hasluck policy had planned fiistically for about 1985.

Probably, Mr. Hasluck handed over Territories with a sense of great relief. Someone else can try to solve the problem of how Australia is going to retain trade, investment and influence in New Guinea, while encouraging the social development of the New Guineans to the point of self-government sen government.

However, the qualities of dictator-

ship, which in a Territories Minister tended to destroy administrative initiative in P-NG, probably will be of real value in this new post. Mr.

Hasluck should be a clear-thinking, forthright Foreign Minister for Aus traJ!a ’ a °d could give to the Aus- Italian Government and the South- East Asia-South Pacl fi° area s 9 me very yaluable xr ,ke, j ust at a time when it is urgently needed.