Played It Cool

Man In The Hot Seat Played It Cool

W HY is it that South Australians make good chairmen, and there fore get themselves the job of Speaker m the Australian Parliament more often than men from other States?

If you know the answer to that one then you will also have the secret of Mr. R. S. (Bob) Swift’s success as chairman at the Sixth South Pacific Conference in Lae in July, which is reported on p. 21.

Mr. Swift, who is Australia’s Senior Commissioner on the South Pacific Commission, had the chairman’s job

virtue of the fact that Australia is host territory for the conference.

In the past, the job of chairing a uth Pacific Conference hasn’t been y more difficult than running a liversity seminar..

But this time, with delegates on the arpath for more say in the South icific Commission, and with the tabu i politics breached a little, Mr. Swift mnd he had the hot seat.

“It is to his credit,” says our man i the spot, Robert Langdon, “that always remained cool, urbane, and impletely in charge of the meetings ften lightening the proceedings with genuinely witty comment or retort.

“The way in which he kept track f the resolutions, counter-resolutions, mendments and counter-amendments, rhich were sometimes moved quickly, ne after another, was particularly dmired by a number of delegates nd observers.”

A good example of his quick wit /as this exchange with Ratu K. K. T. dara, of Fiji:— Ratu Mara; I was surprised to hear hat it is the concensus of opinion imong educators that it is best to each languages only at the secondary level. I was taught languages at the secondary level, and the only things that remain with me today are oui and “non”.

Mr. Swift: At least you have a choice.