Native Complaints

Pose Problems

From Stuart Inder in Port Moresby.

Some of the difficulties faced by companies such as Conzinc Riotinto in operating in Papua- New Guinea were underlined by the Minister for Territories, Mr.

C. E. Bames, in Port Moresby

in February.

SOME of his revelations must have sent shudders down the sensitive spines of CRA executives in Aus tralia.

Mr, Barnes was returning to Can berra after a quick helicopter inspec tion of CRA activities on Bougain ville and of the 107,403-acre Tonolei timber project being undertaken by the Development Finance Corpora tion in southern Bougainville.

In a general Press interview, Mr.

Barnes frankly discussed complaints by the Tonolei people that they wouM not get a fair share of timber royalties, and complaints by the natives in the CRA area that they would not get any money, apart from compensation, from copper mined there.

Crown Property

Under Australian law, said Mr.

Barnes, minerals beneath the earth were the property of the Crown and not of the owners or occupiers of the land, as was American practice.

The Bougainville people wanted the American principle adopted and were agitating for a share of the proceeds.

Mr. Barnes indicated it would be dangerous to interfere with a well established Australian principle, and

he said he had told the Bougainville people that CRA might decide to pull out unless they dropped their claims to royalties.

Mr. Barnes’ forthright announce ment of Government thinking is re freshing, but if it means—or even if it creates a widespread impression— that genuine compromise is out, then the CRA and Bougainville will not be helped much.

It’s my impression that CRA would be unhappy at being forced into a “confrontation” on the issue, and that they are far more amenable to com promise than apparently the Govern ment is.

Will Need Goodwill

No doubt they are conscious of the fact that if their mining investi gations prove positive, then they will need the goodwill of the locals to develop the area, and that it would be wrong to get off on the wrong foot merely to support a Government principle.

Development Finance Corporation has probably already been put into a rather similar position. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Tonolei royalty issue, public relations in that area are now at rock bottom and this won’t help the timber operations.

The UN trusteeship agreement may give the administering powers the right to administer trusteeships in accordance with their own laws.

But New Guinea is not Australia and New Guineans don’t necessarily think as we brainwashed Australians do.

Canberra’s view apparently is that the Bougainville people are not going to get the opportunity of “thinking Nauruan”—that is, claiming they own the deposits. This is reasonable. The Nauruan situation has unique elements, and is not comparable with the Bougainville situation.

But there are other ways of hand ling Bougainville’s claims.

Three of the four helicopters at the CRA base camp, behind Kieta, pre pare for the day's work in February.

In the distance a small Bell has just taken to the air, while another Bell and a big Sikorsky (nearest the camera) warm up. The Sikorsky does

the heavy donkey work.