“Every Care But No Responsibility”
p. 16 · Read in the full issue
“Every care but no responsibility’ is what Australians were working for in Papua-New Guinea, Mr. lan Downs, MHA, of Goroka, told a Sydney seminar in April. The Australian people didn’t really want New Guinea to be tied to Australia, he said, because then they would have to be responsible for it.
“But you’ve got New Guinea and you are stuck with it and you have got to do something about it whether you like it or not!” he said.
Mr. Downs said he was once a supporter of a scheme to make New Guinea the seventh state of Australia, but now he was prepared to admit that the idea was “impracticable and quite silly”. But certainly some sort of relationship was important.
He added: “Australia is capable of a bigger, more confident outlook on New Guinea than the present timid one. Unless you are careful what you will create in New Guinea is a country of proud people milking the cow of Australian aid until its teats bleed and then telling you to get out.” • For a report on the seminar, see p. 155.