Next South Pacific Games

New Guinea 'Can't Afford' The Next South Pacific Games

From Don Barrett, in Rabaul

AT SUVA in 1963 when New Caledonia’s bid to hold the 1966 Games was accepted, P-NG’s representatives on the South Pacific Games Council gave notice of New Guinea’s intention to bid for the Games in 1969. The P-NG Admin istrator, Sir Donald Cleland, in late 1963 appointed a committee to in vestigate possible sites and advise him.

The committee considered three possible sites only—Port Moresby, Lae and Rabaul. The recommenda tions of the committee were never made public, but last March Sir Donald announced that he had decided, after considering the com mittee’s report and all other factors, that Port Moresby should be the venue.

There the matter rested —or seemed to rest, for some months.

But recently as the time came close for a final bid to be made, doubts arose in the minds of some members of the P-NG South Pacific Games Association as to how the New Guinea Games were to be financed.

Since the British Government had assisted Suva, and it was widely claimed that metropolitan France was heavily subsidising Noumea this year, most people in P-NG associated with the Games organisation assumed that the Australian Government would heavily underwrite the third Games in P-NG in 1969.

But the P-NG Treasurer, Mr.

Newman, in answer to a question in the House of Assembly at its Sep tember meeting was unable to give

Will Papua and New Guinea stage the 1969 South Pacific Games. There's a lot of interest in that question, and a big question mark after it.

any assurance that Australia would in fact come to the party. Nor could he say that if aid were forthcoming it would be in the form of a special grant or would have to come out of the annual budgets.

Evidently sensing that some sup port from the House of Assembly would be necessary if the territory had to do its own financing, the Assistant Administrator, Mr. L.

Johnson, put the following motion on September 8; “That this House requests the Administrator to extend an invitation to the South Pacific Games Council to hold the 1969 South Pacific Games in Port Moresby”.

Speaking to the motion, Mr.

Johnson made it clear that there was no indication from Canberra that Australia would make a special grant for assistance in preparing for the Games. Members, he said, must face the fact that it was highly probable that the finance—up to $500,000 for the barest needs in sporting arenas—would have to come from an already overstrained local budget.

Try For Rabaul

A move made in the House to move the locale from Port Moresby to Rabaul because the cost in Rabaul would be less was lost. And so was Mr. Johnson's motion, after several members, official and elected, had decried the spending of so much on such a venture at this stage. Speaker claimed it would be fitting for P-NG to be host country; but major developmental works demanded all available finance at present.

Dr. John Gunther, who is president of P-NG’s South Pacific Games As sociation, spoke to the council of that association on September 11, and has since seen Sir Donald Cleland. By late September no official statement had been made and the result was awaited of last-minute attempts to get New Guinea into the Games picture again.

Only one point was clear. It does cost a lot of money to stage the Games, and any thought of doing it "on the cheap” is bound to fail.

Dr. John Gunther.