Islands legislatures

Busy end-of-year for Islands legislatures

From correspondents in Honiara, Port Moresby and Vila The British Solomons will go to the polls in pril under a new constitution which will almost >uble the size of the Legislative Council and ive all but one of the non-official members jcted directly. This is the second change in e council in the last two years—and for the cond time the population of about 142,000 .sn’t shown much interest.

At a debate on the new constitution in the December ieting of the Legislative Council (which was the t meeting under the present constitution) many mbers commented on the “apathy” over the political ure shown by Europeans and Solomon Islanders, bers held that it was not apathy so much as lack education to enable the islanders to understand the >posals.

HE present council has 11 official and 10 unofficial members, ht of the 10 unofficials are :ted, two are nominated. Of the bt elected, only one was directly :ted. fhere will be 14 unofficials in the v council, 13 of whom will be :ted directly. The council will have iq ex-officio members and up to officials, thus retaining the official jority. Non-voting nominated mbers may be introduced, and an bryo cabinet system is likely to established. n presenting the Budget in Decem the Government indicated a tight i was being put on development enditure. fhe appropriation is for $8,372,460, ipared with $6,845,214 for 1966. relies upon grant-in-aid from tain of $1,450,000, an increase of 5,000 over 1966. There are bi ased contributions from Overseas vice Aid and CDW, and the new il is $2,743,150.

Another $BO,OOO will be got from / revenue measures, including an ra 30c a bottle on wines and its, and an extra 2c a packet of cigarettes. There have also been le minor concessions.

New Guinea legislation

‘apua-New Guinea’s House of embly and the New Hebrides visory Council also had busy end he-year sessions. a record debate the Assembly

agreed to amend the territory’s min ing ordinance to give land owners five per cent, of royalty payments for any mining operations on their land.

The amendment was moved by Mr.

Paul Lapun (Bougainville) following a long controversy in P-NG over mineral rights for the Panguna people of Bougainville, who have objected to copper exploration. Under terri tory law minerals are the property of the Crown. The House took the view that exploration for minerals had to proceed, but that laws should be adjusted so that this could be done without unrest or bloodshed.

Point of interest is whether Canberra will allow the decision to become law, and general feeling is that it will.

The Assembly also passed an amendment to income tax laws, to provide for taxation on low incomes.

The amendment was first moved last June but was held up by the un official members.

The Administration agreed to lift the lowest level of taxable income from the originally proposed $2OB a year to $416, allowing a rebate for local government taxes. The new tax takes effect from January 1.

The New Guineans decided the issue and felt that everybody should be taxed, but some members, notably Messrs. Percy Chatterton, John Guise, Barry Holloway and Tony Voutas, held that tax on married men with low incomes would create hardship. (For comment, see p. 41.) A feature of the New Hebrides

Advisory Council session in Vila was an announcement that a passport had been devised for use by the native Melanesians of the New Hebrides when travelling abroad, and that it was expected to come into use within a few months.

The adoption of a New Hebridean passport is seen as a step towards establishing a status for the New Hebrideans, who, under the Anglo- French Protocol governing the New Hebrides, cannot be citizens of either Britain or France. Until now New Hebrideans have carried only identity cards.