Pointers To

The Future

As 1,250,000 voters on the common roll cast their votes to elect the 94-member House of Assembly (compared with 64 in the last House) the terri tory in March received two pointers to its political future. • In Canberra, the Aus tralian Governor-General, Lord Casey, in outlining the Aus tralian Government’s plans at the opening of the new session of parliament, turned thumbs down on the possibility of P-NG becoming Australia’s seventh state. • Towards the end of a long tour of the territory members of a UN visiting mission said they felt, from what they had seen and heard so far, that the territory should not be hurried towards in dependence or self-government by outside pressure, and that national unity was necessary before the territory could be come independent.

Lord Casey told parliament that the destiny of P-NG was to become a self-governing country, and the government’s basic policy was to develop it for self-determination. He added; “Whether some sub sequent special relationship with Australia is worked out and what such a special relationship might be can only be worked out in the future between the then government of a self-governing P-NG and the then government of Aus tralia. But my government be lieves that the development of P-NG as a seventh state of Australia is fraught with diffi culties and that statehood as against self-government is not likely to be the outcome of development”.

Lord Casey said parliament would introduce legislation to give limited ministerial respon sibility to the P-NG House.

Chairman of the visiting mission, experienced NZ islands administrator Mr. J.

M. McEwen said in Rabaul that generally people had said, “yes, self-government is alright, but not yet”, Mr. McEwen said the degree of parochialism encountered by the mission had disturbed him.