Pompous platitudes about "one nation"

won't stop breakaway movements

From a Port Moresby correspondent Close on the heels of the move for a referendum on Bougainville’s future comes the formation f the “Melanesian Independence Front” at Rabaul. But whereas the Bougainville move, which sked for a referendum on whether Bougainville should stay with New Guinea, join the Solomons, r become independent, was made by Bougainville men in Port Moresby, and, to some extent at ny rate, took Bougainville itself by surprise, the Melanesian Independence Front originated in Rabaul and appears to have taken Port Moresby by surprise.

le surprise is, of course, only ive, as talk of this kind has been g on sporadically for years both Bougainville and New Britain, t is surprising is that it should so enly have become articulate. )th Don Barrett and Matthias Liman, who should know their ml as well as anyone, seem to I a rat. icy feel that there may be a con on between the abortive efforts ;ome Europeans to form the icultural Reform Party” at the of the last House of Assembly ions and the present move, and ler to what extent this also may mropean-inspired. rhaps the most surprising feature le formation of the “Front” is 3 Baining’s association with it as lairman. It is difficult to see how in square this role with his many ory-wide interests, such as his chairmanship of the P-NG ist Board. at, of course, is his problem, wer, this dichotomy, like that 3 aul Lapu n ’ s simultaneous isal of the Bougainville referen and a bill to establish a common for the territory, suggests that is muddled thinking going on.

Front's platform

e front’s platform is forthright separate independence for 'JG Islands (New Britain, New id, Bougainville and Manus), a parliament based at Rabaul, nembership of the British Com /ealth and the UN. rrently the NG Islands contain eventh of the territory’s people re responsible for over one-third ; exports. far there has been little interest id less enthusiasm for the pro among NG Islanders in Port shy. Their number, by the way, nsiderable. [ministration attitude and the

Administrator’s Executive Council to these expressions of separatism has been one of prim disapproval, and the A.E.C. has announced its inten tion of seeking a debate on the subject in the house, which meets on November 18.

Support unknown

Fair enough. But attitudes of prim disapproval and emotional rhetoric are not going to get us far. In Bougainville this week a conference of local government councils dis cussed the earlier proposal for a Bougainville referendum, and there was a majority against it.

But there seems to have been a sizeable and certainly a vocal minority in favour of it. Just how

much support there is in the Islands generally, or in New Britain in parti cular, for the new proposals of the front is at present anybody’s guess.

A hard look at the present admin istrative and governmental set-up seems to be called for.

How do we go about commending national unity to the people? Do we need to delegate more responsibility and more power of decision-making to regional, district and local govern ment levels?

Do we need to create governmental agencies between the local govern ment level and the national level of the House of Assembly, just as we already have district and regional headquarters in the field of administra tion? Should the present rather wishy washy district ‘advisory councils be

Vin To Baining, MBE.

Territory - wide in terests, and now chairman of an "in dependence front".

replaced by elected district councils with some real authority?

What to do?

Should there be regional councils with some power of subsidiary law making within the national legislative framework?

And, touchiest question of all but one that must be faced, is there any real hope of containing separatist tendencies with a national legislature in which one region, by virtue of its high density population, is in a position of permanent political dominance?

If the debate envisaged for the November meeting of the House of Assembly faces up to questions such as these, much good may come out of it. But a smoke-screen of pious and pompous platitudes will do us no good at all.

As Don Barrett has recently said, there is a need for more than lip service to the concept of a Papua- New Guinea nation. • Although the South Pacific’s seven international carriers failed to agree on any fare cuts at a recent meeting of the International Air Transport Association at Cannes, France, Mr. R. L, Frederick, Pacific vice-president, American Airlines, told PIM in October that more air line competition in the area would soon bring down fares. He added that American Airlines had lodged an objection to the tentative approval for Eastern Airlines to fly the South Pacific next year, and that his com pany was still hopeful that it would get a permit to fly trans-Pacific.

Paul Lapun, espousing the Bougainville movement.