And Now The Spc's

Crisis Is Over

By Stuart Inder

It’s been 21 years, and the South Pacific Commission has come of age. It reached adulthood during the Eighth South Pacific Conference in Noumea in October. Nobody should underestimate the significance of what has happened there.

meetin 8 has spelled the end of the “ exclusive dub ” charge that was first leveded at the commissioners by Ratu Mara ’ of Fip ’ in - 1965 ' lt is vld<H 7 for the Islanders in their sustamed assault on the remnants of the SPCs metro P olitan Paternalism.

It means the way is finally clear for the SPC to become a genuine, useful forum for the exchange of opinions by the Islanders themselves, and for the Islanders to take a real P art in making the policy that may help satisfy some of their wants.

Among the important improvements to have come out of this Noumea conference are an understanding that Islands delegates are old enough now to be able to draw U p an agenda and discuss what they want at their own conference; and that their recommendations on the SPC budget and works programme should be accepted by the commissioners.

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s the c^fo 0 "’ th conference, ratified changes ™ — l ° § lve affect the progr amm e in four hours, compared with four days last year. (The budget was for a total of $A983,892—5885,000 of it from the financial contributions of the six participating governments, which have agreed to increase their contributions by 10 per cent this year.) T SPC has "<* -ceded to ‘hemse $ lves qU be S allowed 6 financial contributions to help them become more responsible; or thS dele B ates be elected by their territories rather than be nominated But these are matters that can be

discussed next year when the Ninth South Pacific Conference is expected to set up a review committee “to the results of the recent changes in the conference and the commission and consider what further changes might appear desirable”, Ratu Mara would have liked to have seen the review conference established immediately, but one at a time is good fishing, and he has no reason to be dissatisfied at the size of this year’s catch. Next year it looks like Mr. Albert Henry, of the Cooks, will be in the conference chair, and the work of softening up what s left of the opposition should continue apace,

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' ° ** Certainly with Nauru, and pre sumably Tonga (soon to get full independence) sitting at the corn missioner’s table at next year’s con ference, the days of dominance by metropolitan commissioners will have

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h Paternalism once was acceptable, but today, as Ratu Mara has said, the terntones have grown up.

If . the metropolitan powers had continued to insist on being over lords ’ listening with only half an ear to Islanders droning away on a largely irrelevant agenda drawn up by somebody else 12 months ahead the SPC would have been wrecked’ . * . eir recognition of the facts . . in me Pacific today’s com

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Certainly there is still some way to go > some technical problems to be overcome before the SPC will be come geared to the new pace. But its crisis is over, and that is a very yeTr ™ b ' rthday ** fOT itS 2,St