West Irian Look?
p. 53 · Read in the full issue
Where Would A Free
In an article in the Australian newspaper, Sydney, on July 2, Peter Hastings, the newspaper’s South- East Asia correspondent, who is also editor of the New Guinea Quarterly, strongly criticised Percy Chatterton for having introduced a resolution in the P-NG House of Assembly in June which condemned the West Irian act of free choice “as not being free”, and asking the UN for a proper referendum. The resolution was overwhelmingly passed.
Hastings said that the loss of West Irian, “especially if accompanied by foreign meddling”, could have explosive results in Indonesia, possibly unseating the present liberal regime.
Djakarta was neither insensitive to the conditions of West Irian’s internal dissidents nor unaware of world opinion. Last year it spent more in West Irian than in any other part of the republic.
He said he did not intend to excuse Indonesian excesses in West Irian—whether shootings, gaolings or intimidation of dissidents—although, in Indonesian eyes, they were merely rebels to be treated like rebels anywhere else in the republic.
But if West Irian were to declare itself indepen dent, where would it look?
“It would get no help from the big powers, which value their relations with Indonesia far more than aiding the world’s most non-viable state, comprising 800,000 people,” Hastings said.
“Encouraged by Mr. Chatterton’s resolution it would look to P-NG in the hope, if not in the belief, that it would be subsidised, like New Guinea, by Australia. It would look to union with East New Guinea as a one-island eventually independent state; and in the present mood of hysteria in Port Moresby one wouldn’t be surprised if New Guinea politicians responded to the notion. But not for long. In such a fantastic situation, would Mr. Chatterton, Bishop Hand, or any single New Guinea politician, advocate spending half the Australian annual subsidy and a substantial portion of internal revenue on essential West Irian development?
“Mr. Chatterton has undoubtedly done Australia and New Guinea a grave disservice with his resolu tion. Ironically, he has done the West Irianese an even greater disservice, and a cruel one, by raising unrealistic hopes that New Guinea, if not Australia, will raise the flag of freedom and come to the rescue.
“When New Guineans become independent in the not-so-distant future they will have problems enough with a dissident Indonesian province on their border without expatriate politicians, however honest and however sincere, here and now creating dangerous dilemmas for them to inherit.”