Mr. Henry speaks out

By a staff writer

The Premier of the Cook Islands, Mr. Albert Henry, is all for “togetherness” in the South Pacific Commission, but he also sees danger in some territories having too great a say in SPC affairs.

He made this clear at a news conference in Sydney in April. He said he intended to visit Canberra to find out what Australia’s views were on the future of the commission, as he was “rather worried personally” about where the SPC was headed.

He said he believed in the original concept of the SPC, where politics were absent. But now politics were moving into it and the face of the SPC was changing—he thought unconstitutionally. The trouble was that as small territories grew up, they began to speak as a nation, and as a nation they began to talk too much politics. They pushed in a particular direction, and it was a pity if they were allowed to change the concept, j Asked whether he had m mind dominion and whose leader had been r s ' ? ,e M ™ £ r 'Z n lrinn. n d eS Jd the SPC, Mr Henry grinned, and said he wouidn t like to name any particular names. But he managed to give the impression that it was Fiji he had in mind.

He added: “Metropolitan governments should have another good look at the SPC. If we in the Pacific want to do something silly, should they let us do it? I think changes in the SPC might be coming, too soon. Ten or 20 years might be

time enough for changes. We shouldn’t move too fast”, Mr. Henry added that he would like to see the South Pacific terri tories and the metropolitan powers remain together in their thinking, and not merely agree every year at a conference table. “There is together ness around the South Pacific Con ference table, but it is lost when we get up from that table”, he said.

In New Zealand the previous month, the secretary-general of the South Pacific Commission, West Samoan Afoafouvale Misimoa, also had had a few pertinent words to say about the future of the corn mission, but he was more optimistic than Mr. Henry.

He told a Press conference that i s i an( j s delegates to the regular South Pacific Conferences had to have more in the affairs of , h commission because this was “P a « of the evolu tion of the commission-foreseen w h e n the commission was established in 194r > The sooner it came the better He t b oug ht it a good thing that delegates to the conference should change around, and he wouldn’t like to see any set pattern established for selecting them. He said he thought it was a good thing to have civil ser vants as well as politicians at the conferences.

The "Father", Mount Ulawun, on New Britain, had calmed down when Capt. H. R.

Janulis, acting superintendent of Marine, Port Moresby, took this picture from 8,000 ft.

The mountain (in February nearby workers had to be evacuated) was belching smoke and ash to a height of 20,000 ft. The Father is now settling down again.