Pangu Party starts in uni.

From LUKE SELA in Port Moresby

Staff and students at the Uni

versity of Papua-New Guinea

have formed a branch of the

Pangu Political Party.

This is the first time that any political party in Papua-New Guinea has been able to establish a branch within the university.

The Pangu Political Party was established in 1966, at a time when many other political parties were being formed in Papua-New Guinea for 1968 general elections. Pangu entered the general election in 1968 with nominated candidates. The out come was nine Pangu Political mem bers in the Papua-New Guinea parliament.

Today it remains the only properly organised political party in the ter ritory. Pangu Party has recently pub lished its own newspaper, Pangu Pati Nius”, which it hopes will become a monthly newspaper.

It now claims to have a total of 9,000 financial memberships through out Papua-New Guinea. Among other aims of the party, Pangu is seeking immediate self-government, unity for people of all races, an independent view of political events at national and local level, and to serve as a means of political education for the people.

Recruiting campaign

There are 12 staff and 38 students in the new branch on the campus.

There are plans to launch a recruiting campaign within the university. Although the stated aims of the Pangu Party are appearing less and less radical as time passes, it’s attracting some rather radical students with strong political ideas, notably, the President, Mr. Leo Hannett, who, against Pangu’s policy, has advocated openly an independent Bougainville (or is it Buka?).

Doing 'the right thing'

by Papua-New Guinea i

The Australian Labour Party \ Opposition is due to spell out its? policies on Papua-New Guinea i in detail shortly in a book to be;

published by the Australian!

National University Press.

It’s understood that these policies ? will include the abolishing of the pre sent Department of External Terri tories, the passing of administering? power in the territory from Canberra/ to Port Moresby, and the inclusion ofl the running of external territories? within the Department of External 1 Affairs (which may take on a division/ of Relationships with the South / Pacific).

These policies go even further than/ the requirement stated by the mem ber for Manus, Mr. W. Lussick, on/ behalf of the House of Assembly’s?

Select Committee for Constitutional!

Development in Canberra on 2, when the committee was there for; talks with the present Liberal Gov ernment.

The “division” of External Affairs? would in effect comprise the Papua- New Guinea Administration as itJ stands now, with the exception of the; native public servants in it who would 1 be the growing local public service,, taking over the self-government the; Labour leader, Mr. Gough Whitlam,, promised in January shortly aften labour gains power (that’s the plan,, anyway) at the next election.

Mere instrument

The Administration then would be\ the Australian Government’s division/ administering Papua-New Guinea, in stead of being merely an instrument! of a Canberra department, with all I the problems of distance and lack ofi communication which have afflicted! administration here for so long.

Australian public servants in the; Administration would become Com monwealth public servants, solving the; vexing problem of what to do withe Australians being levered out by the; “indigenisation” of the public service; here. Absorbing many hundreds off people into the Commonwealth Public: Service (one figure suggested is 3,000)( would create its own problems, butt Labour sources say the party would! prefer this to “being deterred from/ doing the right thing by an entire; nation, by considering the special! needs and futures of a comparative; handful of expatriates.”

Move for compulsory

unionism in P-NG

General secretary of the New Guinea’s Pangu Party, Mr. Albert Maori Kiki, has had mixed success lately.

He became vice president of the newly-formed Industrial Relations Society (president is Secretary for Labour, Mr. D. J. Parrish), but was solidly rebuffed when he came up with his solution to faltering trade unionism. He plumped for com pulsory unionism.

There was an attempt at “closed shop” unionism by an elected mem ber of New Guinea’s first parliament of 1964, but it was quickly knocked on the head. Unionism and general politics have come a }ong way since then, and when Mr. Kiki suggested compulsory unionism there were many (especially New Guineans) to support him.

But vice-president of the Federa tion of Chambers of Commerce, Mr.

M. N. Stravs, of Mt. Hagen, hit back hard. “Compulsory unionism would give union bosses almost un limited power—it would be the end of free unionism—it would open wide the door to graft, corruption and gangsterism,” he said.

He suggested that if New Guinea’s unions were short of money, they should ask the Australian unions and the Australian Labour Party for help “because these organisations have made a lot of political capital out of New Guinea and its problems” recently.

No converts for

obedience

New Guineans, it seems, are not attracted to the religious life of poverty, chastity and obedience.

At any rate, the Anglican Society of St. Francis has only one fully professed Papuan brother—and a handful of native novices—after more than 10 years in the territory.

And a Franciscan spokesman has given the society’s failure to attract more New Guineans as one of the reasons for pulling out of its house in the Port Moresby suburb of Hohola at the end of May.

The Franciscans lived in Hohola for just over two years. Now they have handed it over to the parish and it’s expected that a Torres Strait island priest will be appointed to take charge there.

Brother Geoffrey, head friar of the Franciscans’ Pacific Province, says; “Of course, we had no intern

tion of having the Hohola house for a long time, though we thought it was a work we ought to start.

“But there just aren’t enough New Guinean brothers. They aren’t join ing us, and those who do aren’t staying.”

Bro. Geoffrey continued: “We felt that to have three houses in the ter ritory”—there are two others, at Koki in Port Moresby and at Jegarata near Popondetta—“when the people are not responding, is not a right use of our resources.

“If we are going to do more effective work in this country there must be a greater response from the men of this country and from the mothers, to be willing for their sons to join us.”

Bro. Geoffrey said New Guinean reticence was in sharp contrast to the enthusiasm of Solomon Islanders, many of who have joined the society.

Indeed, the demand for the society from that direction is such that the Franciscans are about to open a new house in Honiara.

But Bro. Geoffrey indicated that this would probably be the society’s last new move for some time. “We feel we have reached the limits of our expansion for the time being,” he said, “and must now start to consolidate our work”.

Samoan and Tongan

are Port Chaplains

For the first time in its 114-year history the world-wide Missions to Seamen now numbers a Samoan and a Tongan among its honorary Port Chaplains.

The Yen. Jabez Bryce, of Samoa, now serves in Lautoka, Viti Levu, and the Rev. Sosia Fineanganofo, of Tonga, is at Levuka, Ovalau.

Both ports are in Fiji in the 11,500,000 square mile Diocese of Polynesia. Their appointments were announced by the Rev. Roy Chalkley, Missions to Seamen Port Chaplain in Suva.

Using practical means

to beat Jon Frum

Members of the Jon Frum move ment, a cargo cult movement in the southern islands of the New Hebrides, are being wooed back to Christianity by a new Presbyterian body. Called the Kristian Institute of Technology of Weasisi, it is led on Tanna by the Rev. Ken Calvert.

According to the Presbyterian magazine, Encounter, KITOW is holding “verbal football matches” with members of the cult. The cult, it says, was formed many years ago

largely as a protest against the con siderable difference of living standards between Europeans and Hebrideans living on Tanna.

“We (remember the Frummies are in their leadership ex-christians who know their Bibles) argue the toss with them about the validity of the Christian faith”, Encounter goes on.

“The ammunition is supplied by the small cottage industries that KITOW is enabling to be set up in which local people are earning for them selves the material goods and the better standard of living which Jon Frum offered by magical means but has not supplied.”

Pastor to work

for Hebrideans

A Presbyterian pastor is to be sent from the New Hebrides to New Caledonia to work alongside the 1,500 Hebrideans currently earning big money in the nickel factories of Noumea. The news follows pleas (see report in P/M, June, p. 66) that some sort of Presbyterian pre sence should look after the needs of expatriate Hebrideans in Noumea.

The decision was arrived at at the recent Presbyterian Church Assembly.

Since early 1969 a total of six Presbyterian preachers have spent brief periods in the Caledonian capital working by day and perform ing pastoral duties by night. But there has never been a permanent worker.

Polynesian Diocese

fa elect bishop

The Anglican Diocese of Poly nesia will now elect its own bishop, the Bishop in Polynesia announced in Suva at the end of May.

In making this announcement, Bishop J. T. Holland stated that, “This major step forward in local self-determination is most appropri ate to this year of Fiji’s independence and the 100th anniversary of Anglican work here.”

In the past the Anglican Church in Polynesia did not elect its bishop directly but submitted the names of three men to the bishops in New Zealand, who could appoint any one of the three or, failing an appoint ment, call for further submissions.