Pacific problems overshadowed at

the Commonwealth Conference

From MATT WILSON, who covered the Commonwealth Prime Ministers’

Conference in Singapore.

The voice of the South Pacific was almost drowned at the Commonwealth Conference by emotion-charged pronouncements, mainly from African delegates, about Britain’s proposal to sell arms to South Africa. Before the conference started, the arms debate was warming-up and by the time talks actually got under way, the Press and a good many of the delegates were in a state of near-hysteria.

It seemed that arms-for-South Africa was the only issue worthy of a place on the agenda. But in their quiet, dignified way, the three Prime Ministers from the Islands did man age to leave a mark on the meeting.

In fact Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore and the con ference chairman, was moved to say of Fiji’s Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, “We have heard many eloquent ad dresses and I would particularly like to mention the Prime Minister of Fiji. He spoke with simplicity and he spoke with sincerity and he won the respect of us all.”

Perhaps Mr. Lee was engaging in polite niceties as a gesture to the newest Commonwealth member, but Premier Lee is not a man to waste words and time on mere gestures.

A delegate from Barbados put into words the feelings of many other delegations when he told me, “The three new members [Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa all joined the Com monwealth last year] made a very good impression. They are impres sive people, they spoke well and pre sented their cases well.”

The Islands delegations, led by Ratu Sir Kamisese, Prince Tui’pele hake and Tamasese Lealofi, adopted the strategy of a joint approach to the conference and its agenda. But they made it clear that they were not working from a common brief.

They felt a protest about the French nuclear tests near Tahiti would carry more weight with the force of three Prime Ministers be hind it than an objection from a solitary delegation.

The French and their A-bomb tests have become a prime target for Pacific leaders. They were at the re ceiving end of some angry protests during the South Pacific Conference in Suva last September. This result

ed in a walk-out by Mr. H. Nettre, the senior French Commissioner.

The Commonwealth Conference for the first time gave Islanders the opportunity to personally air their feelings about the French tests on a world stage. They asked for Com monwealth support in pressuring the French to stop the tests.

How effective the call will be, re mains to be seen. But France might —just might—start to listen if she receives representations from a powerful group of nations like the Commonwealth.

The Islanders should now follow up their initial salvo and find out how, in practical terms, the Com monwealth can twist the French tail for them, and if in fact it will do so.

It’s entirely possible that not all the Commonwealth countries will be prepared to support the Islanders. I gather, for instance, that there was some hair-splitting over the phrase ology to be used in the conference communique in the section dealing with the South West Pacific.

Some delegates felt that by saying that they “shared” the Pacific con cern at the tests—and the American transfer of poison gas to Johnston Island—they would be aligning themselves too closely with the pro tests.

This, for reasons known only to themselves, they apparently did not want to do. So someone proposed that “share” should be replaced by “recognise”. By saying that they “recognised” the Islanders’ concern, rather than “sharing” it, they felt they would be in a more detached position.

Procedures of this sort were nor mal during the preparation of a communique, the Islanders discover ed. Hours could be spent on discus sing the implications of one word or phrase.

Sir Keith Holyoake, Prime Minis ter of New Zealand, provided a cur ious sidelight to the fears expressed by the Islanders about the Ameri cans storing poison gas at Johnston Island (see p. 31).

The Islanders wondered with some reason why their “front doorstep” should be used as a dumping ground for the gas. And they pointed out that in Okinawa, from where it was to be moved, residents had evacuated their homes.

I therefore asked Sir Keith, “Elder Statesman” of the Commonwealth, and leader of one of the Islands’ big gest neighbours, if he would give his support to their protests.

Sir Keith, always accommodating with the Press, gave me a few min utes of his time before going back to the conference hall for an after noon session.

He went through his anti-test rou tine with practised professionalism, pointing out that in the past he had protested about the tests on behalf of Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands. He had in fact raised the question at previous Commonwealth conferences and at the United Nations, he said.

When I asked him whether he would support the poison gas pro test, Sir Keith gave the surprising reply: “I don’t know anything about that. I have no comment on that.”

I could only assume there was a remarkable gap in Sir Keith’s know ledge of Pacific affairs, especially when the gas story had received newspaper coverage during the weeks before the conference.

But Prime Ministers are busy men, and one can only assume that aides had not thought the matter was im portant enough to brief him on.

Perhaps the greatest contribution the Islanders made to the meeting

was their South-Seas style of opera tions.

A member of the Samoan delega tion for instance amazed delegates and journalists with his Sinatra-style crooning in the bar of the Hilton.

A Tongan delegate made the crack, “Why all this fuss about arms when there are all these legs about?” (He was gazing appreciatively at the waitress serving drinks at a re ception).

And the Prime Minister of Fiji was able to bring an occasional touch of light relief to the some times stiff and tense meetings.

“They’re like a breath of fresh air,” one veteran newsman said.

This is not to say that the Islanders took the conference lightly.

It was their first joint foray into international politics—and the close ups they got of some of the world leaders in action should serve them well when they evolve their own foreign policies.

There was the technical assistance aspect of the meeting too, and the establishment of useful contacts and the exchange of ideas between lead ers of countries with similar prob lems.

Among the successful background talks at tiie conference was one be tween Fiji’s Ratu Mara and Britain’s Prime Minister Heath on the Com monwealth Sugar Agreement. Britain announced it was awaiting a reply from the EEC about a British pro posal, to begin in 1975 if accepted, for special marketing arrangements for Fiji and Mauritius sugar. Ratu Mara expressed himself “quite pleased”.

Ratu Mara also asked Mr. Heath for British training of Fiji army officers. Australia’s Prime Minister John Gorton displayed a willingness to allow Fiji craftsmen to be trained in Australia, and has asked Ratu Mara for firm proposals.

At the conference itself, the Western Samoan Prime Minister, Tupua Tamasese Lealofi, said the intrusion of foreign fishing vessels into Samoan waters was a problem for Samoans, “who are dependent on the sea for much of their liveli hood . It was, he said, a more pressing problem for Samoans “than it is for this distinguished gather ing”.

Ratu Mara was to make an offi cial visit to India following the con .erence, and was to have talks with ECAFE headquarters in Bangkok.