Paradise In The Pacific?

Does A Tax Haven Create A

By Dominick Halliday

Political change may well pass the New Hebrides by for the foreseeable future, in spite of local churchmen who are doing their best to form a National Party in a country where no nationality exists. Two local reverend fathers, Lini and Bani, have tried to catch up with the Presbyterians, but these clergymen are invisible to the business community in Vila, which is fully occupied in digging itself into the increasingly unattractive town of Vila.

Although there is a British “pre sence” on the islands, they are far more a French than a British sphere of influence, and the rapidly expanding French schools on several islands, the high standard of the French lycees on Vate (Efate) and Santo, do a great deal to increase that. The British schools, where they exist, are more on the level of mis sionary bush-classes of 50 years ago, and the occasional student who manages to reach the university in Fiji or New Guinea, does so by a miracle.

France is not going to give self government, much less independence to New Caledonia, where the Euro peans outnumber the Pacific islanders, also largely immigrants. Nor will she (land over Tahiti and its military t>ase to Messrs Sandford and Pou /aana a Oopa nor install a republic a la Nauru in the Wallis islands.

Fhese are the realities which deter mine what France is likely to do in .he New Hebrides, and not the wish mi thinking of journalists reporting meetings of vocal churchmen.

Whether something should be done or the New Hebrideans, is quite an ther matter. Some writers have itated that at their first contact with Europeans early in the XlXth cen ury, there were 800,000 inhabitants.

Hie remaining 70,000 or 80,000 (the official census of 1967 was probably io better than many other official lets in the condominium), remain argely invisible, the ‘man-bush’ of Malekula or the west coast of Espiritu ilanto.

In Vila there is much speculation is to what were the instructions of Mr du Boulay the new UK Resident Commissioner, from HMG. It appears ikely that the choice of a former senior member of HM Embassy in 3 aris, was to work more closely with

the French, rather than systematically against them like his predecessor, Mr Allen, now Governor of the Sey chelles, a more turbulent island para dise.

Mr Stasi, French minister of the TOM (overseas territories), has already been in trouble with Mr Pom pidou for speaking too freely, and was to go to London in February for discussions which would include the New Hebrides. We can conclude that the British will urge movement to wards self-government, that the French will urge indefinite delay, and that as usual when a conjoint decision is required in the condominium, nothing will be done. With Mr Mess mer, a former High-Commissioner of French and West Africa, and ex- Overseas Territories Minister, as Prime Minister, Mr Stasi was not likely to arrive with a brief for rapid self-government of the New Hebrides.

French residents on Vate now note with pleasure, that the European population is growing rapidly, and look forward to a situation, as in New Caledonia, where whites will be in the majority on Vate. Meanwhile the British refuse residential permits to those who have chosen their juris diction, and the French systematically grant them.

However, Mr Peacock, of Hawaii, who obtained money from about 2,000 retired Americans to establish themselves in a new ‘Miami’ at Hog Harbour on Espiritu Santo, although he chose the French jurisdiction, found himself prohibited from grant ing titles to his clients, by the British administration.

Mr Huguet, the baker in Santo, who hoped to set up a bakery in the

new “town”, brought an action against the French Resident, but the court decided in August, 1973, that Mr Peacock had no right to sub divide. The retired Americans cannot now establish themselves in their bush paradise.

The real Anglo-Saxon bridgehead is the business community in Vila; Australians, and British from Nassau and elsewhere, who have established nine banks and four trust companies to give an address to several hundred companies for tax purposes. The ex tent of their business is as unknown as that of Swiss banks, but they ap pear optimistic.

There are, of course, many more ways of channelling money out of Australia to the New Hebrides, than were dreamed of by Minister Gordon M. Bryant. The main Australian weapon against the ‘tax-haven’ has been to allow incoming telex mes sages, but to block all outgoing mes sages between Sydney and Vila.

For those who imagine that a tax haven is a paradise, let it be said that in Vila, where supplies are erratic and where there is no shadow of rent or price control, one would be better off paying Australian prices and taxes. Standards of housing are low and very high-cost; some res taurants and hotels are of bush stan dard; provide you with a whitewashed concrete cell with no air-conditioning for SA2O a night, and the famed cuisine francaise vaunted to tourists, becomes an expensive ($l5 to $2O for two) affair in which all-imported, frozen or tinned products are covered with French-style sauces to conceal their age and tastelessness.

Mr Peacock’s retired Americans,

Haven in Paradise?

who thought they were going to create a Pacific island paradise in thick bush south of Hog Harbour, may have been saved by the last British Resident from a Robinson I Crusoe existence, which would have ended in their running out of whisky and cutting up each other with bush knives borrowed from the rare New Hebrideans.

Now, into this haven comes a Swiss bank. The Geneva-based “Banque Gutzwiller, Kurz, Bungener S.A.”, has opened a branch in the New Hebrides under the name of the Bank Gutzwiller, Kurz, Bungener Overseas (Limited). This is the first New Hebrides affiliate of a Swiss bank.

Although the significance of the bank in Switzerland is hard to judge —because its operations are specialised—two shareholders are the fourth and fifth largest Swiss banks: the Banque Populaire Suisse and Bank Leu. The New Hebrides branch, which opened in December, has a paid-in share capital of half a million Australian dollars.

The bank hopes to help develop a “Pacific-dollar market”, correspond ing to the more familiar Eurodollar and Asiadollar markets. Its main business will be financing and under writing new issues, and the bank ex pects most of its customers to be other banks in Switzerland, in other European countries and the United States.

The Vila branch is registered under British law. A lawyer went to the Slew Hebrides for the negotiations. A oank official in Geneva said there yere some difficulties, but the nego iations did not take “too long”, fhere is, of course, the Australian jovernment’s attitude towards finan :ial operations in the New Hebrides 0 be considered, but the bank ob viously feels that the possibilities of jetting in on the ground floor of a ‘Pacific-dollar market” make the (ranch in Vila worthwhile.

Staff has been sent in for the early tperations, but the bank expects to mploy local people later. The Banque iutzwiller, Kurz, Bungener SA tarted in Geneva in May of 1969, nd also has a branch in the Baha las. • Mr Thomas A. Peckham, 39, :as been appointed passenger liaison fficer for Polynesian Airlines at Nadi Airport. He joined the travel industry 1 1963 as traffic officer of Fiji Air fays, now Air Pacific.