Norfolk's Plan

For People

By a staff reporter

The future growth of the residen al population of Norfolk Island hould be geared to the tourist idustry. This is outlined in a report n future population growth by Pro ;ssor Gilbert J. Butland, Pro Vice -hancellor of the University of New England, NSW. He made the survey t the request of the Department of ic ACT, which now controls Norfolk dand.

Apart from limitation of popula on, Professor Butland also recom lends restrictions on tourist growth, le number of vehicles available for ire by tourists, no further extensions f the road network and the number f beds for tourists.

Professor Butland said it was im ossible for Norfolk Island to finance le development needed without in reased customs duties and without icome tax. The duty-free aspect at resent did little to enhance the appeal f the island. It provided a limited mount of revenue and was not a gnificant factor in luring tourists to le island. If fiscal changes phased ut duty-free shopping and introduced n airport tax, the marginal effect on mrism could easily be absorbed ithout the normal growth.

The suggested control on the umber of tourists is likely to be a otly-debated issue, and is one which mst inevitably lead to the growth of bureaucracy. There would be no ther way of allowing tourist arrivals ) grow by 60 per cent during the 974-83 decade, as recommended by rofessor Butland.

He suggested increases of 500 a ear from the present 12,500 to 0,000. To control the number of rrivals, there should be closely co rdinated co-operation between the ir carrier and the Norfolk Island burist Board, so that travel bookings 'ere related to available accommoda on. The number of beds available i 1983 should constitute the laximum figure. The same year iould see a limit of 300 of the umber of hire vehicles, cars, motor ycles and scooters available for mting by tourists.

In recommending no further ex msions to the road network, Profes jr Butland said all roads should be saled in the five-year period 1975-80. teps should be taken to ensure that lotor traffic did not leave the roads 3 encroach on reserves and commons.

The professor suggested that a 3

per cent maximum annual increase of ordinary resident population would be a slow but satisfactory progression from an economic angle. Once the maximum tourist intake of 20,000 was reached in 1983 it would be pre ferable to reduce residential popu lation growth from 3 per cent to 2 per cent. The 2 per cent would be made up of a .75 per cent annual increase and a 1.25 per cent immigra tion increase each year. Policies would have to be devised to limit residential population to a maximum of 20,000 by 1983.

Professor Butland recommended the launching of a major programme of land-use. By 1983, the whole historical area between Cemetery Bay and Watermill Valley and south of Quality Row should be developed into a well-preserved and model historical attraction, at the same time as restoration and rebuilding work was continued north of Quality Row.

New sport' tor

New Caledonians

Soaring prices and tax fears, despite possible sporting side-effects, continue to harrass Caledonians amid predic tions that this year’s rise in the cost of living index could reach 18 per cent. This is the increase workers claim actually occurred last year, although the official figure, by which wages are automatically adjusted, was only 7 per cent.

As New Caledonia’s largest unions battle for wage hikes of 15 per cent to 20 per cent the French admini stration has revealed that in the first quarter of this year the cost of living index jumped 4.5 per cent.

Critical eyes are thus strained on every item which enters into the calculation of the index, from theatre tickets to basic food items. Since 90 per cent of the island’s consumer goods are supplied from abroad, the population is extremely vulnerable to imported inflation. Main target of the authorities is the expensive bill for foodstuffs, imported mainly from Australia whose currency has risen about 30 per cent against the French Pacific Franc (CFP) since July 1973.

Over the past five years, the island’s food import bill has tripled from 1,450 million CFP in 1968 to 4,290 million CFP in 1973. Last year, Cale donians were told they could save about one-third of their SA3O-odd million food import bill if greater efforts were made in agriculture at home. Since assuming office early this year, Governor Eriau has emphasised the need to step up local production of beef and other primary products, and graziers are now being paid higher meat prices for this pur pose.

As the economic situation deter iorates, a tougher line on imports could be imposed. And, as if galloping prices are not problem enough, Governor Eriau has told the Cale donians that they cannot expect to keep holding out their hand for aid from metropolitan French taxpayers to continue paying for the territory’s investment expenditure. Speaking in mid-April, the governor underlined the island’s current budgetary prob lems and pointed out that in view of the massive infrastructure develop ments required, the present tax system of relying solely on import and export taxes to fill the territory’s coffers was no longer sufficient.

Currently, this revenue leaves only scanty funds for capital expenditure after covering the cost of a massive build-up in the public service.

As the day of reckoning draws nearer, the Caledonian spine is left shuddering at the likelihood of the Territorial Assembly being forced to vote in personal income tax, on top of the present indirect taxes. And as one French journalist painfully point ed out, the big companies have ways of getting around the system, but for the little man, his pay slip is also his tax slip.

The only bright side of the matter would be the popular metropolitan French sport this would introduce to the island in the form of “System D” wangling—the highly-refined sport of tax-dodging. But by then, there will be enough gendarmes and military helicopters to ensure that the game is played by Paris rules.

Solomons' fish

for Europe

The first shipment of Solomon- Taiyo canned fish left Honiara on the freighter Linden Bank in April, A spokesman for Solomon-Taiyo, the Taiyo Fishery Company-Solomon Islands Government joint venture, said 5,000 cartons of first grade tuna were going to Liverpool, England, and 5,750 cartons to Hamburg, West Germany. The fish would be mar keted in Europe by the Taiyo com pany.

Canning of fish began at Tulagi in the BSl’s Florida Islands, last

October, and the factory worked upj to standards necessary for overseas, markets before the end of the year.' The first shipment went to Japan. ' In May, another 15,000 cartons of half-pound cans were expected tc be shipped to Europe.

Solomon-Taiyo has made am agreement with villagers on Gelaj the main island of the Florida groups to compensate them for catching bait fish in their fishing waters.

The government Fisheries Officen arranged a three-hour meeting aftei villagers had complained. Village leaders agreed to accept a Solomon- Taiyo offer of one dollar to each village every time a boat caught bait fish offshore, and SlO a month to the Gela Local Government Council.

Each village has appointed some one to watch for the bait fishing boats.

Japanese to build

up Fiji cannery

The Pacific Fishing Co Ltd plans to build up its business at Levuka.

Fiji, with a new tuna canning factory; The company now operates a small cannery in its fish processing works producing tinned tuna flakes, light meat and white meat.

The company says very little about its affairs, but it is one of the “big ,J industries in Fiji, exporting $5 milliot to S 7 million worth of fish to the United States each year. That revenue places it as No 3 in Fiji’s industries behind sugar and tourism.

The managing director, Mr Hite Yamaguchi, said the cannery woulc provide employment for about 40( people. Experienced canners woulc go to Fiji from Japan to train loca! staff.

Many more fishing boats would be needed to catch fish for the cannery At present the company spend! $BOO,OOO to $1 million a year or fishing boats which operate out oi Levuka.

Second jet

for Nauru

Nauru was expecting the arrival oJ a second Fokker F2B jet airliner lasi month, to take place on the republic’; Constitution Day. The plane was coming from Amsterdam.

President Hammer Deßoburt alse recently announced that 11 nev positions for air hostesses with the Nauru airline, Air Nauru, had beer created. Following local advertise; ments seven girls had been recruiter and had begun training in Naun under the guidance of the chid

hostess. After this, they were ex pected to go to Melbourne for a course in emergency procedures train ing at Ansett Airlines.

President Deßoburt

calls at Saipan

Nauru’s involvement in transport in the US Trust Territory was dis cussed during a visit President Ham mer Deßoburt paid to Saipan early in May. Nauru Pacific Line was re cently given permission to serve various points in the Trust Territory after Transpac went into receiver ship.

President Deßoburt met govern ment officials, including the Director of Transportation and Communica tions, Mr Joseph Beadles, and several Saipan businessmen. He met the High Commissioner, Mr Edward E.

Johnston, before leaving for Majuro.

Tongo's share

of tourism's loot

The tourist industry earned Tonga an estimated $1.5 million in 1973.

Statistics prepared by the Tonga Visitors’ Bureau show that tourists (those who stay at least one night) brought in $744,694, while sea cruise passengers spent $690,232.

Australia provided 22,465 visitors —about 60 per cent of the total.

Most of those arrived by ship and stayed only one day. But Australians, on the average spent most time in Tonga—lB days, compared with 10 days for New Zealanders and six days for Americans.

The major cruise ship activity is between October and March, although the season is expanding and more ships are calling in the third quarter of the year.

Three powers to help

with Purari project

Consultants from Australia, Japan and the United States will work to gether in a full-scale feasibility study, scheduled to start in October, of the Purari River hydro-electricity scheme in Papua. There has been much talk of the scheme costing $l,OOO million, but in these days of inflation that figure is little better than an inspired guess.

If the study recommends a “go ahead” it could eventually mean a series of dams with more than twice the generating capacity of the Snowy Mountains scheme in Australia. The study is expected to take three years.

A start could be made on the first dam in the Wabo area late in 1977.

Japan had no intention of mono

polising the Purari scheme, the Japanese Ambassador to Australia, Mr H. Yoshida, said during a fact finding tour of PNG in May. He said that more Japanese industrial miss ions would visit the Purari area to look at potential factory sites.

Meanwhile the PNG Government has raised a loan of $7.2 million from the World Bank to finance other electricity projects. The money will be re-lent to the Electricity Commission. Some of it will be used to buy electricity distribution equip ment and pay the expatriate training officers’ wages. • More than 140 people from the Philippines have arrived in Port Moresby to take up public ser vice positions. They include doctors, tutor nurses, stenographers, en gineers, surveyors, mechanics, tech nical and secondary teachers, lino type operators and draughtsmen.

Another group is expected to arrive on June 26. • The Niue Development Board has introduced a passionfruit com petition this year to encourage higher production, and better maintenance and care of plantations. The com petition will be decided over the whole year, with NDB and Agri culture Department field officers conducting regular inspections.