Perfidious Albion' again!
pp. 8-9 · Read in the full issue
From a Noumea correspondent
“Leftist” British civil servants in the New Hebrides have been accused of intervening in local politics to keep their stranglehold on the coun try, with the aid of Australia.
The charges, made by the French press in Noumea, are not new. Be sides pointing up old rivalries be tween Britain and France, they underline the current French desire to “catch up” on what they admit is the superior influence of the British over the indigenous people in the condominium.
The accusation is made by the weekly Journal Caledonien which, while under different editors, made similar charges three years ago, in volving the Australian consul in an affair which lead to his removal from Noumea.
An interesting point to the latest story is that it is published on the “local news” page where all articles concern Caledonians. The writer explains: “The fate of the New Heb rides cannot be of no consequence to New Caledonia. Too many bonds unite the two territories for an Eng lish take-over of one of them not to have any repercussions on the other”.
The latest article, printed in April, underlining the French effort to out class the British, said that it was well known that the “English in fluence is stronger than the French in the Condominium”, the French writer claiming that “for some years France has rapidly been catching up in this regard. Indeed there are now more school children studying in the French language schools than in English”.
This speeding up of the French interests, which “could reverse the balance of power” has supposedly prodded the English civil servants into action in order to “overtake France and do all they can to hasten the process towards independence”, As for a portrait of these daring English civil servants, they are des cribed as “at least progressivists, often leftists, come straight from Kenya”. Their objective is to “hasten independence in the New Hebrides and to achieve it in three years”, The Noumea article concludes that it is presumably these problems which brought Mr Robert Gauger, Resident French Commissioner in Vila, to visit French High Com
missioner in the Pacific, Mr Jean- Gabriel Eriau, in Noumea, in April.
Mr Gauger has, no doubt, had to cope with more dangerous “auto nomist” activities, as he was re portedly born on the island of Cor sica (home of the Mafia-like Union Corse) and has recently served in :he French territory of Djibouti, where deaths in public demonstra ions prompted more liberal French ittitudes in recent years.
Meanwhile, “perfidious Albion”, as he French traditionally refer to their ;ver-suspect English neighbours, offered a similar attack by the Journal Caledonien in February 1972. fhat episode led to the recall of Mr Man Edwards, then Australian con ul in Noumea, after the paper illeged he was supporting the Cale lonian autonomy movement.
At the same time the paper tressed French concern at the grow ng Australian interest in the New lebrides. Citing the presence of )antas, Australian banks and other iusiness interests, the paper claimed hat a plot was underway with “the rand dream of Great Britain: the reation of a Pacific Commonwealth, diich she would direct through Australia”. The paper explained that the English would very much like 3 abandon the condominium, but le French mean to stay and con nue to help the people”.
Meanwhile, the fact that metro olitan French journalists should rig p such offshore battle scenes be veen Britain and France or Austra a and New Zealand suggests that )me outside enemy is required to istract the Caledonians and relieve le stress of their own political and :onomic confrontations with Paris.
Meanwhile, in the New Hebrides, ranee is gearing up for a last-minute ash to win the Anglo-French relay; rst lap will be the municipal elec ons planned for July. The second )rint will be fore the first territorial :tions later in the year.