Pacific Report
pp. 5-6 · Read in the full issue
Its President Hammer Again!
Chief Hammer Deßoburt, deposed as president of Nauru six teen months ago, became president again the second week in May, successfully ending a bitter battle against the Nauru Party, a battle which has had the Republic in a turmoil. Several weeks =kjo his supporters, for the second time, forced the resignation Df President Bernard Dowiyogo, defeating a bill in Parliament jealing with phosphate royalties. Mr Lagumot Harris succeeded Mr Dowiyogo but he resigned after only a couple of weeks in Dffice when Parliament rejected an appropriations bill designed :o finance the republic until the end of this year. Chief Hammer /vas elected in the ballot that followed, a Nauru Party supporter obviously transferred his allegiance because voting in the last hree elections was in the Nauru Party’s favour by 9 votes to 3. The Party strength, however, is expected to remain the same n Parliament. President Hammer becomes Nauru’s third presi dent inside a month, establishing an international record un •ivalled by even the South American republics.
Forres Strait Border Agreed
Papua New Guinea and Australia have agreed on how they A/ill position and define the Torres Strait International borders, t was announced early in May. Details were not given, however, as both Cabinets have to examine the agreement. It is believed that some of the islands in the Torres Strait will be inside the PNG boundary but Papua New Guinea’s jurisdiction will be con fined to the seabed. The islands will remain Australian territory existing as enclaves with three-mile limits around their beaches.
Some fishing rights will be shared.
Lapanese Ambassador For Fiji
Japan will have an embassy in Fiji in January, 1979, if the lapanese Parliament approves. This was stated by the Japanese Ambassador to Australia and Fiji, Mr Yoshio Okawara, on a visit o Fiji. He said Japan would be aiming for an increase in scope >f economic and technical co-operation with Pacific coun ries.
‘No Neutron Bomb Test” - France
France has firmly denied press reports that it has tested the controversial neutron bomb at Mururoa Atoll in French Polynesia. Demonstrators in Melbourne against the alleged tests nvaded the offices of the French Consulate-General, and seized md burnt a French flag. Apologising for the incident, Australian icting Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr lan Sinclair, said, “Acts )f vandalism and violence as expressions of those views (against luclear tests) are to be totally deplored.” He added that the xjrning of the flag of a friendly country was a particularly odious gesture.
Vestern Samoa’S Leader On Tour
Western Samoa’s head of state, His Highness Malietoa anumafili 11, paid state visits to New Zealand, Australia and Jauru in April. In Auckland he laid the foundation stone of >amoa House, a five-storey business block that will house consular offices, Polynesian Airlines, and shops selling Pacific Blands handicrafts.
Rhe ‘Darkest-Kept Secret’
The Australian Parliament was electrified early in May by a claim by a Labor backbencher, Mr Barry Jones, that he had jncovered one of the “darkest-kept secrets of the war” the execution by the Australian authorities in Papua New Guinea during the war in the Pacific of more than 30 Papua New
Guineans for alleged treason and atrocities. The Australian press, radio and television took up the story, obviously under the impression that it was being told for the first time. In fact, the full story was told in PIM in May, 1971, by the late Tom Grahamslaw who for 45 years was with the Administration in Papua and New Guinea. During World War II he was an Officer of the Australian New Guinea Administration Unit (ANGAU). Mr Grahamslaw described the executions and of one such ex ecution wrote “It was a grim experience which I shall never for get.” It was reported from Port Moresby in May by the RSL branch that the sons of at least three of the men executed had tried to get Australian ex-service pensions but had been turned down.
Solomons: Governor-General Devesi
The first Governor-General of the Solomon Islands will be Mr Baddeley Devesi, formerly the permanent secretary for Utilities and Public Works. Mr Devesi, 37, will take office when the Solomons gain independence on July 7. He won the post in a vote of the Legislative Assembly to choose a G-G from six can didates. His closest rival was Mr Geoffrey Beti, member for Roviana and North New Georgia in the Western District. As he is in his early 20s many considered he is too young for the job.
Mr Devesi is from Guadalcanal. Mr Peter Kenilorea, who will be come Prime Minister on independence, is from Malaita.
Trans-Pacific Swing For Sanford
Mr Francis Sanford, vice-president of French Polynesia, visi ted the Cook Islands, American Samoa, Western Samoa, Tonga and Fiji in April. Among his party was a Canadian business con sultant, Mr Timothy Howard. It is understood that Mr Sanford is interested in developing tour packages that would take in the islands visited, as well as French Polynesia.
Lady Cleland’S Bright Idea
Lady Cleland, widow of a former Administrator of Papua New Guinea, has criticised the new leadership super code planned for the country’s leaders (PIM, May, p 5). In a letter published in a Port Moresby newspaper, she said that the government would be better advised to punish heavily the Australians, Japanese and others who extend the temptations to leading PNG officials. Lady Cleland lives in retirement in Port Moresby, and generally steers clear of political issues. Her late husband, Sir Donald Cleland, was the Australian Administrator of PNG from 1952 to 1967.
Gloomy News For Fiji Workers
The outlook for employment in Fiji is not good. A survey by the Fiji Employers’ Consultative Association revealed that 800 people could lose their job before the end of 1978. That figure did not include 145 retrenchments planned by the Carpenter group. Among those who will become unemployed are workers on the Queen’s Road construction project, which is nearing its end.
Still Looking For Long-Lost Amelia
A search for the remains of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart who disappeared in 1937 during an unsuccessful attempt to fly around the world has begun in the Marshall Islands. Moving spirit in the effort is former US air force pilot, Vincent Loomis, who believes he knows where the wreck of Earhart’s plane lies. Dur ing Loomis’ service with the air force in the Marshalls, he found a weather-beaten shoe near the shoreline on one atoll. In the middle of the same atoll he sighted the wreck of an aircraft, covered with dense jungle growth. Loomis, who is leading a
seven-member party in the search, believes it was the plane flown by Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan. Among earlier theories was one that Earhart and Noonan were captured by Japanese forces during World War II and were seen on Saipan, but this has never been positively confirmed.
Delay On Red Embassies
The Papua New Guinea Government has decided to defer the establishment of Soviet and Chinese embassies in Port Moresby (PIM, May p 5) for at least 12 months. Shortages of staff and accommodation were offered as the reasons. But closer to the bone were the strong public criticism of the decision to invite them, and dissent on the question within the Department of Foreign Affairs. France and West Germany, invited at the same time as the Russians and the Chinese to set up embassies, are continuing with plans to do so.
Fiji Fixes Its 200-Mile Zone
The Fiji Parliament, early in April, approved a law setting up a 200-nautical mile economic zone covering the ocean round the group. The law was gazetted soon after.
FISHING NZ WATERS - DOWN TO SPECIFICS New Zealand, and partners the Soviet Union and South Korea, are among the first to get down to specifics on the question of fishing rights in a national 200-mile economic zone. Under recently signed agreements, New Zealand’s waters may be fished by the other two countries on the following terms: licence to fish for squid by jigging or trawling: $BO a tonne of fish that the craft is permitted to take; licence to fish by trawling $l7 a tonne; licence to fish by bottom-lining $25 a tonne; licence to fish for albacore and yellowfin tuna by long-lining $1 500 a year; licence to fish for southern bluefin tuna by long-lining $9 000 a year.
Stowaways, All 25 Of Them
Twenty-five young Tongans were arrested in Auckland after stowing away in the freighter Marama at Nukualofa. New Zealand Customs officials said it was the largest group of stow aways they had come across. Mr Liufau Salala, Tongan Govern ment liaison officer in Auckland, said the incident underlined an increasingly desperate employment situation in Tonga. Only about 10% of school-leavers could find jobs. The New Zealand work permit scheme for Tongans had almost dried up, with only about a dozen permits issued since January.
Meet “Commerciogenic Malnutrition”
“Commerciogenic malnutrition’’ is the name applied by two medical authorities in Western Samoa to a new disease brought about by the use of milk powder for feeding babies. Dr V. Annan dale, medical officer at the Family Welfare Centre, and Miss Christine Guested, nutritionist at the Health Department, write in a report opposing the use of Western-style infant milk and urging the merits of breast feeding: “The vicious cycle of malnu trition and disease repeats itself, increasingly each year, in spite of greater knowledge and understanding.’’
The Grey Shark Of Enewetak
Two Americans, skin-diving in a lagoon near Enewetak atoll in the Marshalls, were attacked by a 1.5 m grey shark 15 m below the surface. The men, Michael Degruy and Philip Light, received wounds to the arms and hands. They are employees of a firm supporting scientists studying marine life and the effects of former nuclear tests on Enewetak.
Anzac Day In Png
April 25, Anzac Day, was the occasion for a number of cer emonies in Papua New Guinea. PNG contained a small, short lived but historic battleground for Australia in World War I, and: was a major theatre of Australian operations in World War lIJ The main ceremonies were at Lae, at Bomana, near Port Moresby, and at Bita Paka, near Rabaul. The Bita Paka services was close to the site where the first action in history was fought by an Australian national force. Costing the lives of four merr and over in a day, the fighting resulted in the take-over of Ger man New Guinea.
Fiji International Rugby Win
Fiji won the international rugby seven-a-side in Hong Kong,, beating the New Zealand team, Manawatu, 14-10 in the final..
Fiji’s was a full international team, while the NZ team came fromr a small area of the country. In future, NZ may field full inter national teams in this annual seven-a-side tournament.
Daddy And Granpa Were So Proud
Oxford University student Howard Henry, son of Cook Islandss Minister Tupui Ariki Henry and grandson of Premier Sir Albert Henry, was chosen as captain of an English Universities Rugby* League team which played a French Universities side in Paris in April.
Fiji Forces For Mid-East?
The Fiji Government in April announced its readiness to sendi: troops to the Middle East as part of the United Nations peace keeping force.
Olewale In East Timor
Papua New Guinea’s Foreign Minister, Mr Ebia Olewale, spent a day in East Timor during an eight-day visit to Indonesia in May.
East Timor was included in his itinerary at Indonesia’s initiative.
Indonesia’s presence there has been recognised by PNG as anr Indonesian domestic issue. Speaking before his departure fromr Port Moresby Mr Olewale said PNG would reject a proposal fon joint PNG-Indonesian forces to patrol the border between the two countries if, as expected, the idea was revived by Indonesia during his visit.
Three Die In Fire
Jagdish Prasad, 33, his son Janan Ditendra 2, and daughter!
Samjila 4, died in their store in the village of Vugalei, Tailevu, Fiji, when benzine blew up and set the building ablaze. Prasad’s wife and a six-year-old daughter were outside when the fires swept through the store.
Bands Across The Ocean
Former members of the US Marine Corps, and the US-basecr Guadalcanal Campaign Veterans’ Association, have fulfilled: their promise to equip with new instruments the Solomon Islands Police Band. The last of the 50 instruments provided has been handed over at a ceremony at Honiara’s police parade ground i Solomon Islander World War II hero, Sergeant-Major Jacob Vouza, was honoured with the presentation of a ceremoniaf sword by retired Brigadier-General Samuel Griffith, commander 1 of the last Raider Battalion on Guadalcanal. Solomons Police Commissioner, Mr John Holloway, said the shared experiences of the war had created an active interest among American ser vicemen in the welfare and progress of the Solomon Islands * “I’m sure this will be continued,’’ he said.