Pacific Report
pp. 5-6 · Read in the full issue
Strike Over Noumea Political’ Murder
Trade unionists in New Caledonia were called out on a 24-hour strike on September 21 in protest at what was alleged to have been the political assassination of an independence leader. Mr Pierre Declercq, secretary-general of Union Caledonienne, was shot dead at his home near Noumea in the evening of September 19. The party is the major one in the Independence Front which seeks to end French rule over New Caledonia. A leader of the front who called the strike claimed that Declercq was killed by a French settler. He said the assassination was ‘tantamount to a declaration of war against the Melanesian people of New Caledonia’.
Must Ratu Mara Pick Again?
Fhe defeat of Solomon Islands Prime Minister Peter Kenilorea and nis replacement by Solomon Mamaloni (see p 33), means that Fiji 3 rime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara may have to re-examine he composition of the delegation he is to lead to Paris for liscussions on France’s Pacific territories with President Mitterrand. Ratu Mara, at the behest of the recent South Pacific -orum meeting in Port-Vila, had made the choice of his travelling companions on the trip. They were to be Mr Kenilorea and onga’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Crown Prince Tupouto’a
Vanuatu Elects Provincial Councils
Vanuatu’s domestic political life moved several steps closer to lormality with the successful holding in August-September of lections to provincial councils in the islands of Malakula, the ihepherds, Aoba-Maewo, Tafea (Tanna, Anatom, Futuna,’and miwa), and Erromanga. Results overall showed a roughly 50/50 'vision of seats between candidates of the country’s ruling anuaaku Party and non-VP candidates. Effective resolution of ie problems of setting up local governments has been close to le heart of Vanuatu’s troubles both before and after idependence.
EW ZEALAND ASKED TO TRAIN SINAI MEN ew Zealand has been asked to train the 600-man team which ji plans to contribute to the international force to supervise the ithdrawal of Israeli units from the Sinai Desert in the Middle East
Rench Policy Turn On Pacific Territories
its first official statement on France’s Pacific territories, the new ench Council of Ministers has called for ‘a radical change of 3licy’ in New Caledonia, and said that the Melanesians were mg m ‘an unacceptable state of inequality’. The statement said e government would ensure that equitable land redistribution as effected in the territory, and a package of reforms developed 'i hin the framework of a plan for Melanesian development sludmg economic and cultural aspects’. On French Polynesia’ e statement spoke of the creation of a state/territory working oup on the statute of the territory, and on the (economic) jvelopment plan. For Wallis and Futuna, there would be a •ntinuation of the present equipment plan. The Noumea weekly irail has meanwhile reported an interesting exchange between jcretary of State for Overseas Departments and Territories mri Emmanuelli and local socialists during his visit to New iledonia. Corail reports Mr Emmanuelli as sayinq: ‘I don’t derstand why you, New Caledonian socialists, support Kanak Jependence. can understand that Kanaks support it, but white ?n • Surely you don’t believe that socialists are going to grant s independence which would take the Melanesians back 100 ars, and deliver them over to a feudal power which we ?n°t U |^iL CoUl, h k? ! * acc( r pt -’ He explained to Independence )nt leader and National Assembly deputy Roch Pidjot that ce independence was impossible, he, Emmanuelli, was qoina work to reduce white power’ and build a socialist society in w Caledonia in which the Melanesians would hold the sentials of power. Then, he said, the question of independence a ' d "° °? 9 . e L hav u b any meanin 9- Mr Pidjot was said by Corai! be attracted by these ideas, but hesitated to accept them fully
for fear of being outflanked on the Left by the Liberation Kanake Socialiste group led by Nidoish Naisseline.
Put Waste On Poisoned Atolls’ Kabua
Marshall Islands President Amata Kabua in a September statement suggested that the Japanese abandon their ocean dumping plans and consider storing radio-active waste on land that is already contaminated, reports the Pacific Daily News Although the president did not specify a particular land area, the Marshalls include two atolls Bikini and Enewetak that have been contaminated by the testing of nuclear bombs by the United States. ‘ls it possible that a tragic misfortune which befell our people could be turned around to provide a safe, practical way to deal with a world problem and provide a form of economic recovery for people who have lost so much?’ the president asked in a statement during a conference of Pacific Basin chief executives held on Guam. Simultaneously with this conference the third of its kind the chief executives held discussions on the dumping issue with a delegation from Japan’s Science and Technology Agency. The day-long discussion was polite and the voices were soft, but in the end the Japanese scientists and the Micronesian politicians were as far apart as ever on the issue of nuclear dumping,’ according to the September 3 edition of the Pacific Daily News.
Marshalls Government Building Burns
The Marshall Islands Government’s main administration building in Majuro burned to the ground before dawn on August 24. The 35-year-old US Navy-built quonset hut housed the chief secretary, the attorney-general, the auditor-general, finance, immigration, social security, revenue, and the Marshall Islands credit union. Two nearby warehouses were also destroyed by the fire, which was immediately described as Majuro’s most expensive ever. Chief of Police Robert Kumtak said his men were questioning three youngsters seen fleeing the scene of the fire at about 3 am. ‘But we haven’t got any solid information, if indeed they were the ones who started the fire, or if, in fact, it was due to faulty wiring.’
Air Crash Kills One In Vanuatu
One person was killed and four injured when a Piper Aztec aircraft crashed soon after take-off from Port-Vila’s Bauerfield airport on September 7. The plane, part of the fleet of Vanuatu’s internal airline Air Melanesiae, apparently suffered engine failure.
BIG HOTEL GROUP SOLD FOR SAIOS MILLION The Sydney-based Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation Holdings Ltd (SPHC), the largest hotel and resort group in the South Pacific, has been sold to an Australian company controlled by Singaporean hotelier Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat. The sale, for SAIOS million, was approved by the Australian Government under its foreign investment policy. SPHC owns and operates hotels and motels, including the Travelodge, Parkroyal, Beach comber and Island Inn chains in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji. New Caledonia, Tahiti and Papua New Guinea. SPHC’s present chairman Peter Munk is to remain on the board, and the previous owners will retain a significant interest in the group
New Bilingual Monthly Is Launched
Hubert Chavelet, a French journalist who for four years directed the Noumea daily France Australe until its backers in the nickel company SLN wearied of picking up the tab for its losses (PIM Feb 1980 p 9), has resurfaced in the Pacific. October 1981 is to see the launching of a new Pacific-oriented monthly magazine run by Mr Chavelet. To be named 30 Jours, the magazine will be printed in English and French and distributed in Australia, New Zealand and generally throughout the Pacific Islands. The Noumea weekly Corail reports that Mr Chavelet has secured the backing of the French Government for his project, that the magazine will be distributed free on aircraft of the French airline UTA, and that it will appear as a free monthly supplement in Saturday editions of the Papeete daily La Depeche de Tahiti.
Corail adds: This monthly will probably seek to be something like a counterpart of Pacific Islands Monthly, which for 50 years has been informing the English-speaking Pacific.’
Ratu Sir George Says Think Twice’
Fijians have been given a blunt warning by their Governor- General Ratu Sir George Cakobau to avoid what he called disruptive political forces that were sweeping across the country. He told the annual meeting of the Council of Fijian Chiefs that the country was in danger of being plunged into instability if Fijians followed the ‘opportunism and greed’ of some new political leaders. He urged Fijians to think twice before giving
support to political parties that were preaching philosophies opposed to those of the government. Ratu Sir George was directing his remarks at two minority Fijian parties, the Fijian Nationalists, who among other things suggest that Fiji’s Indian community should be deported, and the recently formed Western United Front (PIM Sep p4B). Both these parties say they will topple the ruling multi-racial Alliance government in a general election due next year.
No To Tv, From Png, Fiji
Papua New Guinea has ruled out any immediate plan to introduce television services according to Media Minister Clement Poye, speaking at a recent broadcasting seminar in Rabaul. In the past 15 years PNG has had two formal studies into the possibility of television. Mr Poye told the seminar that at present television was viewed as a luxury requiring high technology and the extensive use of skilled manpower. The government simply could not afford this type of commitment during the present period of financial constraint, Mr Poye said. Current priorities in broadcasting expenditure were to improve the radio services provided by the National Broadcasting Commission. Radio services were avail able to the entire community, he said, but even with extensive capital investment television could serve only a small proportion of the community. In an August announcement, the Fiji Government had also stated its decision to postpone indefinitely the launching of a national television service.
Row On Waiver Of Students’ Fees
Students from Papua New Guinea and other South Pacific countries doing tertiary courses in Australia no longer have to pay fees, following a little-publicised decision of the Australian Government on August 26. The move has brought a sharp response from the National Overseas Student Service in Australia whose director, Kah Weng Loh, has branded it as part of the Australian Government’s attempt to ‘influence the regional politics of the South Pacific’. While fees for the approximately 700 South Pacific students have been waived, fees for the more than 10 000 students from other countries were increased by 10% in the 1981 Australian budget. The NOSS is putting pressure on the Australian Government to drop fees for all students, and wrote to all Commonwealth heads of government asking them to ensure that the issue was raised at their meeting in Melbourne in September-October. Several of the Third World members of the Commonwealth have already expressed anger about the introduction of fees for overseas students by certain Commonwealth countries. Mr Kah Weng Loh said in a statement to the press: ‘The Australian Government has obviously decided to treat a specific region with special care. The presence of the Soviet Union offering fishing agreements and other aid packages has obviously spurred on this decision. The fact that Papua New Guinean and South Pacific students are going to New Zealand because they are not charged tuition fees has been an added incentive.’ The Australian Government was using overseas tertiary students as ‘political pawns’, he said. An item appearing in the September 2 issue of the weekly Backgrounder published by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs says the decision on fees ‘reaffirmed Australia’s special relationship with Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Island countries, and represented an extension of assistance already provided by Australia to these countries’. It implicitly rebuts the claim that New Zealand does not charge fees when it says that the government’s 1980 decision to introduce for the first time an Overseas Student Charge was influenced by the fact that ‘other countries which offer training facilities for overseas students (such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand) charge fees, as do most countries from which students come to Australia’.
Ted Diro, Mr?
Brigadier General Ted Diro, who recently resigned as commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, is to stand for parliament after all. When he announced earlier this year that he intended to resign he said he would be taking a position in private enterprise or the public service. But he told interviewers in Port Moresby after his resignation became effective that he was seeking a political career. ‘I could not confirm this earlier because I was a serving military man who had to keep apart from politics,’ he said. Diro has still not announced any party affiliations, but said he would stand at next year’s general election. He will nominate for a seat in the Port Moresby or Rigo areas.
Camacho Loses Nomination Case
A trial court judge in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas has ruled against Governor Carlos Camacho and upheld the
Democratic Party’s certification of Senator Herman R. Guerrero as its candidate for governor, according to a report in the Pacific Daily News. Camacho had sued party officials after they disqualified ballots from the island of Rota to the June 21 nominating convention, and gave the nomination to Guerrero (PIM Aug p 6). Although the Rota ballots were never officially counted, the unofficial results gave the nomination to Camacho, 322 to 321. When Rota’s 75 votes were disqualified, the tally was 311 to 247 for Guerrero. At press time it seemed that Guerrero and his running mate, Froilan C. Tenorio, would face Republican Senator Pete P. Tenorio and his running mate, Pete A. Tenorio, in the November 1 gubernatorial election.
RIOT POLICE OUT AT PNG HIGH SCHOOL After two days of unrest, riot police armed with teargas arrested more than 400 students at Keravat High School in Papua New Guinea’s East New Britain Province on September 10. Fifth and sixth-form students at the school had been demonstrating in support of three European teachers sacked without notice on August 26. Earlier, the teachers two from the United Kingdom, and one from New Zealand had given evidence to a departmental inquiry of alleged homosexuality at the school and among Education Department headquarters staff. The depart ment denied any connection between their evidence and the sackings, maintaining only that their contracts had been terminated ‘in the best interests of Papua New Guinea’. Secretary for Education Paul Songo said that ‘about 200 students’ were being ‘interviewed’ by police in connection with damage caused to the school.
Australian High Commission For Kiribati
Australia has announced that it will estabish a resident High Commission in Kiribati. It will be Australia’s 10th representative mission in the South Pacific Islands. The others are in Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby and Lae), Solomon Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and Western Samoa.
Tasmanian Seafood For Hawaii?
A political leader from the Australian state of Tasmania sees ‘unlimited markets’ in Hawaii for Tasmanian seafood particularly crayfish, scallops and abalone. Returning from a visit to Hawaii, the Tasmanian state parliamentary Leader of the Opposition Geoffrey Pearsall said the only difficulty would be whether Tasmania could meet demand. A major Hawaiian food broker was prepared to accept up to 1500 kg of scallops, 2000 kg of cray tails, and three container-loads of abalone from Tasmania. Mr Pearsall said he planned to hold urgent discussions with Tasmanian fishing interests on the prospect.
Plans Of Pierre Hesnault
French transport magnate Pierre Hesnault announced on a recent visit to Noumea plans to build a hotel of 300-500 rooms overlooking Port-Vila’s Erakor Lagoon, and establishment in Vanuatu of several small industries. The hotel will be associated with a geriatric centre, enabling old folk to enjoy holidays at this beautiful spot. The outspoken magnate, who heads the biggest transport company in France and serves as an adviser to the French Government on overseas trade, strongly attacked the presence of Polish Ocean Lines vessels on the Noumea-Koumac run in New Caledonia. He vowed he would do his utmost to drive them away and replace them with French vessels. In a comment to PIM, R. Barnett, shipping adviser to the Noumea-based SATO shipping company, noted with surprise that Mr Hesnault had made no mention of ships from four other foreign companies which similarly ply between New Caledonian ports. Mr Barnett pointed out that since the POL operation began, all its port accounts payments and transfers have been made in French francs. During his visit to Noumea, Mr Hesnault announced the opening by his company of an unstuffing and container storage area in the port of Noumea.
Pitcairners Want An Airstrip
Most Pitcairn Islanders over the age of 18 would like to see an airstrip built on their remote island, which has never in history been accessible in any way but by sea. A survey conducted by the Pitcairn Miscellany, (PIM Aug p 45) has revealed this. There is as yet no plan to build the strip, but there is a possible site at Aute Valley in the island’s high central area. During World War II it was heavily cultivated as a market garden to support a much larger population than now (50 Pitcairners). The point of contact by air would be Totagegie in the Mangareva Islands and then up through the Tuamotus to Tahiti. The tourist ‘industry’ on Pitcairn would probably be restricted to about a dozen people at a time living with Pitcairn families.