Pacific Report

Png, Indonesia, In Diplomatic Spat

Relations between Papua New Guinea and its giant neighbour Indonesia were strained in January when the PNG Government failed to renew the visas of two non-diplomat members of the Indonesian embassy staff in Port Moresby. The two were Is Daryono and Koko Kamaludin. Mr Daryono had served only 18 months of his three-year assignment, while Mr Kamaludin had been in PNG for more than five years, far exceeding the normal two or three-year posting. Official explanation for the effective expulsion of the two staff members was that PNG’s protocol department is so over-stretched it cannot cope with the 36-strong Indonesian mission. But, quoting ‘very reliable sources in the Port Moresby intelligence community’, the weekly The Times of Papua New Guinea wrote on January 15: ‘Sources allege that the two officers have been engaged not only in information-gathering but in attempting to manipulate the West Irian community in PNG.

They are convinced that a few immigrants from Irian Jaya are Indonesian “plants” who were the contacts used by the two.’

Jakarta retaliated with the immediate closure of the embassy visa section, and Papua New Guinea applicants for visas to visit Indonesia are now being directed to that country's missions in Sydney and Singapore. Most are cancelling Indonesian visits because of the cost involved in securing entry visas. It is understood that Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan was not informed in advance of the decision not to renew the visas, although Foreign Affairs Minister Noel Levi was, and approved the action.

Vital Votes On New Caledonia’S Future

New Caledonia’s Territoral Assembly in January voted in support of the introduction of income tax (PIM Dec ’Bl p 22). The vote on the vexed issue split the assembly’s majority, with the ‘Giscardian’ Federation pour une Nouvelle Soci£te Caledonienne (FNSC) breaking away from its more conservative allies to vote with the I ndependence Front in support of the measure. A split also developed between two Melanesian members of the Council of Government (a type of Cabinet). Those at odds were Dick Ukeiwe, vice-president of the Council of Government, and Franck Wuhuzue, the youthful politician in charge of the Melanesian Promotion campaign. Also in January the territory saw the foundation of a new organisation in favour of independence for New Caledonia. Drawing its principal support from New Caledonians of French origin, the new body is led by Georges Chatenay, a lawyer. The dividing line between the new organisation and the Independence Front is that the former supports what it calls ‘multi-racial independence’, while the latter espouses ‘Kanak socialist independence’. In Paris on January 15 the National Assembly voted 327-148 in favour of a bill authorising the French Government to rule by decree in New Caledonia for the next 12 months (see p 29). New Caledonia’s pro-independence deputy, Roch Pidjot, said in the course of debate: ‘Because I see the bill as a sign of the government’s readiness to conduct a policy of decolonisation aimed at giving Melanesians the right to assert themselves in the economic and cultural fields, I will vote for it.’ Daniel Tardieu in Noumea.

1982 Election Rash

Papua New Guinea is one of four important Pacific Island states to have general elections scheduled for 1982: its citizens start voting on June 5. Western Samoa goes to the polls on February 27, and Kiribati on April 1, while Fiji citizens begin casting their ballots on July 10.

Australia, France In Sea Border Accord

Australia and France in January signed an agreement on maritime boundaries in the Southwest Pacific and the Southern Ocean. In the Southwest Pacific, a plotted boundary has been drawn between the Australian Islands in the Coral Sea and others such as Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, and New Caledonia, the Chesterfield Islands, and other outlying French-controlled islands.

In the Southern Ocean, there is now a boundary between the Australian Heard and McDonald Islands and the French

Kerguelen Islands. The treaty was signed in Melbourne by Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Tony Street and French Ambassador to Australia Pierre Carraud.

New Labour Party In Fiji

7h ree ex-members of the Fiji National Federation Party have formed a new political party, the National Labour and Farmers’

Party. The party’s first official statement said its aim was to safeguard the interests of labourers and farmers, particularly sugar-cane farmers who, since independence, have not been sufficiently protected economically by the government or the National Federation Party, according to the new political grouping. President Gurubux Singh is an assistant storeman and purchasing supervisor with the Fiji Electricity Authority. He says he hopes to get support from Labour Parties in other countries.

Last attempt to form a Labour Party was made in the 1960 s but it was abortive. Fiji now has five political parties the government Alliance Party, the National Federation Party, the Fijian Nationalist Party, and the Western United Front. The National Federation party and the Western United Front announced in January that they had reached agreement to fight the July general election as a coalition.

Nz Scientist Rebuts French N-Test Claim

Dr David Kear, director of New Zealand’s Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, has denied official French claims that statements by New Zealand scientists had ‘stressed the harmlessness’ of French nuclear testing at Moruroa Atoll. Dr Kear told a press conference in Auckland in December that the claim, made in an official French reply to representations on the tests made by the New Zealand Government, distorted the New Zealand scientists’ position. He said that while the general conclusion reached by them was that the tests would not be likely to harm New Zealand or its neighbours, no conclusions were reached on the safety of French Polynesia. ‘No one suggested things were safe as far as French Polynesia was concerned,’ he said" ‘lt is not possible to say how safe Tahiti and other inhabited islands are because the French will not let foreign scientists visit Moruroa.’

Not-So-Placid Futuna

A special squad of 40 police was sent in January to the French ruled island of Futuna to quell continuing civil disturbance. Long standing political differences between King Nasalio Keletelona, 50, and his Prime Minister Soane Failo, 50, crystallised in a charge by the latter that the king had acted extravagantly in the lavish welcome he offered to French Secretary of State for Overseas Departments and Territories Henri Emmanuelli when he visited the island on August 13, 1981. A long-running dispute on the issue between the two men and their supporters flared into violence in the Nuku church on New Year’s Eve. The fight between the two sides reduced the church to a shambles. The priest, Father Patrice, and a few helpers, managed with great difficulty to eject the combatants and shut the door. The two constables on the island were unable to cope with the situation.

Png Police Chief Resigns

The Papua New Guinea Police Commissioner, Phillip Bouraga, announced his resignation in mid-January following a protracted confrontation with Minister for Police Warren Dutton. Late last year Mr Bouraga was suspended from duty and in January he appeared before a Public Service Commission tribunal to answer four charges brought against him by Mr Dutton. The decision of the tribunal was still being awaited when Mr Bouraga announced his intention to resign, effective from February 17. In resigning as commissioner Mr Bouraga also resigned his position as Secretary for Police, the public service departmental position responsible for police matters to the minister and cabinet. The decision of the tribunal which heard charges against him is not expected to be given until late in February. The charges were that he had disobeyed lawful directions by refusing to brief Mr Dutton on four matters the tribal fighting situation, the murder of a policeman in Port Moresby, the state of police discipline and allegations that insufficient funds were available for operational duties. Mr Bouraga is one of PNG’s most senior and experienced public administrators and held a number of top government posts before his appointment as police commissioner.

Tongan Cops Cleared Of Murder Charge

Following an eight-day jury trial in Nukualofa in December, two Tongan policemen were acquitted of the murder, and five of abetting the murder, of an arrested suspect on the night of September 2. The man, according to the post-mortem evidence, died of massive multiple injuries and extensive internal haemor

rhages, consistent with his having been punched, kicked and stamped upon while his back was pressed against an unyielding surface. The prosecution proved that the injuries occurred while the deceased was lying double-handcuffed in the back of a Police Mobile Unit van, and while in the custody of the seven accused. (A more detailed report will appear in PIM, March) Penny Hodgkinson in Nukualofa.

N-Tests, Dumping: Boycott Planned

The Pacific Trade Union Forum, formed at a meeting in Port-Vila in June of trade unionists from 13 South Pacific countries, plans a campaign against nuclear testing and dumping of nuclear waste. The Fiji Trades Union Congress, a founder member of the forum, has meanwhile announced it is joining the New Zealand Federation of Labour and other South Pacific unions in a selective boycott of French and Japanese goods as a protest against testing and dumping.

Hijack Drama 1

The saga of the hijacked 1000-tonne Australian freighter Glenelg drew to a close in mid-January when it ran aground and was badly holed on Pott Island in New Caledonia’s Belep group, northwest of the main island. Glenelg was first hijacked from Cairns, north Queensland, in 1979, when the man to whom she had been leased sailed out of harbour owing charter fees. She was confiscated on the owner’s behalf at Santo, Vanuatu, in early 1980, and then brought down to Port-Vila for safe-keeping. It was held there until December, 1981, when two men an Australian and a New Zealander used force against guards to hijack the $250 000 vessel once again. Vanuatu Mobile Force personnel in the vessel Mala gave chase, firing machine-gun and teargas rounds across the Glenelg’s bridge" to prevent her escape. But their efforts failed. After running aground on Pott Island, the hijackers spent three weeks trying to repair and refloat the ship, but eventually sent a radio call for help which was picked up at an emergency listening post at Townsville, Queensland. A French naval vessel went to the island, and a helicopter took the two to hospital in Noumea. When they are well enough to travel, the Vanuatu Government has requested their extradition to Port-Vila to face hijacking charges.

Hijack Drama 2

A 46-year-old Frenchman from New Caledonia, said to have a history of mental illness, attempted to hijack the Pacific cruise vessel Minghua on December 15 and force it to change course to Noumea. The ship at the time was heading for Suva. After being overpowered and thrown into the brig, the man unsuccessfully tried to set fire to the ship, but managed to wreck his cell. He was arrested when the ship arrived in Suva, and deported to Noumea. The incident had a sequel in Australia when it was revealed that the two men who over-powered the would be hijacker when he was on the bridge threatening ship’s officers with a knife were off-duty policemen from the Australian State of New South Wales. A spokesman for the NSW police said the officers were ‘on a trip given in return for services rendered’. A company spokesman said a number of shipping companies were in the habit of using off-duty policemen as security guards. He would not give details of the concessional fares offered to police.

A FIRST FOR MOPIO, MR: THE SACK James Mopio, member of Papua New Guinea’s national parliament for Central Province, has been dismissed from office for misconduct in office. The dismissal followed a leadership tribunal hearing in which Mr Mopio was convicted of 15 charges and acquitted of one. The offences included refusal to pay legitimate debts, acceptance of gifts of money from private companies, tax evasion, and involvement in a black market beer operation in his home province. Judge Greville Smith, who headed the inquiry, said in his finding: ‘Mopio is in our view a person who is unfit to hold office. We find that public policy and public good require his dismissal.’ Mr Mopio is the first PNG MP to suffer this fate.

Airlines To Fly In Triangles

Australia’s national flag-carrier Qantas joined in January with the Pago-based South Pacific Island Airways (SPIA) to offer a new Pacific Triangle fare. At the same time, Continental Airlines and Thai International set up a new Pacific Circle to compete with circle fares already offered by combinations of four other airlines.

The new Pacific Triangle will enable passengers to fly to both Hawaii and Tahiti from Sydney for less than if they detoured through Los Angeles, Nadi or Auckland to visit both. Final details of fares were unavailable at press time, pending filing with the

Australian Department of Transport. SPIA will operate the connection between Honolulu and Papeete with the Boeing 707 it has on lease from American Airlines. The new Pacific Circle drawn by Thai and Continental traces the widest arc of all, from Bangkok to New York. It is also the most expensive, with a ticket quoted on January 20 at SUSI9SO

Port-Vila Loses Its Voice

Voice of Vanuatu, an English-language weekly published in Port- Vila since November, 1979, ceased publication ‘for an indefinite period’ with its Christmas ’Bl-New Year ’B2 number. The paper was virtually a one-woman operation conducted by Australian expatriate Christine Coombe. Ms Coombe explained that the closure was voluntary, and for personal reasons. The government weekly, Tam-Tam, accompanied its account of the closure with a warm tribute to Ms Coombe’s work, describing her as ‘editor publisher, reporter, typist’.

Png Provincial Heads Rap Star Kist

Five premiers of the Papua New Guinea provinces of Manus, East New Britain, North Solomons, West New Britain and New Ireland have given the American fishing company Star Kist three months to withdraw all its operations from the region. Their decision was made at a meeting held to review progress of the K2O million fish cannery at Kavieng, New Ireland. PNG has protested on several occasions at the slow rate of progress of the cannery plans. The latest upset was a complaint from a government consultant team that the site at Bagal plantation for the cannery was unsuitable.

The premiers opposed the granting of a three-month extension of negotiations between the government and Star Kist

A Month’S Uncomfortable Wait Then Gaol

Shipwrecked Canadian sailor John Harrison waited nearly a month in December-January to be rescued from Palmyra Island in mid-Pacific. But as soon as he returned to Honolulu and civilisation he was sent to gaol. Harrison was arrested at Honolulu airport on January 6 after he and his two daughters, Micki, 20, and Kristen, 13, had flown the 1770 kilometres from Palmyra. He was charged with taking property that belonged to a crew member when he sailed for Australia on his 12.5-metre trimaran, Sisyphus. Harrison and his daughters apparently left Maui in a hurry on November 10 as he was being confronted by collection agents for the Bank of British Columbia, which holds the mortgage on the craft, Hawaii officials said. The Sisyphus came apart in a storm on December 10, stranding the Harrisons on Palmyra.

Making Friends At Amazon Bay ...

Talair, the big third-level airline in Papua New Guinea, suspended flights into Amazon Bay southeast of Port Moresby for several days in mid-January after a man there attacked one of the company’s pilots. Pilot Peter Wilkinson was supervising the loading of an Islander aircraft at Amazon Bay when he became involved in an argument with four men over fare payments for the flight to Port Moresby. One of the men swung a punch at him and the group chased him to a nearby building where stones and pieces of wood were used to smash windows and a door. Police ended the disturbance and took one of the men into custody.

Population Fall In Cooks

The Cook Islands population has fallen by 2.4 percent since 1976, according to provisional 1981 census figures. The 1981 figures show a population of 17 695. The 1976 census recorded a population of 18 128. Northern group islands such as Penrhyn, Manihiki, Pukapuka and Nassau, however, showed a population increase since 1976.

Hail To The Veteran Dixie

The USS Dixie, oldest ship on continuous active duty in the US navy, is on a visit to the South Pacific. The 16 000-ton destroyer tender, commissioned in 1940, repaired and tendered ships taking part in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Leaving Pearl Harbor in November 1942, she based her operations in Noumea, and later in Santo, Vanuatu. Commanded by Captain R. L. Coffey, USN, and carrying 870 enlisted crew and 32 officers, Dixie visited Sydney on January 14-18. Her first visit to Australia’s biggest port city was in September, 1943, and her second in May 1980, to mark her 40th birthday.

Guam In Escap

Guam is reported to have been admitted to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the first US Pacific territory to be admitted to a major functional body of the United Nations. As an associate member of ESCAP, Guam could receive UN technical assistance.