VISIT TO PAPUA / NEW GUINEA-: FAREWELL BROADCAST
The Prime Minister, Mr._ John2Gorton_
s peaking over ABC Radio, Port Moretsby XLLY1970
Today I leave the Territory. My visit has, of necessity, been all too
short. But it has included major announcements of new policy, and I have seen
many different places, talked to many different people, and been able to come to
some cc.. nclusions. The major policy changes announced are, of course, that there would be
a significant transfer of power, power to make decisions, from Canberra to elected
representatives of Territory people.
The Administrator's Executive Council will n.-ow have authority to
allocate nioney for recurrent expenses in many fields aiA for minor works and the
House of Assembly will have to be asked to appropriate such monies in the way
recommended. These proposals, which were announced in some detail last Monday, are
significant steps along the road to ultimate self-government.
I also re-emphasised that the Australian Government bdieves the
Territory is on the road which leads to full self-government. There can be no
turning back from that road. It must be travelled to the end. Buz it is not for the
Australian Government to dictate the speed at which the ultimate goal is reached.
It is not for us to set an arbitrary date and say that on that date we will
force full self-government on the people of the Territory whether they want it or not.
Instead our attitude is that the majority of the people of the Territory should decide
when they wish full self-government and when they do this they will get what they
want. In the meantime the possibility of different regional responsibilities for
regions at different ievels of development could well be examined.
It will come as no surprise to the people of the Territory that I found
the Highland people, almost to a man, violently opposed to self-government in
1972 or on any fixed date. They do not want this before they feel they are ready
for it and of course, the Highlanders make up the majority of the whole population.
In the coastal areas, Wewak, Lae, Madang, opinion was more
divided but there was a strong majority opinion expressed at all the meetings
which I attended, that the people did not want full self -government until a time of
their own choosing. And in these areas there was for the most part, tolerance
ar~ d a working together to build a strong edifice zan the economic foundations which
have been so well laid. // 2
In Bougainville where there has been talk in some quarters of a desire
to secede from the Territory I formed the strong impression that the people Nvished
for much more time and thought and discussion on that suggestion before they came
to any conclusion. In the Gazelle Peninsula the sadly divided state of the people was evident.
I asked for discussion between the two groups for a cessation of the violence used
by the Mautaungans, and for an attempt to arrive at solutions of problems by
majority opinion with discussion and without hate and anger. I renewed the offer of
a referendum on the multi-racial council and asked the Mautaungans to discuss their
problems with me but they refused. I can only hope that the call for reasonable
discussion will bear fruit but, in the meantime, the law must be enforced.
[ t is impossible for example, to permit land, which has been bought by
the Administration for distribution to Tolais, to be illegally occupied by squatters.
This illegal squatting is taking place at the very time when the Land Board is
considering, from Tolai and Bainings people, applications for the 350 blocks
available. If permitted to continue it will retard the chances of orderly economic
development in the Gazelle Peninsula, and, indeed, if squatting is permitted on
Administration Land bought for distribution to Tolai, what will prevent squatting
on land already held by Tolai. This matter is too important to be left
undetermined, Illegal occupation of land must and will be stopped.
The future of the Territory as a whole is, at this stage, certain in sorre
way, uncertain in others. It is certain that it will eventually attain self-government
and independence. I hope it will remain unfragmented and that different parts of it
will not secede. For if it is fragmented then each separate part will be economically
and politically less strong than the whole.
And I believe the people in every part, if secession were to take place,
would be worse off. But this question is one that will, no doubt, be settled by the
local people themselves, perhaps at the time of independence, and the answer to
this is not certain. In the meantime as new roads are built from the Highlands to the Coast,
as new districts are opened up, as more schools are built and staffed, as better
agriculture is taught and new crops are tested, as mineral wealth is exploited and
as industries arise, I think the Territory will, at an accellerated pace, go forward
to that strong independent economic position, which alo. ie can ensure continued
economic progress and continued political stability.
There must and will be more local participation in, and ownership of,
businesses and industries and there should be a continuing partnership between those
who live in the Territory and Australians.
I leave with great hope for the future of all the people of this land, and I
leave with a feeling that we all owe a great debt of gratitude to those Australians who
have selflessly taught in the missions, have selflessly brought law and order and
honest administration to what was but yesterday a primitive country and I think we
all owe, too, an equal debt of gratitude to those local people in all regions who have
helped in this task are still helping in it and are taking more and more
responsibility to continue it, for in them lies the hope of the future of the Territory.