STRONG PROTEST

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22197, 6 December 1946, Page 5

STRONG PROTEST

AUSTRALIA AT U.N. RULE IN NEW GUINEA i REPLY TO CRITICISM NEW YORK, Dec. 4. A strong protest against “attempts to discredit Australia’s administration in New Guinea” was made by Mr. Bailey in the United Nations’ sub-committee which is discussing trustee agreements. Mr. Bailey said Australia for 20 years had carried out the task to the satisfaction of the world and the native inhabitants, as their loyalty during the Japanese invasion vividly demonstrated. He objected particularly to allegations by the Yugoslav, Russian and Byelo-Russian delegates that the sub-committee did not know what the Australian administration was doing or how it intended to proceed. He added that those who made such statements simply had not bothered' to study the wealth of information with which the sub-committee had been supplied. Mr. Bailey spoke during the debate on the Byelo-Russian proposal for the insertion in the New Guinea agreement of a new article requiring Australia to develop free organs of representation for the people of New Guinea and take all the appropriate measures for their political development under the direction of the Trusteeship Council.

M. Vlahov, Yugoslavia, accused Australia of having drafted the agreement hastily, saying it was “the worst of all the agreements submitted:’ He called Mr. Bailey obstinate for refusing to accept B.yelo-Russia’s “reasonable and constructive proposals.” . Australia received support from Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.

Mr. Mackay, New Zealand, described the Byelo-Russian proposal as “an unreal elaboration of the trusteeship and not in keeping with the conditions in New Guinea.”

The Byelo-Russian proposal was defeated by nine votes to six. The Australian Associated Press says one reason why the Byelo-Russian proposal was resisted by Australia and all other trusteeship countries was the implication hidden in it that the development of trust territories should be carried out under the direction of the Trusteeship Council. In effect this would implement, the Indian proposal, which had already been defeated, to make all trust territories subject to the Trusteeship Council's direct control.