HELP TO PEOPLES OF PACIFIC

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22241, 29 January 1947, Page 5

HELP TO PEOPLES OF PACIFIC

AIM OF CONFERENCE OF SIX NATIONS IMPROVING STANDARDS OF LIVING EDUCATIONAL AND HEALTH' FACILITIES (9 a.m.) CANBERRA, January 28. The end of exploitation of the natives in the South Pacific should be the keynote of the policy of the governing- nations, said the New Zealand deputy Prime Minister, Mr. W. Nash, at the opening of the South Pacific conference to-day. The Australian Prime Minister, Mr. J. B. Chifley, who officially opened the conference, said it would play an important part in formulating world peace. The Australian Minister of External Affairs, Dr. H. V. Evatt, was elected president and Mr. Nash deputy president of the conference at which Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, France and the Netherlands are represented. Mr. Nash gave a five-point summary of the purposes of the conference as follows: (1) The end of exploitation of the natives of the South Pacific; (2) improved standards of living for them; (3) increased production for the benefit of the native inhabitants; (4) better educational and health facilities; and (5) encouragement of missionary activities.

The conference, which aims at the creating of a commission to handle social, economic and education problems of the natives in the South Pacific is expected to last 10 days.

“TVe are meeting here as representatives of nations who want to give and not to take something from the natives,” said Sir. Nash. Dr. Evatt said that many crucial problems left over by the war in the South Pacific region demanded immediate study, investigation and cooperative solution. Australia felt that no time should be lost in establishing an administrative structure to deal with these problems.

Origin in Canberra Pact

Mr. Nash said that the origin of the meeting went back to January, 1944, when the Canberra Pact was signed between Australia and New Zealand. Since then there had been discussions between the two Governments to find out how they could support along a comparatively new road the objectives of the pact. In addition to laying the foundation in the Canberra Pact, they had gone further because the charter of the United Nations devoted three of its chapters to the same objectives. The objective, in one or two words, was the welfare of dependent people, but it could more clearly be expressed if they sought a new vision, which always had not been there, to end forever "the exploitation of the native peoples in. the Pacific area for the benefit of the peoples outside that area. “We are here to find ways of benefiting the peoples of the South Sea islands'," he said. “It transcends everything else. The United Nations Charter provides that the interests of native peoples in health, social and economic matters and not the interests of Governments are paramount. We should help them to live longer and more healthily than in the past and so we must pool our experience and cooperate to create an organisation for the purpose of investigating and advising for the benefit of the nations. Advice and Research "We can do much by advice and research to increase the production of the land of .the people and provide better labour conditions and more enjoyment of life .through healthier conditions. “We are planning to extend research facilities to find out how we can expand production and widen the horiof the natives in these areas. It is advisory, not another governing body. “We are hopeful that the natjves will take a greater part in the administration of the areas where they live. Mr. Nash said it might be possible to employ the research organisation of the United States to supplement the Christian missions which had done splendid work from the educational point of view. ’ Trusteeship Duty

Questions to be discussed by the conference included trade, shipping, and communications. Four of the six nations present committed themselves to trusteeship—the United Kingdom, France, Australia, and New Zealand which implied a visit from a trusteeship council to ascertain what w as happening in the islands and pass it on through the advisory commission to other peoples. . “We are not out to get something from somebody else because of the great resources they have,” declared Mr. Nash. “We are out to give them something. “Our responsibility as a Government, measured in terms of population, is small, but we want to link up with these other countries here, so that we can do all these things to lift the living standards, not to make them Europeans, Americans, English or French, but to let them live their lives in their own way for the longest period that science, knowledge, skill and goodwill will enable them to do.”