SOVIET ATTACK ON N.Z. AND AUSTRALIA OVER MANDATES

Grey River Argus, 7 October 1949, Page 5

SOVIET ATTACK ON N.Z. AND AUSTRALIA OVER MANDATES

In Samoa And Papua Rec. 9.35 NEW YORK, Oct 6. In Western Samoa, under the New Zealand trusteeship there did not seem any possibility of the indigenous inhabitants taking any substantial role in the administration ,of the territorys affairs so Mr A. A. Soldatov (Russia) told the United Nations trusteeship committee today. He said the area was in the hands oi administering authority officials who utilised an undemocratic tribal system existing in the territory.

Mr Soldatov also attacked the Australian Administration of New Guinea and Nauru. He accused Australia and the other administering powers of not carrying out requirements of the United Nations charter as far as basic objectives ! of the trusteeship system were concerned. He said “There is not a single indigenous inhabitant of New Guinea who can participate in the administration oi the territory. It is administered soley by Australian officials.” He then referred to New Zealands administration of Western Samoa, and he went on to say that,in Nauru, the wages paid to the inhabitants ranged from sixty pounds to seventy Australian pounds yearly for a worker with a family of four or five. Mr John Hood (Australia) said that all of the administering powers responsible for there trust territories had given their assurances, both in the General Assembly and the Trusteeship council, that their intention was to advance the development of those territories in the shortest practicable time. The administering powers paramount duty towards the inhabitants was being properly discharged.