MR. FRASER'S REPLY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24826, 24 February 1944, Page 5

MR. FRASER'S REPLY

PROPOSALS CONFUSED PROBLEMS OF SECURITY (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday Replying to Sir Keith Murdoch's attack on the Australian-New Zealand agreement, the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser, in a statement issued last night, said the agreement most definitely was not directed against the interests of any Allied Power. That confusion existed in Sir Keith Murdoch's mind was apparent from his statement that "Australia will convene a conference of Powers with South-west Pacific interests to form a regional council, on which there might be accredited representatives of Britain and America." In that statement, -Mr. Fraser said, Sir Keith was mixing two entirely separate proposals contained in the agreement. The first was to the effect that the two Governments should agree to promote the establishment of an advisory body, to be called the South Seas Regional Commission, for the purpose of securing a common policv on social, economic and political development directed toward the advancement and well-being of the native peoples themselves. Similar regional commissions had already been suggested by the United Kingdom Government in 1943. and in endorsing this conception of colonial trusteeship Australia and New Zealand had every right, and indeed a duty, to take the initiative in suggesting such a body should be established in the geographical region in which the island peoples under their control were situated.

The second proposal was for a conference of Powers with interests in the South-west and South Pacific, not for' the purpose of forming a regional council, but in order to provide for a frank exchange of views on the problems of security, post-war development and native welfare. "The suggestion that certain clauses of the agreement are interpreted in Washington as an attempt to placard the South-west Pacific with notices of 'Hands off, America,' can best be disposed of by stating that it is neither the desire nor the intention of the United States to lay hands on the South-west Pacific," said Mr. Fraser. "This war is being fought by all the United Nations against territorial aggression, and a grave disservice is done to the common cause by suggesting otherwise. " Australia and Now Zealand do not propose to attempt a solution of Pacific questions alone. On the contrary they seek, as they state in the agreement, full collaboration of all the Pacific Powers. In view of their responsibilities as the Governments of sovereign peoples, they cannot accept the contention that the initiation of discussion 011 the various questions covered by the agreement should be left to Great Britain or America, for the obvious reason that our own problems are more fully appreciated by us than they are by others. " There is no intention to invite controversies between our Allies. On the contrary, the whole purpose of Australia and New Zealand's proposals is to eliminate sources of controversy in the Pacific."

MRS. GANDHI DEAD INTERNED WITH HUSBAND LONDON, Feb. 22 Mrs. Gandhi, wife of Mahatma Gandhi, the civil disobedience leader in India, has died from a heart attack at Poona, where she has been interned since August, 1942. She was 74. Mrs. Gandhi was arrested with her husband and a number of other Congress Party leaders during disorders in India 18 months ago.

The Secretary for India, Mr. L. Amery, said last December that her release because of her ill-health had been considered, but because a most eminent heart specialist was living on the premises where she was interned and could see her daily it. was decided in her own interests to leave her at Poona. Supplies of penicillin were flown to Poona from Calcutta yesterday. Shops owned by the Indian community in Auckland will be closed today as a mark of respect for the death in India of Mrs. Gandhi. A spokesman last night said that Mrs. Gandhi was regarded as the first lady of India and as a guide and symbol to the womenfolk of India. Her death was untimely and the Indian community would feel greatly the loss of her guidance and wise counsel. MEETING TAXATION PAY-AS-YOU-EARN SCHEME CANBERRA. Feb 23 The Federal Cabinet yesterday approved of a scheme of pay-as-yon-earn taxation for Australia. The bill will be introduced this session on the lines of a report presented bv a special Parliamentary committee. It is expected that the new scheme will come into operation on July 1.