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an ex officio member of the Council of that island. Membership of all the Councils has been altered by the Cook Islands Councils Regulations 1946, which provide for a greater measure of popular representation on all Island Councils. The Councils now consist partly of ex officio members (officials and the arikis or leading chiefs) and partly of elected members. General elections were held in all islands in March, and all Natives, being British subjects of or over the age of eighteen years and being ordinarily resident within the constituency, were entitled to vote in the election of the member for their constituency. There are now no nominated members on any Island ■Council. The Cook Islands Amendment Act, 1946, contains provisions establishing for the Cook Islands (other than Niue) a Legislative Council to be called the Legislative Council of the Cook Islands. This Legislative Council is to consist of: — (a) Ten unofficial members who are members of Island Councils (other than that of Niue) to be elected by Island Councils. (b) Official members comprising the Resident Commissioner of Rarotonga and ten other members of the Cook Islands Public Service. The Resident Commissioner will be the President of the Legislative Council and he will have a casting but not a deliberative vote. The enactments of the Legislative •Council will be known as Ordinances of the Cook Islands. These Ordinances require the assent of the Resident Commissioner, and may be disallowed either wholly or in part by the Governor-General within one year after the assent of the Resident ■Commissioner has been given. A "Wages Tribunal, presided over by Mr. J. A. Gilmour, S.M., and consisting of three employers' representatives and three workers' representatives, sat in Rarotonga in June, 1946. The Tribunal recommended substantial increases in wages, for all classes of workers ; these were approved by the Right Honourable the Minister and put into effect by the agreement of all parties. The following legislative measures have been enacted since the last report In New Zealand — United Nations Act, 1946, section 4. Finance Act, 1946, section 32. Cook Islands Amendment Act, 1946. The Cook Islands Council Regulations 1946 (Serial number 1946/180). The Cook Islands Sea Carriage of Goods Order 1946 (Serial number 1946/194). In the Cook Islands— • Nil. South Pacific Health Service The Cook Islands have been brought within the scope of the South Pacific Board of Health, which was established in September, 1946, by agreement between the Government of New Zealand, the Government of Fiji, and the Western Pacific High Commission. The functions of the Board, the headquarters of which are in Suva, are to assist and advise the participating Administrations on all health matters affecting the territories under their control.* South Pacific Commission The Resident Commissioner attended a conference held at Canberra in January and February, 1947, to consider the establishment of a South Seas Regional Commission. This was convened by the Governments of Australia and of New Zealand, and, in addition to these, the Governments of France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States were represented.

* The agreement for the establishment of the South Pacific Health Service has been printed as parliamentary paper A-l, 1947.

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