Canberra, 13 May 1969
Confidential
Papua and New Guinea
Constitutional development
This submission seeks Cabinet approval for a proposed attitude towards further constitutional development of Papua and New Guinea.
Background
2. Recent amendments to the Papua and New Guinea Act relating to the size of the House of Assembly and the present form of administration were made on the recommendations of a Select Committee of the previous House of Assembly. A further motion for a similar Select Committee is now on the Notice paper of the House of Assembly and will probably be debated in June.
3. When the previous Select Committee was appointed, Cabinet (Decision No. 23 of 1966) approved certain principles relating to increased participation in the executive government by elected members.2 These are set in the annexe.3 The need for the Commonwealth to retain control over the strategy of the Budget was re-affirmed in Decision No. 547 of 1966.4
4. There is no common mood in the House of Assembly. The members of the Highlands want no further political changes and seek economic development in which they feel they lag behind the earlier developed coastal areas of Papua and New Guinea. The Pangu Pati, which consists of 8 of the 84 elected members, seeks immediate ‘Home Rule’ which it sees as something short of self-government. Two or three members have said self-government should come in 1972. Others have asked the Government to set target dates—20 or 25 years being mentioned.
5. The House is very volatile. It has shown a tendency to suspend standing orders in the interests of speed too freely. Legislation (very often ill-considered Private Members Bills) is sometimes passed in an emotional atmosphere without any real discussion of its substance or without the bulk of members understanding the substance of the issue.
Possible approach
6. The principles previously approved by Cabinet remain valid. There seem, however, to be some further principles which would be appropriate. These are—
(i) the pace and nature of political development is a matter for the people of the Territory;
(ii) responsible government involves financial responsibility in the sense of balancing proposed expenditure against revenues raised from taxation—although this does not exclude some overseas aid;
(iii) the rate of political development should be in harmony with economic and social progress.
7. Possible changes fall to be considered in three directions. Changes could be made in the form of the legislature; the scope and range of the present Ministerial Member system could be widened; full self-government could be conferred. Each requires a different approach.
8. I do not anticipate proposals for changes in the Judiciary. The principle of an independent judiciary is well accepted in the Territory. This is, however, the area in which the least participation by natives has so far been achieved and it is important to look for ways in which this can be improved.
The legislature
9. The House of Assembly consists of ten official members, fifteen members elected from regional seats and 69 from open electorates. In the previous House ten members were elected for ‘reserved’ electorates [i.e. only expatriates could. Substantially [those] with the equivalent of the NSW School Certificate may stand.]5 From these regional electorates 11 out of the 15 are expatriates.
10. Eight of the 69 open electorates are also … 6 in the House by expatriates. The idea of the reserved electorates in the 1964 House was that leadership from Australian members would help the House. Indeed there is a danger that excessive expatriate Australian membership will inhibit the proper development of the House.
11. There would be substantial improvement if the regional electorates were dropped and replaced by a House of Review containing people elected on a regional basis. This would possibly be indirect election through local government councils. Such an amendment could be a positive factor in promoting national unity and should ensure that legislation was not passed without due deliberation. This House might include a few official or other nominated members but no Ministerial Members.
12. There are a number of other possible changes in connection with the House of Assembly which could usefully be discussed. Ministerial officers are selected in negotiations between the Administrator and a Committee appointed by the House and the final list is approved by the House of Assembly. If the electors are concerned that these members once appointed no longer represent the wishes of the majority there may be scope for a more direct method of selection—although the Government should retain the power to select portfolios.
13. There might also be a case for including in the Administrator’s Executive Council one or two nominated members who are not members of the other7 House (nominated Ministerial Members).
14. I consider that these matters and any other matters concerning the composition of the House of Assembly to be discussed in a Select Committee on the basis that official members promote the proposal for a House of Review to replace the regional electorates. So long as the Government is satisfied that there are enough official members to ensure that Government business is adequately carried out it should be practicable to accept recommendations concerning the form of the legislature. The Select Committee could also examine the effective working of the present arrangements.
Ministerial Members system
15. Sections 24 and 25 of the Papua and New Guinea Act provide that the role and functions of Ministerial Members shall be determined by arrangements made from time to time by the Minister and at present they share responsibility with the Departmental Head. The functions of Assistant Ministerial Members are much more limited. There is room for enlargement of the authority of Ministerial Members without amendment to the Papua and New Guinea Act. They could become fully responsible to the Administrator for their Departments. Their functions could be expanded to cover the whole range of Government business except the reserved subjects (see (ii) in the annexe). The role and functions of Assistant Ministerial Members could be increased.
16. As changes of this nature are made by the Minister I would propose to make it clear that I would be willing to discuss any proposal the Select Committee might wish to make.
Responsible government
17. It is likely that some members will seek self-government iri 1972 despite the fact that the Territory will not by then be in a position to sustain this financially. At present, taking into account the grant to the Administration and direct spending by Commonwealth Departments about two out of every three dollars of public expenditure are provided by Australia. If this proposal is made official members will stress that responsible government must involve some financial responsibility; self-government is not a matter of a group of Territory politicians gaining complete control of all the funds which they would expect to continue to receive from the Australian taxpayer. If nevertheless the Select Committee wishes to consider self-government it would be appropriate for the Committee to have discussions with Ministers. These would cover criteria for self-government, procedures and the form of financial and other aid that a self-governing Territory could expect to receive from Australia.
Recommendation
I recommend that—
(i) the proposal for a further Select Committee on Constitutional Development should not be opposed;
(ii) official members should adopt the following attitudes to discussions in the Select Committee on—
(a) The Judiciary—as in paragraph 6
(b) The Legislature—as in paragraphs 9–14
(c) The Executive—for changes within the present arrangements as in paragraph 14.
- for changes in the arrangements made under sections 24 and 25 of the P.N.G. Act that this should be discussed with the Minister
- for self-government that this should be discussed with Ministers.
(iii) if proposals are made for changes in arrangements approved for the Ministerial Members system these should be the subject of discussions with the Minister.
(iv) if proposals for self-government are made
(a) discussions on the nature and form of aid after self-government should be discussed with Ministers; and
(b) the Treasurer, Attorney-General and I be authorised to hold such discussions with the Select Committee.8
[NAA: A452, 1969/1135]
1 In March, Warwick Smith had asked Ballard to appraise possible constitutional developments for the Territory ‘with a view to working up a major cabinet submission recommending a course of constitutional development which, if approved, could be pressed before the Select Committee’ (minute, Kirkpatrick to Ballard, 28 March 1969, NAA: A452, 1969/1135). Note: given the submission’s status as a draft, its numerous handwritten corrections are incorporated without being indicated.
2 Document 13.
3 Not printed.
4 See Document 69 and footnote 2, Document 71.
5 Text in parenthesis represents an editorial interpretation of a handwritten revision.
6 Text indecipherable.
7 This word and the first ‘to’ in the next sentence are perhaps superfluous.
8 A decision was made not to put the submission to Cabinet until after the Committee had been established (minute, Ballard to Douglas, 19 May 1969, NAA: A452, 1969/1135).