of the Commonwealth of Australia and accepted by the Commonwealth under the provisions of the Christmas Island Act 1958 of Australia.

ADMINISTRATION

Responsibility for the administration of the Territory rests with the Minister for External Territories. An Official Representative was first appointed on 1st October 1958 to take charge of the local administration of the Territory. Under the Administration Ordinance 1958-1961 of the Territory, the Official Representative was given such administrative functions as the Minister directed. The laws of the Colony of Singapore which were in force immediately before the date of transfer were continued in force by the Christmas Island Act 1958 of Australia. They may be altered, amended or repealed by ordinances made under the provisions of that Act, which empowers the Governor-General of Australia to make ordinances for the peace, order and good government of the Territory. The first Administrator was appointed on 1st May 1968, to replace the former Official Representative. The Administration Ordinance 1958-1961, has been repealed by the Administration Ordinance 1968, under which an Administrator, appointed by the Governor-General, governs the territory on behalf of the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The laws of the Colony of Singapore are continued in force under the Administration Ordinance 1968. In addition, a separate judicial system has been established by ordinance.

Administrator: J. S. White

PAPUA

Papua (formerly called British New Guinea) lies wholly within the tropics. The northernmost point touches 5° S. latitude; its southernmost portion, comprising Toogula and Rossel Islands, lies between 11° S. and 12° S. latitude. It is separated from Australia by Torres Strait. The length of Papua from east to west is upwards of 930 miles; towards either end the breadth from north to south is about 200 miles, but about the centre it is considerably narrower. The territory comprises also the islands of the Trobriand, Woodlark, D'Entrecasteaux and Louisiade groups. The length of the coastline is estimated at 3,664 miles, 1,728 on the mainland and 1,936 on the islands. The total area is 86,100 square miles, of which 83,325 are on the mainland and 2,775 on the islands. The estimated total population of the Territory of Papua at 30th June 1967 was 598,268. The non-indigenous population numbered 14,726. Port Moresby is the capital and administrative centre of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. It is situated on the hills overlooking an almost land-locked harbour. At the June 1966 census the total population was 42,133, comprising 32,222 indigenous and 9,911 non-indigenous persons.

HISTORY

The Government of Queensland annexed to the British Empire on the 4th April 1883 that portion of New Guinea not claimed by Holland, but this proceeding was not ratified by the Imperial Government. On the Australian colonies agreeing to guarantee £15,000 a year to meet the cost a Protectorate was, however, proclaimed in 1884 over the south-east portion of New Guinea and the adjacent islands, and the territory was annexed to the Crown by the newlyappointed Administrator in 1888. In 1901 the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia agreed to take it over as a territory of the Commonwealth. In 1906

a Proclamation was issued by the Governor-General, under the provisions of the Papua Act 1905, declaring British New Guinea a territory of the Commonwealth, under the name of Papua.

NEW GUINEA

The Trust Territory of New Guinea extends north to south from the Equator to 8° S. latitude, a distance of 400 nautical miles; and west to east from 141° E. longitude (its boundary with West Irian) to 160° E. longitude, a distance of 1,000 nautical miles. The land area of the Territory covers 92,160 square miles and includes that part of the island of New Guinea north of the Papua and east of the West Irian borders, the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago, of which New Britain, New Ireland and Manus are the largest, and the two northernmost islands of the Solomon Group, namely Buka and Bougainville. The estimated total population of the Territory of New Guinea at 30th June 1968 was 1,700,000 including an estimated 23,000 non-indigenes. Rabaul and Lae are important towns. Rabaul and Port Moresby are the busiest ports in the combined Territory of Papua and New Guinea.

HISTORY

On 17th September 1914 the Acting Governor of German New Guinea signed terms of capitulation with the Officer Commanding a naval and military expedition sent from Australia and thereafter the Territory was under military administration until the establishment of civil government on 9th May 1921.

In 1919 it was decided by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers that the Territory of New Guinea, which Germany gave up as one of the terms of peace, should be entrusted under Mandate from the League of Nations to the Government of the Commonwealth. The issuing of the Mandate was, however, delayed, and it was not until 17th December 1920 that its terms were settled, and the Mandate itself did not reach Australia until April 1921.

ADMINISTRATION

The Territory is administered according to the terms of the Trusteeship Agree ment approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 13th Decembe 1946. Article 5 of the Agreement provided that the Administering Authority (the Commonwealth of Australia) might bring the Territory into a customs, fiscal or administrative union or federation with other dependent territories under its jurisdiction or control and establish common services between the Territory and any or all of these territories if, in its opinion, it would be in the interests of the territory and not inconsistent with the basic objective of the Trusteeship system to do so. The Papua and New Guinea Act was accordingly passed by the Australian Parliament in 1949. (For details of administration see below relating to the Territory of Papua and New Guinea). The development of the Territory is set out in annual reports to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

TERRITORY OF PAPUA AND NEW GUINEA

ADMINISTRATION

After the outbreak of War in the Pacific Ocean, civil administration in Papua and New Guinea was suspended on 11th February 1942, and military control

introduced. The Territory of New Guinea came under Japanese occupation in 1942, but the greater part had already been recaptured by Australian and Allied Forces when the Japanese surrendered in August 1945. During the period of military control, matters relating to the former civil administration were dealt with by the Department of External Territories, Canberra. The Minister for External Territories was empowered by National Security Regulations to exercise the powers and functions of the Administrator, officers and authorities of the territories; and the powers of the Supreme Courts of Papua and New Guinea were vested in the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory.

By the provisions of the Papua-New Guinea Provisional Administration Act, 1945, a single Provisional Administration Service was formed to take over from the military authorities in the Territories of Papua and New Guinea. Colonel J. K. Murray was appointed administrator of the combined Territories on 11th October 1945, and the transfer from military to civil control in Papua and that portion of the Territory of New Guinea south of the Markham River was effected on 30th October 1945. The jurisdictions of the Supreme Courts of Papua and New Guinea were then vested in the Supreme Court of the Territory of Papua-New Guinea. As circumstances permitted civil control was extended to other areas until the whole of the Territory of New Guinea came under the control of the Provisional Administration of Papau-New Guinea on 24th June 1946.

The Papua-New Guinea Provisional Administration Act 1945-1946, was repealed by the Papua and New Guinea Act 1949, which approved the placing of the Territory of New Guinea under the International Trusteeship System and provided that the Territories of Papua and of New Guinea should be governed in an administrative union, known as the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. The Papua and New Guinea Act of 1949-1960 provided for the appointment of an Administrator to administer the government of the Territory on behalf of the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia and for a Legislative Council which, subject to the assent of the Administrator or, in certain cases defined in the Act, the Governor-General, had full legislative power in regard to the peace, order and good government of the Territory. The Council was inaugurated in 1951. In 1961 it consisted of thirty-seven members (including the Administrator) of whom fourteen were officers of the Territory, six were elected by the indigenous population, and six by the non-indigenous population and ten were appointed. All members, except the twelve elected members, were appointed by the Governor-General on the nomination of the Administrator.

The Act also provided for an Administrative Council consisting of the Administrator, three official members of the Legislative Council and three non-official members of the Legislative Council. The Council's functions are to advise the Administrator on any matter he refers to it and other matters as provided by ordinance.

By an amendment of the Papua and New Guinea Act in May 1963 the Legislative Council was replaced by a House of Assembly consisting of sixty-four members, of whom forty-four are elected by the electors of the Territory enrolled on a common roll in single-member constituencies, ten are non-indigenous members elected by the same electors for special electorates comprising one or more of the open electorates and ten are official members. The Administrator's Council was also enlarged by increasing the number of non-official members from three to seven, all of whom must be elected members of the House of Assembly.

A further amendment to the Papua and New Guinea Act in October 1966 abolished the ten special electorates and replaced them with 15 regional electorates. Election as a Member representing a Regional Electorate is based on a minimum educational qualification of the Territory Intermediate Certificate, or equivalent. This provision first applied to the General Election for an enlarged House of Assembly of 94 members, 69 of whom were returned to open electorates by adult franchise, 15 were returned to regional electorates by adult franchise and 10 official members were nominated by the Minister on the Administrator's advice. This election, conducted from 17th February to 10th March 1968, returned 23 of the former M.H.A.'s who stood again, and 61 new members. The proportion of indigenous elected members increased by 10 per cent to its present 77 per cent of all elected members and three indigenous members were returned to the Regional electorates requiring the educational minimum.

In June 1967 the House of Assembly Select Committee on Constitutional Development presented its final report which recommended a further advance towards quasi-executive government and was accepted by the Australian Parliament in October 1967. The Papua and New Guinea Act 1968, passed by the Australian Parliament in May 1968, updates the Papua and New Guinea Act 1949-1968, which enables the implementation of the recommendations of the Select Committee, including the new ministerial system and the replacement of the Administrator's Council by the Administrator's Executive Council. These provide for seven Ministerial Members and eight Assistant Ministerial Members both with functions appropriate to a department of the Papua and New Guinea Public Service. The Ministerial Members are joint leaders of their departments with the Permanent Head, and represent it in the House of Assembly. The Assistant Ministerial Members represent their departments in the House of Assembly. The Administrator's Executive Council comprises the seven Ministerial Members, three Official Members, the Administrator and, at his discretion, possibly a twelfth Councillor chosen from the elected members who are not holding office as Ministerial Members. In January 1970 proposals were announced by the Minister for External Territories to increase the power and financial responsibility of both Ministerial and Assistant Ministerial Members.

The Local Government Ordinance 1963-1967 provides that multi-racial councils may be established and continue in existence councils established under the repealed Native Local Government Councils Ordinance and Regulations. Provision is made for local government councils to be given a wider range of functions of a local nature and to have increased financial powers, including power to levy rates on land. The Ordinance also provided for the appointment of a Local Government Commissioner responsible for administering the Ordinance but in July 1969 the Department of District Administration was absorbed into the Department of the Administrator with headquarters at Konedobu, a suburb of Port Moresby. 113 of the 142 current Local Government Councils are multiracial.

Administrator of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea:

D. O. Hay, CBE, SDO (until July 1970); L. W. Johnson (After July)

MACQUARIE ISLAND

Macquarie Island lies some 1,000 miles to the south-east of Tasmania and has been a dependency of Tasmania since the 19th century. The island is without permanent inhabitants, but a base for meteorological and other research has been maintained there since 1948.

THE ROSS DEPENDENCY (New Zealand)

T

(HE Antarctic territory known as the Ross Dependency was brought within the jurisdiction of the New Zealand Government by Order in Council of 30th July 1923, under the British Settlements Act, 1887. It is defined as ‘all the islands and territories between the 160th degree of east longitude and the 150th degree of west longitude which are situated south of the 60th degree of south latitude'. The land area is estimated at 160,000 square miles and permanent shelf ice at 130,000 square miles. There are no permanent inhabitants, but scientific stations are staffed all the year round.

Laws for the Dependency have been made by regulations promulgated by the Governor-General of New Zealand. Administrative powers are vested in the Governor-General of New Zealand, and Administrative Officers (commonly referred to as Administrators) have been appointed from time to time since 1923. Many famous explorers visited the area during the last century, including Sir James Ross, Captain R.F. Scott, RN, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen and Richard E. Byrd.

In the 1920s whaling was licensed by the New Zealand Government. Since then, however, the pelagic whaling expeditions have operated on the high seas. In recent years the territory has been visited by several British and American expeditions. The Dependency is now the scene of greater activity than ever before. Under the auspices of the International Geophysical Year a United States expedition re-activated a scientific station at 'Little America' and constructed an air strip on the bay ice at McMurdo Sound capable of taking heavy aircraft from New Zealand. A joint New Zealand-United States station is being operated at Cape Hallett.

The New Zealand Antarctic Expedition established Scott Base on Ross Island in January 1957. The purpose of the Expedition was twofold: to take part in the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition and in the Antarctic Programme of the International Geophysical Year.

In March 1958 the New Zealand Government appointed the Ross Dependency Research Committee to co-ordinate and supervise all New Zealand activity in the Dependency, with particular reference to the scientific and technical programme. It has since announced a programme of continuing research and exploration.