TNAG-0597-FCO40-744-Future-of-Dependent-Territories-territorial-studies-1977 — Page 130

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FUTURE OF THE DEPENDENT TERRITORIES Vali

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I lovmile be At your meeting with Mr Stanley on 23 May, you may wish to bear in mind that Australia, New Zealand and the popular with

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United States are, like ourselves, considering ways of deleting their remaining dependent territories which may be li never become independent from the UN list.

the h policy hey have Malay serfs), has not been laid down. They may well go clarified. The for integration with Australia to be ratified by a UN- . will tell bas

Australian policy on the Cocos Islands (Mr Clunies-pil

Ross fief in the Indian Ocean, populated by his 600

observed referendum.

New Zealand has a unique colony Islands. Self-government there means

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in the Tokelau

leaving traditional bed it. Pacific social structures untouched.

Western democratiche time procedures will never be introduced. The leaders are those senior by age but they must go through the truly democratic traditional process of consulting the Maneabag way There will never be a written constitution. New Zealand is thinking of organising an act of self-determination to Thi be observed by the UN at which the islanders would approveurem a hypothetical treaty defining New Zealand's relationshi with Tokelau. This would be a form of association. ad w

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The constitutional set-up in the US Virgin Islands and American Samoa is different again. The American mission have told me that once the USVI have completed drafting their own constitution they will have reached a stage of self-government which the US could sell to the UN. They have already elected their Governor. However, so high is the proportion of their government revenue which is derived from federal programmes supervised by Congress that they will never be truly independent. In American Samoa the situation is complicated by the fact that in successive referenda the people have refused to take on the responsib- ility of electing their own Governor. However, the US objective in the long term remains to bring them to a stage of constitutional evolution at which the UN could recognise that decolonisation had been achieved.

RUDaltaa

RJ Dalton

19 May 1977

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