UN General Assembly
1954

31. I may say that I can see no force in the Indonesian contention that the Netherlands Government has been unwilling to negotiate about Dutch New Guinea. On the contrary, the Netherlands negotiated and discussed the question long and patiently with Indonesia. One of the most important aspects of this question is the social, educational and economic advancement of the inhabitants of this part of New Guinea. Is it seriously contended that if sovereignty over this Territory were transferred to the Indonesian Government the peoples of the Territory would be likely to make more rapid progress? It is not in a spirit of criticism that I say that the Republic of Indonesia, confronted in its present very extensive territories with its own massive problems, is not in a position to promote the social and economic well-being of these primitive people. Most of the inhabitants of Netherlands New Guinea, like most of the inhabitants of Australian New Guinea, are still in the most primitive stage. Some of them, in the remoter valleys of that vast island, are still head-hunters and cannibals.