arrangements worked out in the Inter-Governmental Committee, and in the recent London talks, development of the order of nearly £60 million—almost double the rate of present spending—should be possible in the first five years of Malaysia. It is not, of course, only on the unanimous agreement reached in the Inter-Governmental Committee that acceptance of Malaysia in the Borneo territories rests. Already in September, 1962, before the Committee had really got down to work at all, the Council Negri, which is the senior Council in Sarawak, and the Legislative Council in North Borneo passed resolutions, with no dissentient vote, welcoming the decision in principle to establish Malaysia by August 31. In December the North Borneo local elections resulted in an overwhelming victory for the pro-Malaysia candidates. Then in March this year, the two Legislatures adopted, again unanimously in North Borneo and with no dissentient vote in Sarawak, the recommendations of the Inter-Governmental Committee.
In Sarawak new elections have recently been held, as a result of which the Sarawak Alliance, a strongly pro-Malaysia Party, has the support of 26 members out of a total of 36 elected members. Of the Opposition parties the 939 Party Negara, with five seats, is pro-Malaysia, and its leader was one of the signatories of the London Agreement. The Sarawak United Peoples Party, S.U.P.P., with five seats, are the only ones to entertain doubts about Malaysia, and even they are not unreservedly opposed to the idea, and, indeed, the head of the Party, who I know personally quite well, is pro-Malaysia. I have taken the time of the House to explain in some detail the safeguards that have been negotiated for the Borneo territories, and to show that the wish of the peoples in those countries to join Malaysia has been repeatedly and unequivocally expressed.
I should like to say a word about Singapore. The Heads of Agreement between Malaya and Singapore, which were published in November, 1961, provided that Singapore would be a State within the Federation, but on special conditions and with a larger measure of autonomy than the existing States; that is, the eleven States of the Federation of Malaya. For example, education and labour, which in the existing Federation were Federal subjects, would be the responsibility of the Singapore Government. In order to discharge these responsibilities Singapore would retain a large proportion of the present State revenue. Taking these factors into account, it was agreed that Singapore would have fifteen seats in the Federal Parliament, a smaller number than would be proportionate to her population of 1.7 million.
A Committee of representatives of the two Governments began to work out the detailed terms of merger last December. Agreement was reached on nearly all matters during the following months, but a few matters—and these were very important ones and mainly financial—were still unresolved at the middle of June, and were finally settled at the recent discussions in London. Agreement was reached on the arrangements for establishing a common market in Malaysia, and these arrangements are set out in an annex to the Malaysia Agreement. It was also agreed that the revenue from Federal taxes collected in Singapore would be divided in the proportion of 60 per cent. to the Singapore Government and 40 per cent. to the Federal Government, and that to 940 assist development in the Borneo territories the Singapore Government would make available fifteen-year loans totalling a sum of 150 million dollars. This happy outcome could not have been achieved but for the determination to reach agreement shown by those who took part in the final talks in London.
It is a cause of regret that the Sultan of Brunei decided not to sign the Malaysia Agreement. We have, of course, all along taken the view that it was entirely a matter for him to decide whether to join Malaysia, but we have repeatedly made it clear that, in our view, it is in Brunei's best interest to join, and we still hold this view. The door is still open for Brunei's accession, and we hope that it will decided to go in.
I am convinced that the foundations of Malaysia, which have been laid so carefully during the past two years, are solid and that politically and economically we have here all the ingredients for a repetition of the success story of the Federation of Malaya. I am sure that this will be so, despite the storm clouds that have in the past months gathered round the Malaysian horizon. In these circumstances, it is, of course, particularly important that the existing Anglo-Malayan Defence Agreement will extend to the whole of Malaysia. We in this House, and I am sure I speak for all your Lordships, wish Malaysia well, and I ask that this Bill should be given an unopposed passage through your
