Leading academic heads Qld PNG team
The head of the School of History at Queensland University, Prof Clive Moore, has accepted an invitation to lead the PNG Association’s Brisbane steering group. The group will participate in a national discussion to recommend a new Federal structure for the PNGAA and also advise on whether a fully-fledged branch can be established in Queensland.
Prof Moore [left] graduated from James Cook University in 1974, completing his PhD there in 1981 before teaching at the University of Papua New Guinea until 1987. His teaching interests include Australia and the Pacific, colonial and race relations history, and the history of gender and sexuality. He has written a number of books about Pacific history and has served on an enquiry into the restructure of the University of PNG. He is also President of the Australian Association for the Advancement of Pacific Studies.
Sean Dorney AM MBE, a steering group member, is the veteran PNG and Pacific journalist, now the Brisbane-based Pacific correspondent for the ABC and Radio Australia. He was seconded as a journalist to the PNG National Broadcasting Commission in 1974. During his early years in PNG, Sean was better known as a footballer, captaining the national rugby league team, the Kumuls. Sean has written two books - Papua New Guinea: People, Politics and History since 1975 and The Sandline Affair - Politics and Mercenaries and the Bougainville Crisis. He won a Walkley Award in 1998 for his coverage of the Aitape tsunami disaster and in the same year the Pacific Islands News Association honoured him with its Pacific Media Freedom Award. The PNG Government awarded Sean an MBE 1991 and he received an AM in 2000 in recognition for his service to Australia as a foreign correspondent.
Joycelin Leahy [right], a steering group member, is the owner of the tribal and contemporary art shops Beyond Art in Port Moresby and Beyond Pacific Art in Brisbane. Joycelin grew up in Wagang, a small fishing village north of Lae. She is a trained journalist (Post-Courier and Niugini Nius), a mother, an advocate of Pacific women’s issues and a strong believer in developing self-reliance through entrepreneurship. She has worked in the performing arts with the then National Theatre Company and Waigani Arts Centre in Port Moresby in 1980s and 1990s. Joycelin is completing a Masters in Museum Studies at the University of Queensland. She was Miss PNG in 1989.
Dr Max Quanchi, a steering group member, teaches Pacific Island History at Queensland University of Technology. His expertise is in Pacific islands contemporary events, Australia-Pacific island relations, Pacific island history and colonial photography of the Pacific. Max has taught at primary, secondary and tertiary levels in Australia and the Pacific. From 1995-2001 he coordinated a regional professional development program for history teachers in the Pacific Islands.
Colin Huggins, a steering group member, has worked for the Brisbane City Council formany years. He trained at ASOPA in 1962-63 and then taught in Rabaul, Dregerhafen, Finschhafen, Kambili, Wau and Pindiu until 1969. Colin ran hotels and related businesses in Queensland from 1970-94 before joining the Brisbane City Council. He was the principal organiser of the 2006 ASOPA cadet education officers’ reunion in Brisbane, which was attended by about 200 people.
There may be other appointments made in the next few days, but the PNGAA is delighted that it has such a strong and diverse planning group that will, along with people in other States and Territories, guide it through a period of profound change in its structure and operations [see story below]. Discussions are being initiated to do this, and interested people are asked to email me here.
