PNG ATTITUDE

PNGAA backs School of the Pacific idea

  The Papua New Guinea Association has formally come out in support of the former ASOPA site being redeveloped as a regional institute in which Asia –Pacific participants, including Australians, seek to examine and develop solutions for critical issues facing the region.

The heritage listed buildings on Middle Head are about to be refurbished but, as yet, no future purpose has been identified for them.

The PNGAA has written to Duncan Kerr, the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs, saying it supported “the proposal to redevelop the former ASOPA site on Middle Head, Sydney, as an Asia-Pacific institution dedicated to exchanging knowledge about important regional issues and improving relationships between peoples in the region”.

The PNGAA management committee has no illusions about how difficult this challenge is, but felt it was imperative that it have a go.

We’d like you to join the PNGAA and the many ASOPA PEOPLE readers who have written to Duncan Kerr in support of this proposal. If you haven’t done so already, why don’t you do this now? You’ll find a two-page summary of the proposal which is downloadable here. Download sotp_proposal.pdf   And you can send your letter of support to Mr Kerr at this address:

The Hon Duncan Kerr SC MP
Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs
Parliament House
CANBERRA   ACT   2600

There was a special ethos about the place

"Amongst the bushland and spectacular views of Headland Park are nestled former military buildings with surprising stories to tell. Today the rambling bungalows and tropical plants give little hint of the important role played by a modest complex of buildings on lower Middle Head. But for 50 years this place was at the forefront of Australia’s role in the Pacific.”

So begins an article, with this exceptional accompanying photograph of the ASOPA grounds, in the most recent issue of Mosman Magazine. The story [right] reports that the Harbour Trust is to soon begin to refurbish the buildings and is currently investigating the history of ASOPA through its oral history program, in which I and a number of readers have participated.

“It gave you this feeling that you’d been involved in something unique,” said Dr Ann Prendergast, a former ASOPA lecturer. “There was a special ethos about the place that I think must have come from the administration and it filtered down through the staff to the students.”

If you have a story to tell about ASOPA or ITI, contact Eunice Sarif on (02) 8969 2100 or email her here.

Kerr-Jackson correspondence continues

Hon Duncan Kerr SC MP
Parliamentary Secretary for
Pacific Island Affairs
Parliament House
CANBERRA   ACT   2600

Dear Mr Kerr,

Thank you for you response to my letter about the concept of an Australian-based institution designed to address critical issues and build relationships within our region.

While the working title I gave this institution - ‘School of the Pacific’ – was designed to pay tribute to what, in its time, was a place that provided a significant contribution to Australia’s administration of Papua New Guinea, I was not thinking of the former Australian School of Pacific Administration as a model.

ASOPA was a training establishment for ‘colonial officials’ and, of course, such an archetype would lack any current relevance.

ASOPA’s successor organisation, the International Training Institute, which flourished in the 1970s and 1980s, provides a more appropriate model. Although ITI had its institutional and systemic weaknesses, it contained more than the germ of an excellent idea.

The ‘School of the Pacific’, as I conceive it, would not be primarily, or even at all, a training establishment – but a high level institute for the joint consideration of major regional issues. It would both seek solutions through dialogue and expertise but, just as importantly, seek to build lasting relationships between the people who participated in its programs. In doing this, it would hope to link Australian professionals in continuing contact with their Asia-Pacific counterparts.

I hope that you and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will give earnest consideration to this proposal, whether within the Pacific Partnerships or some other program, and that you will be able to keep me and my colleagues informed of developments.

Yours sincerely,

Keith Jackson AM

Govt considers School of the Pacific

I received a letter yesterday from the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Duncan Kerr [seen here visiting a school in PNG], stating that the School of the Pacific concept is to be considered by the Federal government.

Responding to my submission proposing how such an institution could operate to address critical issues and improve relationships in the region, Mr Kerr said that, under the government’s Pacific Partnerships policy, models like ASOPA will be taken into account.

“The Government is committed to implementing long-term partnerships for development and security with Pacific island countries,” Mr Kerr said. “These partnerships will give the Government scope to … consider the role and effectiveness … of previous models like the Australian School of Pacific Administration.”

Mr Kerr, 56, worked in PNG from 1983-85, where he was Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Papua New Guinea and Legal Counsel Ombudsman, advising on anti-corruption matters and issues related to administrative law.

The School of the Pacific concept has been publicly supported by a number of prominent individuals including PNG Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane, Assoc Prof Martin Hadlow of the University of Queensland, Phil Charley OAM and former PNG health educator, Bill Wilson.

Academic urges Kerr to back ASOPA idea

The Director of the Centre for Communication and Social Change at the University of  Queensland, Assoc Prof Martin Hadlow [left], is the latest in a growing list of influential people who have asked the Federal Government to support the ‘new ASOPA’ concept.

In a letter to the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs, Duncan Kerr, Prof Hadlow says the proposed School of the Pacific would emerge as a “resource base and centre for a range of educational, training, capacity-building, cultural and political initiatives”.

“Such a School would enable our Centre to engage more fully with our Pacific neighbours in supporting the positive role of communication in development, not to mention encouraging freedom of expression, good governance, independent media and other important human rights activities,” Prof Hadlow writes.

Prof Hadlow’s experience includes two years in PNG and four years in the Solomons on communications development projects. In addition he has undertaken consultancy work in many other parts of the Pacific and Asia including two years as Unesco head of mission  in Afghanistan.

A couple of blokes & a couple of notes

FROM PAUL OATES

Thanks for your newsletter that I read with great interest. The Internet can be an amazing vehicle for getting and keeping in touch. Two of my posts on the Ex Kiap site have resulted in the sons of old PNG friends getting in touch with me, sometimes years after I first put the post on the website.

In regards to recreating ASOPA, there are really three main issues that I can see:

1. To recreate ASOPA or a similar entity at Middle Head would require the Federal government to resist selling off the asset

2. The links with past colonial administration would have to be overlooked by say, the present crop of PNG leaders, and

3. The cost of bringing those people from the Pacific to Oz and being housed here would have to be worth the benefits of not enacting the training locally.

From a cultural perspective, you would no doubt be aware of the 'melt down' occurring to our near north. The 'Melanesian way' is unfortunately, very susceptible to promoting graft and corruption without any accountability. To train people here and then release them back into an environment where the training will have no real impact, is like trying to put a bandaid on a dying man and hope it may help.

I was heartened by the support for the concept being shown by the PNG Governor-General who clearly wants to do something positive for his country. There are a number of people I know who would want to do the same, merely because we have enormous regard for the country and it's people. The essence of the trouble is, DFAT and the current PNG leadership have every reason to keep the status quo in place and almost no reason to change. Throwing more money at the 'slow train crash' that is happening before our eyes will only help 'grease the tracks'.

What's the answer you may well ask? Well, clearly it's not more of the same. The nub of the problem is the need to have responsible and accountable government. Until you get that in PNG, there won't be any change, apart from some temporary and cosmetic filling of the visible pot holes and putting up self congratulatory signage. The rot starts from the top. If the collective will is there to actually achieve some dramatic and long lasting change, I for one would be very happy to lend all the support I can. I know of others who would also feel the same way.

Keep up the good work.

Paul.

FROM KEITH JACKSON

Thanks for you note, and I appreciate greatly your sentiments and support. I also appreciate your thoughtful and provocative contribution to the Ex Kiap website, which helps keep discussion about PNG alive amongst the many friends that country has in Australia and elsewhere. Friends who, you and I are both aware, regard with dismay the state of this wonderful place that, in our youth, offered and gave us so much.

The 'new ASOPA' idea is just that. It's not a solution. It's one way of trying to make tangible the notion that, at the end of the day, if we don't interact with good will and firm purpose, nothing of value will be achieved.

I'm alive to the view that what I've proposed may be seen to be a bit of a 'talk shop' - but I think talking is OK so long as the discussion is about matters of mutual concern and how these may be mutually addressed and how it's pretty good to be talking in a directive way about serious matters that need resolution.

There hasn't been nearly enough of that between PNG and ourselves for a very long time. Certainly not at the level of interested citizens who feel a bit of PNG in our blood - and who see the relationship as personal and important. In 20 years time most of us who have a first hand feeling for PNG will be gone. And I think with us will go a lot of passion. And perhaps a lot of the promise of a really close relationship.

So, for me, the 'new ASOPA' is an opportunity. There will undoubtedly be others that pop up from time to time. It's fine for Heavy Kevvy to sign a 'Port Moresby Declaration' but, at another level, I feel we must create avenues to say to those people we thought we knew so well at the time we lived among them: ‘We're still here; we're willing to lend a hand. Forget about government, this is personal.’

With very best wishes.

Keith

School of the Pacific is on govt agenda

A senior official in the Department of Foreign Affairs has indicated that the School of the Pacific concept will be considered by the Federal government as a possible option for training Pacific public servants.

In a letter [left] to former ASOPA student Bill Wilson, the assistant secretary responsible for the Pacific Branch of the department, Patrick Cole, previously Australia’s high commissioner to the Solomons, said that, under the government’s Pacific Partnerships policy, previous models like ASOPA will be considered.

“The Government is committed to implementing long-term partnerships for development and security with Pacific island countries,” Mr Cole said. “These partnerships will give the Government scope to … consider the role and effectiveness … of previous models like the Australian School of Pacific Administration.”

This is the first official comment on the ‘new ASOPA’ idea. So far Duncan Kerr, the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, has remained silent on the issue.

It's not too late to urge Duncan Kerr to take up this idea. Read the full three-page proposal here and write to Mr Kerr here:

The Hon Duncan Kerr SC, MP
Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
CANBERRA  ACT  2600

Matane backs 'New ASOPA' concept

PNG’s Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane has said he supports the vision for a ‘New ASOPA’ that has featured in ASOPA PEOPLE recently. And he has said of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s visit to PNG last week: “A better relationship between our two nations has now been established.”

“We are very happy with his views," Sir Paulias told ASOPA PEOPLE. "Mr Rudd’s first call after his arrival in Port Moresby on Thursday was on me at Government House before his meetings with other PNG leaders. We were all impressed with his views; and much more so to work in partnership with us, not to dictate anything to PNG.”

Sir Paulias expressed pleasure that Mr Rudd had appointed “the well-known Hon Duncan Kerr" as Parliamentary Secretary for the Pacific . "It was good to see him here,” he said.

Photo: PNG Post-Courier front page shows a cheerful Sir Michael Somare and Kevin Rudd in Port Moresby last week.

Support for 'new ASOPA' from India

Colin L Yarham

The redevelopment of the ASOPA site in the manner suggested in the February issue of The Mail is enthusiastically supported. As one person indicated, to justify the cost of redevelopment of the site, apart from the think-tank periods, use of the facility could be extended for training courses for overseas and indigenous personnel.

In addition, there is a wide ranging number of NGOs operating out of Australia attempting to undertake overseas work, who really need training of in-house employees in the realities of the work attempted.

The one thing that would be a requirement is the development of the old ASOPA innovative, open, can-do attitude that so pervaded the old institution.

I was formerly a lecturer at ASOPA [1966-69]. Norm Donnison had lectured me in teachers’ college and, like everything else he did, he also was a very enthusiastic and competent rugby league coach. Warmly remembered.

I work with health literacy in developing countries. I’m currently working in cooperation with the Tamil Nadu state government to develop a comprehensive health, life skills and social development syllabus for Grades 1 to 12 called the Schools Total Health Program (STHP). It is reaching some 14 million children and youths.

Two Russian professors declared STHP to be 'the best program in the world' and, at the invitation of the Education Minister, I was sent as World health organisation adviser to the Russian Federation to initiate the program there.

The Union Government in India now wishes to introduce the program to all states and is financing its further development.

UNICEF also wants to introduce the program in Kyrgyzstan and an invitation from the Guidance, Counselling and Youth Development Centre for Africa conducted by the Ministers of Education of 32 African Countries has resulted in a co-operative venture commencing in that continent from the Centre in Malawi.

Dr Yarham is director of Health Education & Promotion International Inc. He is currently based in Chennai, India.

Photo: Colin Yarham handing over the manual that has helped educate more than 14 million Indian Children to Lee Evans. Picture: Samantha Emanuel, North Shore Times

If you support the redevelopment of ASOPA as a national and regional development studies centre [see February’s The Mail under ‘NEWSLETTER – THE MAIL’ in the left hand column], please send a letter of support to Hon Duncan Kerr, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Parliament House, PO Box 6022, Canberra ACT 2600.

Commemorating our contribution to PNG

You can help secure a future for the old ASOPA site on Middle Head; a future that is productive and which commemorates its history as a place of learning and a training institution. This is the time to make your views known to the Australian Government through Minister Duncan Kerr. Here's Bill Wilson's submission.

The Hon Duncan Kerr SC, MP
Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
CANBERRA   ACT   2600

Dear Sir

I believe an approach has been made to you to redevelop the former School of Pacific Administration at Mosman as a training institute for Pacific Islanders to assist them to make culturally appropriate decisions on matters of major concern such as economic needs, climatic change, health services, and local and regional political issues. Such a development would assist Pacific Island opinion leaders and government officials to further develop their capacity to make vital decisions about their future needs without domination by major world powers. This is in line with Australian policy, which recognises the rights of Pacific Islanders to manage their own affairs, free of domination and political/economic blackmail. I strongly support this approach having had many years of contact with Pacific Islanders and being sympathetic to their concerns about their collective futures.

This form of assistance would also enhance Australia’s reputation as a friendly and supportive nation willing to help its neighbours without attempting domination and interference in internal affairs.

I also see the proposed training institute as being of value in the training of leaders of Australian indigenous groups to meet the problems being faced by their own people. This would be in line with past activities of the ASOPA in providing training for Northern Territory field staff.

I would like to see that the proposed institute be used to commemorate the contribution made to Papua New Guinea by young Australian field officers who gave up their youth, risked their health and wellbeing, and gave up alternative career and education opportunities to assist the indigenous peoples of TPNG and the Northern Territory. These officers included agricultural officers, education officers, medical assistants, nurses and patrol officers who made major contribution to the indigenous peoples and communities they worked with. In discussions with international students with whom I studied at London University, the dedication of Australian field staff and their policy of care and compassion clearly exceeded that experienced by indigenous populations in Africa and Asia.

The concept of recognising the merit of Australians working overseas is already accepted in relation to personnel in the armed forces and in police groups assisting to maintain law and order in 3rd World nations. It is timely that the field staff who served more peaceful purposes in TPNG before independence were given equal recognition before illness and old age wipes them and their historic memories out – much to the loss of this nation.

I make this submission not as a ‘do gooder’ but as a proud Australian who experienced at first hand the dealings of Australian field staff in TPNG and later in the Northern Territory. I hope that you will give careful consideration to this proposal and the submissions of support you will certainly receive. If I can be of any service to you on the issue please contact me.

Yours sincerely

WT Wilson

Georges Heights planning open day

The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is preparing a draft management plan for the Georges Heights precinct including a landscape plan for the adjoining bushland. This weekend you can take a guided tour, discuss ideas for the site with Trust planners and have a say in the preparation of the plan.

Where: Harbour Trust Offices, Building 28, Best Avenue off Suakin Drive, Middle Head, Mosman.

When: 9 am, 10 am or 11 am Saturday 16 February.

RSVP Jessica Sartor before 4 pm Friday 15 February by phoning 02 8969 2100 or emailing consulttrust@harbourtrust.gov.au

I'm sure you can write a letter like this...

The Hon Duncan Kerr SC, MP
Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
CANBERRA  ACT  2600

Dear Mr Kerr,

I wish to support the proposal by Keith Jackson AM for utilising the old ASOPA site at Middle Head, Sydney, for the establishment of a “School of the Pacific”.

This is an excellent idea for the overall integration and improvement of this region.

I had nine years in Papua New Guinea (1970–79) training indigenous people in the field of radio broadcasting. Then, as Radio Training Supervisor at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (1985 – 90) I was involved as co-lecturer in several training courses in  radio and television management in the Philippines, Indonesia and Fiji. These courses were organised by Martin Hadlow of UNESCO. My wife and I also worked in Tonga for AESOP in the field of educational broadcasting. So I feel I have a good understanding of how helpful short courses, as proposed by Keith Jackson, can be.

Please give this proposal your favourable consideration. It could do enormous good for the South Pacific/South East Asia region.

Yours sincerely,

Philip N Charley OAM

School feedback offers some great ideas

ASOPA PEOPLE scored a record 307 page views yesterday and among the readers were some prepared to add value to the proposal I’ve made to Duncan Kerr, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, for the Federal Government to consider revivifying ASOPA as The School of the Pacific.

For example, Bill Wilson of Canberra says the School should also be established as a “practical memorial commemorating the work of all field officers who gave up their youth, health and career opportunities to serve and assist the people of TPNG”. Bill as one of those people, although he continued on with a wonderful career in Australia as a health educator.

And Henry Bodman of Brisbane proposes that the Hallstrom Pacific Library should be regrouped and relocated to its original site on the Middle Head campus. While I think there may be some difficulties in extracting acquisitions from those universities and other institutions that now house them, it’s certainly an idea worth pursuing.

There were also many other proposals about making sure the heritage and story of ASOPA (and ITI) are appropriately commemorated. In all, a wonderful response.

If you haven’t done so already, don’t forget to read the proposal and communicate your thoughts to Duncan Kerr at this address.

You can read the full three-page proposal here

The Hon Duncan Kerr SC, MP
Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
CANBERRA  ACT  2600

Huge response to School of the Pacific

The proposal to establish a regional think tank at the old ASOPA site – an institution which maintains the traditions of ASOPA in a 21^st century context – has caught the imagination of people who have a strong association with PNG and the Pacific. ASOPA PEOPLE has been deluged with more than 500 hits on the matter in a little over 24 hours.

I shouldn’t really refer to the proposal as promoting a ‘think tank’: a somewhat derogatory term for a place designed to bring together people from the region, including Australians, to address the great regional issues they face and to develop solutions to these challenges.

In concentrated four-week programs, participants will address some of the most pressing problems in the region - for example, global warming, migration, terrorism, health, education. They will receive high-level briefings from Australian experts and then consider the subject in depth over a period of two weeks, through research, dialogue, analysis, modelling, solution development and decision-making.

It is then intended there will be a public conference based around the subject matter where participants and other experts will present papers. Finally, there will be a report produced, including actions that participants will commit to.

The School of the Pacific is expected to bring together people from different nationalities to acquire and share knowledge on critical matters affecting the region and their own countries. They will form new relationships, including with Australian professionals, and develop new networks in their areas of professional activity or expertise.

You can read the full proposal here.

Can we establish an ASOPA successor?

The forthcoming Ideas Summit announced by Kevin Rudd yesterday stimulated me to fire off a missive to Duncan Kerr [pictured], the new Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs. And the letter contained a very big idea indeed - a rough operating concept for a notional ‘School of the Pacific’ to be located on the old ASOPA site at Middle Head.

The objects of the School will be to run short programs to address critical issues in the region and to strengthen Australia’s relationships with the region and especially with South Pacific and South-East Asian nations. Attendance at the School will be through Australian Government fellowships to political, government, business and NGO leaders.

The programs on offer might cover subjects like: environmental integrity in the Asia Pacific region; the impact of global warming in the South Pacific; using the mass media as a means of development; economic development and migration in the South Pacific; and promoting educational opportunity through regional cooperation.

You can read the full three-page proposal here

I urge you to add your voice to this concept for an exciting new use for the ASOPA site by writing to Mr Kerr at this address:

The Hon Duncan Kerr SC, MP
Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
CANBERRA  ACT  2600

Mapping memories we didn’t even know we had

I don’t know whether this map is clear enough for you to interpret (just left click on it). But, for all of us who spent time at ASOPA or ITI or whatever they called it later, after the place was defenestrated, this image has significance.

Most of the huts were built in 1941 as an Australian Army Signals camp. What became the Hallstrom Pacific Library and the Principal’s administrative bunker were sleeping huts then. They were placed near the road where, if you’re a bureaucrat, sleeping huts should be. The old common room and canteen, remember those sweeping views across the harbour to Rose Bay, in those days were the signalmens’ camp mess.

The lecture room, where Jean Newcombe struggled to teach us biology, was a workshop. Jean had been naïve (or mischievous) enough to tell us that the Bird of Paradise mates upside down. Whereupon one bright spark interpolated: “Ah, it inverts and multiplies”. To be trumped by another genius: “No, it inverts and inserts”. Mathematics Method never had it so good.

There are battery rooms that became lecture rooms. And latrines that remained toilets. But isn’t it amazing that even a stark map can dredge up the richest of memories?

Oral history of ASOPA is being recorded

The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is doing a fine job in conserving the cultural history of its harbourside sites – including ASOPA - through the stories and memories of people  associated with them. So it was that yesterday I sat down in my board room for an hour with Julie Evans and reminisced about my ASOPA and ITI experiences.

The recordings and transcripts of this important project provide snapshots of the sites’ histories and a reflection of the impact they have had on people’s lives. The Harbour Trust is keen to hear from people who have worked or studied at ASOPA or ITI. If you want further information or would like to participate, contact the resource centre coordinator by email here or by phone on (02) 8969 2100.

BACK TO SCHOOL

There was a great turn out at today’s ‘back to ASOPA’ gathering at the old School – which I assure you retains a dignified beauty despite being a little tatty around the edges. The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is doing a great job trying to ensure that the site will appropriately commemorate the existence of ASOPA and ITI, but our readers’ help is needed to make this a reality.

This afternoon nearly 60 former staff and students of ASOPA and ITI returned to the Middle Head campus to discuss how to demonstrate the significance of the site and its buildings. While the site’s future is already assured, such is the nature of bureaucracy that there is a need to assemble a powerful case for persuasively interpreting the reason ASOPA existed in the first place.

Without mincing words, what this means is whether the School will be marked by a mere plaque or by something more substantial, such as a research centre or a commemorative display.

“There’s a great feeling of belonging that exists among people who have been associated with this place,” said Bob Clarke, Sydney Harbour Trust architect responsible for the site.

But, he added, ASOPA’s significance needs to be demonstrated and the best people to do that are probably those who worked and studied there. That is, us.

Ingrid Jackson, a former ITI lecturer who I met and married on campus, volunteered to coordinate a project on behalf of the Trust in which people will be asked to provide information including:

▪          Reasons why ASOPA/ITI should be considered a site of significance.

▪          Comparable institutions in other countries.

▪          Lists of photographs, documents or other memorabilia in your possession that may be of interest to a research centre.

You can help keep ASOPA’s memory alive by emailing Ingrid at this Internet address or by faxing her at (02) 9904 0960 indicating how you might be able to assist with any of these matters.

By the way, this month’s issue of The Mail was distributed today. And, if you’re not on our mailing list, you can Download Mail110Apr.pdf right here.

60 GO BACK TO ASOPA

More than 60 ASOPA veterans are expected to attend an open day at the old School on Saturday. Former staff and students have been invited to meet with officials of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust to discuss ideas for how the site may be used to commemorate ASOPA and its successor institutions.

The Trust has prepared a map showing where to park [P] and register [R] on the day. If the parking area is full, as is possible given the numbers, there are more spaces available on the parade ground to the right of the oval as indicated on the map. You will also notice that, conveniently, the toilets are marked as 'TOILETS'. The meeting will be held in the former Library between 2 and 4 pm. If you want to participate, contact Jessica Sartor on (02) 8969 2177.

ASOPA OPENS DOORS

This Saturday, for the first time in many years, ASOPA formally opens its doors to visitors. Former staff and students of the School have been invited to meet with officials of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust to discuss ideas for how the site may be used to commemorate ASOPA and its successor institutions.

The meeting also aims to gather details of people who may be able to supply copies of photos, memorabilia and other material and who also may wish to participate in oral history interviews. Afterwards, participants will be able to “wander around the site”, according to Trust manager Bob Clark.

The meeting will be held in the former Library from 2 - 4 pm. If you are able to attend, contact the Trust booking officer on (02) 8969 2100.

GATES OF ASOPA OPEN

The gates of ASOPA will be formally thrown open to visitors for the first time in many years later this month. Ex staff and students of the School have been invited to meet officials of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust at ASOPA and will be able to “wander around the site” afterwards, according to Trust manager Bob Clark.

Heritage architects have been invited to tender for work for conservation of the ASOPA buildings. Work will start on implementation as soon as the plan is approved.

The aim of the meeting is to gather details of people who may be able to supply copies of photos, memorabilia and other material and who also may wish to participate in an oral history interview. Ideas for how the site may be used to commemorate ASOPA and its successor institutions will also be discussed.

The meeting will be held in the former Library on the ASOPA campus from 2 - 4 pm on Saturday 31 March. Afternoon tea will be provided. People who are able to attend should contact the Trust booking officer on (02) 8969 2100 or email here by Wednesday 28 March. If you are not able to attend but are interested in providing memorabilia or oral histories at some time in the future, you can email Bob Clark here.

THE FIRST AUSTRALIAN

Funny how things happen. Yesterday I attended my first meeting as a committee member of the newly incorporated Matthew Flinders Society. There I met Ray Baker, Melbourne-based sports trainer and remedial masseur who works with, among many others, Aussie Rules teams Carlton and Essendon. Ray is also a direct descendant of Bungaree, the last tribal chief of the Broken Bay Aborigines.

Now Bungaree’s name may not be well known to you, or even known at all. But it ought to be, because he circumnavigated Australia with Lieutenant Matthew Flinders and the cat, Trim, in that pioneering expedition of 1798, Flinders noting that Bungaree was ‘a worthy and brave fellow’ who, on more than one occasion, saved the expedition. Flinders was the man who coined the name ‘Australia’ and, upon doing so, he is reputed to have told Bungaree that he was “the first Australian”, Flinders himself having been born in England and Trim the cat in South Africa! Bungaree subsequently cut quite a figure around Sydney and was the subject of no less that 17 portraits - including the one here painted in 1826 by Augustus Earle.

Governor Lachlan Macquarie, recognising Bungaree’s courage and worth, gave him some land in the general area of where ASOPA is today. But Bungaree wasn’t much of a farmer, preferring hunting and fishing, and the farm never came to much. But, along with other aspects of Middle Head’s rich history, it remains a substantial part of the Australian story. And yesterday I took Ray Baker across to Mosman in a cab for his first visit to his forbear’s land. I’m glad I did. It was one of those small, important, memorable events.

Ray met with Bob Clark of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust to talk about how Bungaree’s life and times may be marked in the amazing project that is transforming Middle Head, extolling its history and restoring its heritage. The old ASOPA campus is part of this, of course, and that’s why you Sydneysiders and near Sydneysiders should try to make that information day at the School between 2 and 4 pm on Saturday 31 March.

Bob Clark suggests you bring along any old photos and documents that may be relevant to the site, but especially your knowledge of how the place was at various points in its development and how it worked. I’ll see you there.

BACK TO ASOPA

Bob Clark writes: The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust is in the process of beginning the adaptive reuse of the ASOPA and adjoining sites. A back to ASOPA afternoon is being held for ex students, teachers and others from 2 -4 pm on Saturday 31 March. The Trust is interested in photos and knowledge of how the site worked and changed over time until its closure. If you can attend you will be most welcome and we would like to collect contact details.

[Photo: Sydney Harbour Federation Trust]

ASOPA in Wikipedia

I wish all ASOPA PEOPLE readers a merry Christmas and my hopes for a fulfilling 2007. Our Christmas present takes an unusual form. I've found time to develop a piece on ASOPA for the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia. Thus for the first time,we have a definitive article on ASOPA on the Interent. Wikipedia is compiled largely by volunteers and has begun to rival its hard copy brethren in influence, having already exceeded them in size. Wikipedia is able to be edited by its readers and I'd invite you to add factual information to the ASOPA entry if you have something to contribute. You can find the article on ASOPA here.

PHOTOS OF ASOPA

Scott Robertson, from Robertson & Hindmarsh Architects, tells me his firm has been commissioned to prepare a Conservation Management Plan for the ASOPA site. Scott says his firm wants to contact former staff or students who have photographs of the buildings – photographs taken when they were in use. He’s also wondering if there is anyone who knows who planted what is now the lush tropical vegetation beside the walkways. You can contact Scott by emailing him here or respond directly to this web log through the Comments link below.

ASOPA: THE FUTURE

Bob Clark (email him here), Senior Heritage Planner with the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust writes in the June 2006 issue of Una Voce: Things are beginning to happen down at Middle Head that will lead to a new lease of life for the former ASOPA and its later manifestations. The site is part of former defence land at Georges Heights/Middle Head handed to the newly established Interim Sydney Harbour Federation Trust in 1999. In 2001 the Interim Trust became the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust under its own Act of Federal Parliament charging it with opening various (now eight) sites to the public and conserving, protecting and interpreting their environmental and cultural heritage.

The Trust has just commissioned a Conservation Management Plan covering ASOPA and its neighbouring 10 Terminal Regiment. This is the beginning of a process that will gather relevant information for the production of a Plan of Management. The plan will outline the proposed future for the site and a draft will be provided for public comment and displayed on the Trust’s website.

The Conservation Management Plan will include an historical overview of the area, a survey the current condition of the buildings, an assessment of their heritage significance and recommend appropriate uses for the buildings and policies for their conservation and interpretation.

The Trust and the historian undertaking the overview are interested in receiving photographs of the buildings (internal and external) and their inhabitants and information on teaching staff. ASOPA was highly regarded as a special educational institution. Are you aware of any other institutions in other countries that mirrored ASOPA’s role and success?

An Open Day on site is held in conjunction with the exhibition of the Plan of Management. Given the importance of ASOPA, it is planned to hold a separate Open Day purely for ex students, teachers and staff of the School to gather names, learn more about the institution and to discuss an oral history program.

Photos: Dennis Burrell and Bill Bohlen, from the Class of 1962-63 Reunion, October 2005.

WHAT NOW FOR ASOPA?

John Kleinig writes in the most recent issue of Una Voce, the journal of the PNG Association of Australia: Those who had anything to do with ASOPA will be interested in the glossy new signboard that you can now find outside the former Hallstrom Library at Middle Head. Titled ‘The Old Pacific Training Centre’ it goes on……

“This collection of weatherboard buildings was built for the Army just before World War II. It became the School of Pacific Administration after the war and was later used by AusAid to train public servants, diplomats and Pacific nationals.”

The Harbour Trust, with what appears to be unlimited funds from the Commonwealth Government, is “restoring the precinct to create a place for public use and recreation”. So with the flick of the signwriter’s wrist, it appears that the site will now be transformed into a picnickers’ haven complete with some of the best views of the harbour.

Other suggestions in the past have included a school holiday or arts camp, a backpacker facility for schools and visitors, an open air amphitheatre and so on. There may be some fleeting reference to the work of ASOPA, probably in one of the touristy type brochures you find in the onsite weather-proof containers. Or maybe they have some plans to incorporate some of the past into the new facility. A quick look at the website didn’t give much away.

I don’t want to give the impression that the Harbour Trust is an insensitive, amateurish show. In fact the opposite is the case. The refurbishment of Lower Georges’ Heights is a stunning example of what can be done when you have the money, leadership and expertise. As well, the site has one of the best views of the harbour. Before they move to the next stage, which will probably include the ASOPA site, it would be intriguing to find out what is now planned.

ASOPA future in question

The most recent newsletter of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust reports that work has started on a Middle Head draft management plan. This includes planning for the future of the increasingly decrepit buildings at the former Australian School of Pacific Administration. A public open day is to be held soon to publicise the plan and to invite comments about the future of the site.