ASOPA PEOPLE

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.

Planning groups to discuss PNGAA future

People in State and Territory capitals are being invited to establish steering groups as part of a major consultation process about the future structure of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia. The purpose of the groups is to contribute to a discussion about how the PNGAA can be decentralised and transformed into a Federal organisation.

As a part of broader constitutional change, it is likely a recommendation will be made to decentralise the PNGAA leadership and operational structure to create a national body with branches in States and Territories. The goal is to enable the 58-year old Association to evolve as a more sustainable and more functional organisation.

From this month, the PNGAA management committee will extensively consult members and others as part of this process of constitutional change, which will be put to a vote of members next April.

There are four main drivers for decentralising the management of the PNGAA:

▪          The ageing of the Association’s membership, with more than half aged over 70 and 85% aged over 60. The inescapable conclusion is that, unless is taken action to recruit new, younger members, the organisation will wither over the next 10 years. This means the focus of the PNGAA and what it offers to members need to change.

▪          The need for greater PNGAA engagement with Papua New Guinea and with Papua New Guineans. Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Affairs Duncan Kerr has described the PNGAA as a "valuable [contributor] towards maintaining the people-to-people links that are so critical to the continued dynamism of our relations". These words are too kind as a description of the PNGAA’s current contribution but they do reflect where the organisation needs to be heading.

▪          The need for an active membership. There are many initiatives that can be taken to achieve a condition where the PNGAA is working more energetically and purposefully to strengthen the Australia-PNG relationship, and they should involve as much of the membership as possible.

▪          The need to move away from Sydney-centrism. The PNGAA national committee is entirely Sydney-based. This is both unrepresentative of the geographical distribution of Association members and it is not tapping the best of what members have to offer.

In order to move forward, as President of the Association I am now appointing State and Territory steering group convenors and will work with them to select and lead local planning committees. The Queensland steering group has been appointed (more information on this in my next post) but interested people in other places can contact me here.

The steering groups will participate in the national discussion about an appropriate Federal structure for the PNGAA. They will also enable the PNGAA to determine whether sufficient local interest and resources exist to establish a fully-fledged branch.

People who are not able to join these groups will soon be asked to respond to a comprehensive discussion paper on constitutional change, which will be published in Una Voce, the PNGAA website, ASOPA PEOPLE and The Mail.

Duncan Kerr to speak at PNGAA lunch

The Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific island Affairs, Duncan Kerr SC MP, has accepted an invitation to be the guest speaker at this year’s PNGAA Christmas luncheon on Sunday 7 December.

“I look forward to this very much,” Mr Kerr said. “Australia and PNG are bound together by a strong sense of shared history, and the PNG Association of Australia makes a really valuable contribution towards maintaining the people-to-people links that are so critical to the continued dynamism of our relations.”

Mr Kerr will talk about the significant changes that have occurred in Australia-PNG relationships recently under the Federal Labor Government, his observations on where the partnership is heading and his views on the role of civil organisations like the PNGAA in assisting to maintain and enhance such relationships.

A booking form for the lunch, which is the highlight of the PNGAA’s social activities each year, will be included in the next issue of the Association’s journal Una Voce, to be disseminated late September.

PNGAA begins to get active in Canberra

On behalf of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia, I'll be meeting with the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Affairs, Duncan Kerr [left], and the PNG High Commissioner to Australia, Charles Lepani [below], next month. The meetings will discuss the Australia-PNG relationship and, in particular, how the Association and its 1700 members may best be able to assist this relationship at a civil level.

We will also discuss a number of PNGAA initiatives previously put to government - including the School of the Pacific ('new ASOPA') proposal, an exchange scheme between Australian and PNG public servants and a donation of The Blatchford Collection ('Documents on the Development of the PNG Educational System') to PNG. If there are other subjects that you believe should be discussed, you can let me know by email or by adding a comment below.

Meanwhile, David Epstein, Principal Adviser to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, has referred the Association's request for the government to fund the search for the Montevideo Maru to Joel Fitzgibbon, the Minister for Defence.

In other PNGAA news, following the resignation of Rebecca Hopper, Harriet Troy has been appointed to the national committee and has taken up the position of chair of the Fellowship & Caring Sub-Committee which, among other things, organises the Association six-monthly luncheons.

Kerr seeks meeting with PNG Association

 

The Parliamentary secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Duncan Kerr, has reacted positively to concern expressed by the Papua New Guinea Association about his Department’s responses to Association representations.

On 29 June I wrote to Mr Kerr saying: “Since I was elected President of the PNGAA two months ago, the organisation has initiated major changes to strengthen its role in building a better relationship between Australia and PNG. As part of this new approach, the Association has, for the first time, established a PNG Relations function on its national committee and begun to make representations on matters that its members believe will enhance the PNG-Australia relationship at a civil level.

“The Association’s membership, now numbering nearly 1,700, has expanded rapidly over the last year. It seems Australians who served in PNG are rekindling their interest in that country, its people and its affairs. I think you would agree that this is a very positive development.

“Surely if a body such as this makes positive and practical suggestions about the PNG-Australia relationship, the government should respond in a considered way that seeks to encourage dialogue. Form letters, replies that misinterpret the points made and, in the case of the Prime Minister’s office, which I know is not your responsibility, long silences, are disheartening and disrespectful.

“Our members know of your time in Port Moresby and respect you as person who is both knowledgeable of and sympathetic to Papua New Guinea. For our part, I think the PNGAA can be strong advocate for PNG in Australia and a useful resource. In this context, I believe the Association must be engaged with properly not treated dismissively, which has been the sub-text of communications with us so far.”

The next day Mr Kerr asked his chief of staff, Bruce Mitchell, former editor of the Fremantle Herald, to respond in these terms: “Thank you for your letter of June 29, addressed to the Parliamentary Secretary, in which you detail your concerns regarding the Association's relations with the Government. Mr Kerr is seeking to build relationships with people and organisations that share a common interest in broadening Australia's engagement with the Pacific and he welcomes the inclusion of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia as part of this important network.

“Following the election of the Rudd Government-and Mr Kerr's appointment to the Pacific Affairs portfolio-relations with Papua New Guinea have improved markedly. Mr Kerr is keen to further build up these encouraging foundations and he looks forward to meeting with the Association at a mutually convenient time in order to further discuss its ideas.”

Readers will be kept informed of the meeting between the PNGAA and the Parliamentary Secretary, which we hope will be held in the near future. Among matters we wish to raise are the School of the Pacific proposal, the Richardson-Oates initiative for an exchange scheme between public servants in Australia and PNG, funding to locate the wreck of the Montevideo Maru, and seasonal work in Australia for PNG labour.

Photo: Duncan Kerr, replete with bilas, visits a school in PNG

PNGAA looks at a Federal structure

The Papua New Guinea Association of Australia is about to embark on the biggest overhaul of its constitution since it was founded nearly 60 years ago. At a national committee meeting in Sydney yesterday, a four-person working group chaired by veteran PNGAA identity Ross Johnson was appointed to review the objectives and shape of the organisation of 1,700 members.

Central to the review is a desire by many people to provide a more effective structure for the PNGAA, to make it truly national in scope and capable of adequately representing and delivering services to members throughout Australia. The working group has been asked to propose recommendations defining the membership of the national body, the establishment of State and Territory branches and how the relationship between national and State and Territory bodies will work.

In terms of control and management, the PNGAA has been a Sydney-centric organisation since its inception and, while this seems to have been effective in the past, it is not necessarily suitable for an Association with an ageing membership and which needs to recruit people who did not necessarily work in Papua New Guinea pre-Independence. Their ranks are thinning rapidly and there is a need to augment them with new, younger members: people who were born and raised in PNG, people who worked there post Independence or simply people who have an interest in Australia’s relationships with our closest neighbour.

The working party will also look at updating the objectives of the Association to include aims not envisaged by the original drafters of the constitution, including publishing, advocacy and philanthropy. It will also look at how the PNGAA can identify new revenue sources to provide it with opportunities to support worthwhile projects in PNG, offer scholarships and fellowships and underwrite exchange schemes involving young Australians and young Papua New Guineans.

The review group will report progress to the next meeting of the national committee, which will need to endorse recommendations for change before they go to a special general meeting for adoption. It is intended that the changes be effected before mid 2009.

Time for your shoulder to the wheel

The Papua New Guinea Association of Australia (PNGAA) added nearly 70 new members in the three months to June this year to take overall membership to a record 1,700. As I remarked in a letter to Duncan Kerr - the Federal Government’s Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs – this rapid expansion indicates that Australians who served in PNG in the past are rekindling their interest in that country, its people and its affairs, which is a very positive development in PNG-Australia relations.

Over recent months, the PNGAA has initiated a number of major changes to strengthen its role in building better relationships between Australia and PNG. As part of a new approach, the Association has, for the first time, established a PNG Relations function on its national committee and begun to make representations on matters it believes will enhance the PNG-Australia partnership at a civil level.

There can be no better way for you to assist this process than to join the PNGAA or, if you’re already a member, to recruit other people as members. At just $20 a year for membership, which includes a subscription to the excellent quarterly journal Una Voce, it is a steal. So scour your email address list for family, friends and colleagues who might have an interest in Papua New Guinea and ask them to join. Today. The membership application form is available on-line here.

Strengthening the PNG Association through expanding its membership is a certain way to give all Australians with an interest in PNG a voice in how the relationship should be conducted in future.

 

Greetings from the old Soviet Union

 St Petersburg, Monday: It’s said that Melbourne can get all the seasons of the year in a single day. Well St Petersburg gets them in a single hour. A local joke is that the population here spends nine months anticipating Summer and three months being disappointed. No wonder they never smile.

I’m not smiling much either. The Oceania Line, with which Ingrid and I are luxuriating, didn’t make it clear that the ship’s visa is not good for independent touring in Russia’s golden city. Being confined to barracks except when on a guided tour is not my idea of a fulfilling travel.

It’s good to see Colin ‘Huggiebear’ Huggins stirring the chalkie pot to encourage former members of the PNG teaching profession to join the PNG Association. As I’ve mentioned in these notes previously, the subscription to the Association’s quarterly journal, Una Voce, is alone worth the $20 PNGAA membership fee. You can join the PNGAA by clicking the link at right.

Sending emails and making posts to ASOPA PEOPLE from our ship, the Regatta, is slow, cumbersome and expensive, so I’m trying to find Internet cafes when ashore. Keep the emails flowing – and if you can help William James Kewo and David Craig with their requests (below) either email me or post a comment to this site.

 

Helsinki tomorrow, from where I hope to resume what will be a more regular report.

There were many contributors to PNG

Stockholm, Tuesday: Sweden bathes joyfully in its long, warm summer days and I take a break between Carlsbergs….. There’s been just the merest frisson of concern about the PNGAA’s decision to support Chris Viner Smith’s initiative in asking the Federal Government to provide some form of recognition for the sterling work that kiaps performed in Papua New Guinea.

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The view’s been expressed, and it’s a fair view, that maybe recognition ought to extend to the didiman, doktas and liklik doktas, tisas, rotmastas, koperativ offisas (pardon that rendition) and the many other professionals who served PNG so well in the years leading up to – and after, for that matter – Independence in 1975.

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I thought I should clarify in these notes that nothing in the PNGAA’s support for recognition of kiaps precludes later efforts to recognise other field officers, but clearly - given that Chris Viner Smith’s initiative is in its early days - we should give it a chance to get off the end of the runway and see if it is able to fly.

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It would be regrettable if there are people in the PNGAA who wanted to make the singling out of kiaps a cause for division. That would be a narrow and selective view of what Chris Viner Smith is trying to achieve.

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The PNGAA believes the work of kiaps deserves recognition. It supports the Viner Smith initiative which seeks such recognition. But the PNGAA also wants it to be known that this does not derogate from its acknowledgement of the contribution of other field officers.

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Finally, I might add, the PNGAA believes that its support of the kiap initiative does not preclude a future effort by the organisation to secure official recognition for the services of other field officers. But readers will appreciate such matters need to be approached one step at a time.

PNGAA committee hits ground running

The first meeting of the new PNGAA committee was a great success. The 15 members present got through a lot of business and struck a new direction for Association activities over the next 12 months.

The first issue addressed – the committee’s own structure - may seem bureaucratic but, to achieve its ambitious goals, the PNGAA must be capable of bearing the load of increased activity. To this end, five sub-committees were established, each with its own convenor to provide leadership, in these areas: Fellowship and Caring [Rbecca Hopper]; Papua New Guinea Relations [Robin Mead]; Publications and Communications [Andrea Williams]; History and Scholarship [Riley Warren]; and Finance and Membership [Ross Johnson].

Any reader interested in assisting with a specific area of sub-committee activity can contact the Association by email at admin@pngaa.net and indicate your willingness to participate.

The committee meeting also agreed to establish a task force to review the PNGAA constitution, including how to the incorporate State and Territory branches in the formal structure of the Association. In due course constitutional change will require agreement from the entire membership, and there will be ample opportunity for discussion and deliberation before changes are instituted.

In terms of the Association’s external activities, the committee passed resolutions that have already generated action on a number of important matters, as readers of ASOPA PEOPLE will have seen:

▪          The committee agreed to support the initiative of Chris Viner-Smith to seek Commonwealth Government recognition of former District Services personnel ['kiaps'] for their exemplary service to Papua New Guinea over a period of 75 years culminating with National Independence. I have written to Chris indicating this support.

▪          I was asked by the committee to write to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urging the Federal Government to financially support the search for the Montevideo Maru, the declaration of the site of the sinking as a Commonwealth War Grave and the erection of a monument commemorating the tragedy. I have done this and issued a news release expressing the Association’s views, which was reported by Channel 9.

▪          The PNGAA has also supported a proposal from Paul Oates and Norm Richardson that the Federal Government establish an exchange scheme to enable young officers from the Commonwealth and PNG public services to exchange jobs for short-term assignments as a means of building understanding and transferring expertise between the two countries. I have written to the Duncan Kerr, the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs, on this matter.

▪          I have also written to Duncan Kerr urging the Federal Government 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 new committee has hit the ground running in terms of its own affairs and that it is also moving to occupy a more strategic position in PNG-Australia relationships by engaging productively in proposing how the Australian Government may itself be able to do more and do better. As each sub-committee builds its own momentum, the scale and scope of the Association’s activities will intensify and broaden.

PNGAA backs exchange scheme proposal

The PNG Association has written to Duncan Kerr, the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs, supporting a proposal by two former patrol officers to improve governmental relationships between PNG and Australia.

At its recent meeting, the Association backed the proposal from Paul Oates and Norm Richardson that the Federal Government establish an exchange scheme under the auspices of AusAid to enable young officers from the Commonwealth and PNG Public Services to exchange jobs for short-term assignments as a means of building understanding and transferring expertise between the two countries”.

The exchange scheme - if appropriately developed, managed, branded and promoted in both countries - will provide the basis for the creation of peer to peer relationships based on mutuality not patronage.

The Oates-Richardson plan is that the scheme must be reciprocal and involve the Government of PNG in the total process – from design to execution and evaluation - not as mere recipients of Australian largesse, irrespective of where the bulk of the money is sourced.

Oates and Richardson emphasise the need for proper mentoring to support officers of both countries. They say this must be planned well in advance and preferably overseen by a committee made up of government and non-government members.

The committee must ensure that time spent outside working hours does not drive participants into 'cultural ghettos' of their own country people resident in the host country. The entire program must aim for maximal learning about people and culture and seek to develop appropriate networks and long lasting contacts within and outside government.

The PNG Association, through Paul Oates and Norm Richardson and other members, is willing to provide support for this initiative and to engage other entities, such as Rotary International, that may be able to assist.

Channel 9 on PNGAA Montevideo plea

Ninemsn, the online presence of the National 9 News, today features coverage of the Papua New Guinea Association’s appeal to the Australian Prime Minister to instigate a search for the wreck of the Montevideo Maru.

The Papua New Guinea Association of Australia has urged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to commit the government to a search for the sunken warship Montevideo Maru and the 1053 men she carried.

The sinking of the Japanese war vessel by an American submarine off the Philippines coast in 1942 remains Australia's worst maritime disaster.

"The sinking of the Montevideo Maru has special relevance for anyone associated with Papua New Guinea,” PNGAA President Keith Jackson said.

"Most of the 208 civilians who died were Australians who considered the Territory of New Guinea ... to be their home.

“The PNGAA has asked Mr Rudd to financially support the search for the Montevideo Maru, declare the site of the sinking a Commonwealth War Grave and erect a monument at an appropriate place on the Philippines coast as a permanent memorial."

You can read the full article here

Proposed exchange scheme pitches in slot

Paul Oates and Norm Richardson’s proposal that the Federal Government establish an exchange scheme to enable young officers from the Commonwealth Public Service and the PNG Public Service to exchange jobs on short-term assignments will be discussed at tomorrow’s meeting of the management committee of the PNG Association.

It’s a great idea that, if accepted, will go a long way to building understanding and transferring expertise between the two countries. While there are a couple of existing schemes that look a bit like this one, the Oates-Richardson scheme is much more comprehensive. The New Zealand government will run a program for PNG diplomatic officers starting this month. And the National Judicial College of Australia will train PNG’s 100 magistrates in a program that will start later in the year.

But both of these initiatives, useful though they are, are straightforward programs in which New Zealanders and Australians train Papua New Guineans. They lack the reciprocity and mutuality of Oates-Richardson. The two ex-kiaps have proposed a scheme that pitches right in the slot and it’s to be hoped the PNG Association can give it the support that will help build a bit of momentum.

Some thoughts on a new PNGAA agenda

There’s a truism about new organisations, and about new leadership in old organisations. And it is this. The way you begin tends to be the way people believe you are. It’s all about perceptions. The first meeting of the new committee of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia is to be held this coming Sunday – and I hope the association will be, and will be perceived as being, a 'can do' outfit.

My desiderata for Sunday's meeting fit into two categories:

▪          Adapting the PNGAA’s structure for the job ahead.

▪          Take some early policy decisions in areas where the PNGAA’s weight may make a difference.

Structurally, as I’ve mentioned here before, I want to establish working groups in each of five key areas: fellowship & caring; PNG relations; publications & communications; history & scholarship; and finance & membership. We’re in the process of appointing competent convenors to lead each of these groups. On Sunday, it’s expected that each group will develop a work plan to guide its activities in 2008.

I also want to start a process of constitutional review, especially to determine how State and Territory branches may be better linked with the parent PNGAA organisation but also to refine the structure of the Association to equip it for an expanded future role.

In policy terms, there are four decisions I’ll be asking the committee to make on behalf of the Association:

▪          To write to the Prime Minister urging the Federal Government to financially support the search for the Montevideo Maru, declare the site of the sinking a Commonwealth War Grave and erect a monument on Subic Bay to mark this maritime tragedy. This project has great meaning for many Australians and expecially for people associated with Rabaul, from where the ship departed on its last tragic voyage.

▪          To support Chris Viner-Smith’s initiative that former PNG District Services personnel [‘Kiaps’] be formally recognised by the Commonwealth Government for their exemplary service to the people of PNG over a period of 75 years culminating with National Independence. Some ex-kiaps are a bit embarrassed by all this fuss, but as an ex-chalkie I reckon they deserve some recognition by our Government.

▪          To support a proposal that the Federal Government establish an exchange scheme to enable young officers from the Commonwealth Public Service and the PNG Public Service to exchange jobs on short-term assignments as a means of building understanding and transferring expertise between our two countries. This idea came from Paul Oates and Norm Richardson and I reckon it’s one of those good practical suggestions that can make a difference.

▪          To ask the PNGAA to lend its support for the ‘School of the Pacific’ proposal – to reinvigorate the old ASOPA site with a new and relevant purpose to strengthen Australia’s relationships with PNG and the Asia-Pacific region. I’ve been banging on about this for a while [see ASOPA Site under 'Categories' at right].

I invite you to offer a comment on these or any other matters so PNGAA committee members and ASOPA PEOPLE readers can share your thoughts.

You can join the PNGAA and make it a stronger organisation by clicking through to the application form here. Membership is only $20 a year.

A job well done should be a job recognised

“The kiaps gave exemplary service to the people of TPNG for 75 years,” says ex kiap Norm Richardson. “They went where others feared to tread and did so without unnecessary bloodshed or disruption of the life of the people, frequently to the detriment of their own health and well being. The country was changed from a state of constant fear and predation, village upon village, to one of free travel, cooperation across language groups and peace between long standing tribal combatants.”

They are eloquent words, and they are all true. Now another ex-kiap, Chris Viner-Smith, author of the book ‘Australia's Forgotten Frontier’, is preparing a submission to the Federal Government seeking recognition of the outstanding contribution that District Services personnel made to the development of Papua New Guinea.

I believe a good case can be made for recognition and, while I cannot speak for the Papua New Guinea Association, I believe it should strongly support these representations. Kiaps had a unique pioneering and leadership role in PNG's evolution to nationhood and I don’t believe for a moment that others of us, and we also played our parts, would begrudge official acknowledgement of the special nature of the kiap’s role.

Chris Viner-Smith already has the support of the Australian Police Association, the Australian Peacekeeper and Peacemaker Veterans Association, ACT MP Annette Ellis and ACT Senator Garry Humphries. He says he has “partial support from the PNGAA who say they cannot give full support as they represent all expats not only kiaps.”

Norm Richardson has pointed out that, in 1942, the 2/12, 2/31 and other battalions could not have carried out their defence of Australia on the Kokoda Track without the active participation of patrol officers. In addition, coastwatchers were, in the main, kiaps.

Robert Cruickshank, an ex-kiap who also served as a member of the Papua New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, says his “duties as a Patrol Officer were far more onerous, and at times more dangerous, than most of my military service".

At the first meeting of the new PNGAA executive committee this coming Sunday, I will move that the Association give its wholehearted support to this initiative. It’s an excellent proposal, and it deserves to succeed.

Despatches from the front – that AGM

Yesterday’s annual general meeting of the Papua New Guinea Association recognised it was time to pass on the baton to the next generation. In my view, it was very appropriate that this happened at a contested election – the first in the Association’s 57-year history.

I say this because the election provided a clear choice to members between an Association that would continue in its present state and one that would seek a new and more expansive direction. Members chose the latter.

While the returning officers merely announced the result of yesterday’s election, not the precise count, I understand the policies I espoused secured the overwhelming support of members who voted at the meeting and the overwhelming number of members who voted by proxy. The new committee therefore has been given the clearest mandate for change by those members interested enough to vote.

Change, however, does not mean disregarding or disrespecting the inheritance and history of the Association. On the contrary, the committee will be seeking new ways to honour the past and the senior members of the PNGAA, who care for the organisation so passionately.

Yesterday was also an opportunity for members to pay fitting tribute to outgoing president Harry West, stepping down after 25 years at the helm.

Harry’s PNG experience began as a young Lieutenant in the Australian Army and saw him tasked with many exacting roles including representing the then Territory at the United Nations Trusteeship Council and, when District Commissioner in Rabaul, leading the Administration’s response to the Mataungan uprising on the Gazelle Peninsula.

Harry was honoured by his peers yesterday by being given life membership of the Association. I also intend to ask the new committee to create a position of ‘President Emeritus’ that Harry can occupy at his pleasure.

I encourage readers of ASOPA PEOPLE who are not PNGAA members to join the Association. The excellent quarterly journal, Una Voce, which is only available to members, is alone worth the membership fee of just $20 a year. You can click through to the membership form here.

PNG election offers mandate for change

The tumult and the shouting died, the captains and the kings departed, and now the real work begins. The annual general meeting of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia elected me President today and I’m going to spend the week between now and the first committee meeting next Sunday pondering how to begin implementing an ambitious agenda while protecting the many good things about the Association that must be maintained.

In my pre-election address I committed myself as follows:

First, I want to emphasise fellowship and caring: not only organising social events but also focusing on the needs of senior members of the Association.

Secondly, I feel strongly that the Association should be active in strengthening relationships between the people of Australia and the people of Papua New Guinea. There seems no reason why it should not evolve as the leading civil body to protect and advance such relationships and I see this as a great opportunity for the incoming committee.

Thirdly, it is clear that the communications activities of the Association are integral to its effectiveness. Arguably the publication of Una Voce is our most important continuing function and I would like to see more people working with Andrea Williams and Ross Johnson on this important project. I also believe we can make the Association’s website a more vital channel of continuing communication. And I see a role for the Association in organising talks and seminars on Australia-PNG affairs.

Fourthly, I’d like the Association to play a role in history and scholarship: collecting manuscripts and documents, including those in private collections, recording oral histories and keeping an eye on revisionist historians. Some of you are aware that I’m trying to persuade our Federal politicians to develop the former ASOPA site on Middle Head as a regional centre and as a continuing symbol of Australia’s contribution to PNG. I’d like to see the Association join this challenge.

Finally, the financial, administrative and membership responsibilities of the Association must continue to be managed effectively. One of my goals is to increase the membership of the Association including establishing a corporate membership category to help strengthen our finances.

It’s clear the Association will need to restructure itself in a fundamental way to cope with the weight of these aspirations. I look forward to the task ahead. The vote is in. The mandate is clear. It’s time to get on with it.

Read Keith Jackson's address in full here.  Download election_remarks.pdf

Planning for the future of the PNGAA

With the election for President of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia less than two weeks away, I thought it might be time to provide a little more detail on how I’d like to see the organisation develop over the next few years.

There is first a continuing requirement for fellowship and caring. This objective covers the organisation of social events including reunions and attention to the needs of senior members of the Association, including making sure they remain in continuing contact with the PNG expatriate diaspora. I think the organisation can be judged on how it treats its members and what benefits it’s able to offer them and I’ll be paying very careful attention to this aspect of its operations.

Next I have a strong desire to see the Association strengthen relationships with Papua New Guinea and Papua New Guineans at a personal level. There seems no reason why the PNGAA should not evolve as the leading civil body protecting and advancing that relationship. I think there are splendid opportunities for recruiting more Australians with PNG experience as members. But I also see that any Australian with an abiding interest in PNG and its people should be encouraged to join the Association and participate in its affairs.

Thirdly, I see the communications activities of the Association as integral to its effectiveness as an organisation. Arguably the publication of the excellent Una Voce is the PNGAA’s most important continuing activity. I believe we can do more with the website to make it a key channel of continuing communication and I see us doing more to build a presence in the media.

Then I see that history and scholarship need to be accommodated in the range of activities we pursue. This includes recording oral history, preserving documents, trying to understand and coordinate the many disparate PNG collections in Australia and organising conferences and seminars on PNG affairs. Part of this would be to try to preserve the former ASOPA site on Middle Head as a continuing symbol of Australia’s contribution to PNG and the commitment of individual Australians to our nearest neighbour.

Finally, there’s a need to ensure that the financial, administrative and membership responsibilities of the Association continue to be conducted effectively and transparently.

That’s quite an agenda, and it will take some time to reach a point where it is bearing full fruit. But I believe the implementation of this vision will enable the PNGAA to move into the next era of its development as a major organisation contributing to a good relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea.

I hope that, if you agree with me and you are a member, you will see fit to cast your vote in my favour.

The politics of the PNGAA election

Over the last 24 hours, I’ve been asked by a number of ASOPA PEOPLE readers “what’s going on?” These people are referring, of course, to the turbulence surrounding the forthcoming election of a new President of the PNG Association, a contest in which I am involved.

Readers were particularly intrigued by Robert Cabot’s intemperate remarks about my nomination, which you can read along with my reply under Recent Comments. Robert, who I understand is not a member of the PNGAA but who seems to be aligned in some way with the other contender, Chris Johnston, decided to go on the attack. I hope that Chris might disavow Robert’s undignified remarks at an early opportunity.

I leave Robert’s communication on the site because, while it could be seen as damaging to me, it reveals the kind of gossip that might be alive among some PNGAA members, which, in being articulated by Robert, has allowed me to respond with the facts. In this sense, Robert has done us all a favour.

Now I’m no expert on the politics of the PNGAA - although I’m learning quickly – but it seems the executive committee has been ‘factionalised’ for some time. It might not be entirely accurate to characterise this dynamic in a couple of words, but I see it as the ‘historical traditionalists’ pitched against the ‘progressive conservatives’. To my mind, Chris Johnston’s candidacy crystallises the position of the former; mine the position of the latter.

You can read both our statements in the PNGAA Election section at left to pick up the flavour of these respective positions and judge for yourself. And, of course, you can also use ASOPA PEOPLE to say what you think.

In this first contested PNGAA election ever, members are being offered a clear choice.

While the forthcoming ballot may be shrouded in controversy, there’s often a silver lining. In this case it’s the hundreds of visits we’ve had to this website since this matter gained traction. At least this may have enabled people to judge for themselves the validity of Robert’s view of ASOPA PEOPLE as a “self-gratifying website”.

By the way, if you are a PNGAA member and can’t attend the meeting personally, you can obtain a proxy ballot paper from the Secretary at either of these contacts:

Email admin@pngaa.net

Phone or fax (02) 9999 4490

PNGAA announces election methodology

The Papua New Guinea Association of Australia has announced that a new executive committee will be elected at its annual general meeting at Killara in Sydney on Sunday 27 April. While nominations have yet to close, the only contested position so far is for President with the current nominees being Keith Jackson and Chris Johnston.

Members who cannot attend the meeting in person can vote by proxy and a ballot form will be provided upon application through any of these channels:

By emailing the Secretary of the PNGAA at admin@pngaa.net

By phoning or faxing the Secretary of the PNGAA on (02) 9999 4490

Historic contest for PNGAA election

This month’s contest for the presidency of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia is said to be the first in the 57-year history of the organisation. The two candidates who have so far nominated for President are electrical retailer and oyster grower Chris Johnston and me. The PNGAA executive committee has yet to announce what form the election will take.

My credentials statement is available in the ‘PNGAA Election’ section of ASOPA People Extra at left. You can find readers' comments on my candidacy under Recent Comments at right. Other information about the election will be published as it is received from the PNGAA.

If you're a PNGAA member, I am seeking your vote for me as president of an association capable of effectively linking its history with the strong future direction canvassed in my statement in the 'PNGAA Election' section.

PNG Association to elect new president

The Papua New Guinea Association of Australia will elect a new president at its annual general meeting in Sydney later this month and I have been invited by a number of senior members to nominate.

The presidency fell vacant after the long-standing occupant of the position, Harry West, announced in December that he would be stepping down.

I must say I am honoured to have been asked and have accepted nomination. As the position is likely to be contested, I’m asking readers who are members of the Association to consider voting for me. Prior to the election I’ll be making a statement about how I see the Association developing in the future.

Suffice it to say for now that, with PNG and Australia seeking to forge a stronger political relationship, it is fitting for those of us who have a special affection for PNG and its people to look at how we can build better personal relationships with Australia’s closest neighbour. And, of course, the PNG Association should have an important role in achieving this.

Una Voce: Little journal tells a big story

Judy Cannon

The PNG Association of Australia has been keeping former PNG residents in touch since the late 1950s with its quarterly newsletter, Una Voce. From a small beginning, the publication developed into a journal of substance. For researchers, it is a classic example of how the regular collection of a serial publication can build into a historical resource.

Early issues of the newsletter were primarily concerned with practical matters, as expatriates met the challenge of an old life gone and a new one to settle into. Gradually, however, Una Voce included more reflective articles and reminiscences of funny and anxious moments, even if, one has to suspect, some are burnished for the telling and wrapped in a little nostalgia.

The June 2000 journal includes an item from Bob Cole, a former assistant district officer. In the 1940s a senior delegation led by the administrator arrived on a fact-finding mission in Bougainville. Cole wrote, ‘I was horrified to see these senior officers so ill equipped for bush work and was a little taken aback when the administrator moved in on my table, chair, bed-sleeve and tent-fly, which he used for the next three days.’

The Snakepit, a Port Moresby bar demolished in 1981, gets a mention in the March 1986 issue, when Des Large wistfully remembered a piano-playing medico who, while sipping ‘a sample of the good stuff’, was asked by a patron what to do about prickly heat. The medico replied: ‘Have you got two quid on you?’ When the patron had put two pounds on the bar, the medico turned to him and said: ‘Scratch the bloody stuff the same as I do!’

Read the entire article here and find out more about Una Voce by visiting the PNGAA website here.

Source: ‘The time of their PNG lives’ by Judy Cannon, NLA News, National Library of Australia, vol 12 no 5, February 2002

Record roll up for PNGAA event

The annual Christmas lunch of the PNG Association has become something of an institution. It’s a reunion that draws together a rich blend of people who once lived in or were closely associated with PNG – government personnel, traders, planters, journalists and missionaries.

Yesterday’s event at the verdant Killara Golf Club was the first one in 20 years not to be held at the seedy central city Mandarin Club, which is about to be demolished. The lunch, well designed to minimise speech making and maximise catching up, was attended by a record 240 people, 60 more than last year.

It’s clear that the ‘younger generation’ of people who first went to PNG in the sixties and seventies is now beginning to make its presence felt, as we have seen at the recent huge reunions of kiaps and chalkies. This is a welcome development, as it will underwrite the continuing energy of the PNGAA, which remains an important institution in terms of maintaining strong relationships at the individual level between Australia and PNG – a relationship that has been very strained at the political level over recent years.

In a shock announcement, long-standing president Harry West and treasurer Ross Johnson said they were just about ready to hand over the reins to younger officers, not that it seems possible to find younger people who could be fitter than either of these two stalwarts. I first met Harry, who’s now 86, when he was District Commissioner in East New Britain during the Mataungan uprising and he doesn’t seem to have aged a day since then.

I also met up with N eil Desailly, former PNG kiap and magistrate, whose daughter Peta I taught as a nine-year old at Kundiawa Primary A School in 1964. Peta’s now a grandmother, Neil says, and nothing delivers a blow to denial that the years are flying by more than that dose of reality.