PNGAA

The K-10 draft Australian curriculum came out on Monday 1 March 2010 and is available for comment until 23 May. The senior secondary curriculum is due from April to June. An article about the implications for the PNGAA is here.

Harry West, OAM

Harry West received an award of the Medal of the Order of Australia in the June 2009 Queen’s Birthday Honours list for service to the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia.

Harry served as Secretary of the PNGAA for ten years and President for sixteen years until April 2008. At the 2008 Annual General Meeting of the association he was unanimously voted an honorary life member for outstanding and meritorious service to the Association, only the third such appointment in its 58-year history.

Subsequently Harry was invested into the Order of Australia at an impressive Honours and Awards ceremony at Government House, Sydney on Friday 17 September 2009 by the Governor of NSW, Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC, CVO (pictured with Harry.)

Montevideo Maru Memorial Trust

The relatives of the troops and civilians who died as a result of the Japanese invasion of the New Guinea Islands in January 1942—including those on the Montevideo Maru—always felt isolated; their grief compounded by the feeling that those troops and civilians had been betrayed.

During the war they went for years without knowing what had happened to their men and, after the war, felt that their great personal tragedy had gone unrecognised. They came to believe, quite simply, that Australia didn’t care.

From time to time, relatives would seek some form of greater solace from government, only to be told—often dismissively—that the government had done what it could.

I’d been in Rabaul in 1970 as a journalist, but it was only in 2008-09 as PNGAA President that I met a number of the relatives and realised there were some hundreds of people for whom there had never been closure in this matter. They wanted greater recognition for the sacrifice that had been made.

I felt they had a compelling story to tell and a reasonable case to make. So in late 2008, we established a small, informal group, now being incorporated as the Montevideo Maru Memorial Trust.

The purpose of the Trust is to represent the families of those soldiers and civilians captured in Rabaul and the New Guinea Islands in 1942. Our goal is to gain national recognition and greater understanding of the tragedy and its antecedents in the interests of relatives and the historical record.

The Trust has an outstanding committee including Hon. Kerry Sibraa, AO, former Senate president, as my deputy, Andrea Williams, Phil Ainsworth, Clive Troy, Hooky Street, Liz Thurston, Bob Lawrence and Don Hook. You’ll recognise many of these names as PNGAA members.

We’ve also had the good fortune to secure Hon. Peter Garrett, AM, as Patron, Prof Hank Nelson as historical adviser, and leading Canberra lawyer Bernard Collaery as legal adviser.

There are already 200 members of the Trust, who we call Friends. You can become a Friend by emailing me at . Membership is currently free of charge, although this is likely to change in the near future. The Trust produces a monthly newsletter.

Our objectives include:

To appropriately memorialise the tragedy of the fall of Rabaul and the sinking of the Montevideo Maru to facilitate comfort and closure in the minds of the victims’ relatives.
To secure national recognition and stimulate action to provide greater knowledge of the events that led to the fall of Rabaul and the sinking of the Montevideo Maru.
To locate the nominal roll brought back from Japan and deposited with Central Army Records that is believed to include the names of all the prisoners on board the Montevideo Maru.
To engage the Commonwealth in declaring the site of the sinking an official war grave.

We are pursuing major projects in each of these areas. One of particular importance is the construction of a memorial within the grounds of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The Director of the Memorial, Maj Gen Steve Gower, AO, is enthusiastic about this proposal and is extending considerable assistance to the Trust to realise it.
One of the earliest decisions made by the Trust was not to seek an underwater search for the Montevideo Maru. The coordinates of where it sank are well known—indicating its position within a 2km radius—and the cost of a dedicated search would be prohibitive. While deciding not to seek a search, however, the committee did seek the declaration of the site of the sinking as an official war grave, and this is being currently pursued through the Office of Australian War Graves.

The Trust is ensuring that the story of the Montevideo Maru becomes better known to Australians through the media. In 2009 we were helped in this regard by:

a Parliamentary speech by the Minister, the first time many relatives had experienced national recognition of the tragedy
the dedication of a plaque at the Hellships Memorial at Subic Bay in the Philippines on 1 July, the 68th anniversary of the sinking
the broadcast by Foxtel of a documentary produced by John Schindler, The Tragedy of the Montevideo Maru

If you would like to become a Friend, or find out more about the work of the Trust, just drop me an . Keith Jackson

Help needed, as recovery of Japanese war dead from the Islands “far from over’’

Almost 65 years after the end of the Pacific war, Japanese are still working to track down and recover the remains of thousands of Japanese war dead they believe are scattered across the mainland and offshore islands of Papua New Guinea including Bougainville, the Solomons and elsewhere in the South-west Pacific war theatre.

“The task of recovery and repatriation is far from over for a huge number of Japanese families hoping for final closure,” the active and respected Japanese researcher Harumi Sakaguchi has told Una Voce.

Sakaguchi, a PNGAA member, and a former UN worker in PNG, wants to make contact with any Australian ex-servicemen, or others, including Papua New Guineans or expat residents, who may have been engaged directly or indirectly in burials of Japanese servicemen, especially those who became prisoners of war but died despite medical treatment.

Based on his self-financed research in Australia, PNG and Japan, and the study of documents and photographs including a photo of a Japanese war cemetery in the Bomana area of Port Moresby, Sakaguchi suspects the remains of a potentially significant number of Japanese servicemen are yet to be recovered and repatriated to Japan. He hopes that Australian veterans with relevant knowledge can offer critical help in shedding further light on interment that may assist in their final recovery.

Sakaguchi is particularly keen to contact and consult Australian ex-servicemen who had direct or indirect knowledge of the burials of:

Japanese prisoners who died at the 2/9 Australian General Hospital near Port Moresby;
the remains of Japanese naval airmen recovered after being shot down during raids on Port Moresby; and
the Japanese servicemen and war prisoners who were initially buried in a Japanese war cemetery constructed by an Australian force in Torokina, Bougainville.

Harumi Sakaguchi, who has also been assisting the Montevideo Maru Memorial Trust with information, can be contacted at .

Update from Oro Province

In October 2009, an Oro Community Development Project (OCDP) team of teachers and a medical doctor followed up a similar visit to Oro Province in April 2009.

One of the tasks included the personal distribution of books, stationery and other supplies. The quantum was very substantial as the two schools at Gona and Hohorita had been operating with virtually no stock at all. The storage of these resources was discussed with each of the schools. They both had lockable rooms and this is where the goods will be stored. Systems to regulate the issuing of stock were also discussed.

After consultation with the staff at both schools, the appropriate textbooks for each level were decided upon. Books for Language, Mathematics and Health were identified. In Popondetta, the cost of these textbooks is double that of the same books in Port Moresby.

We were fortunate that TNT and Airlines of PNG offered to transport all the library books, teaching aids and other teaching supplies as well as the birthing kits from Sydney to Popondetta. These were transported as air freight at no cost to OCDP although they did incur a moderate customs charge in Port Moresby.

In careful discussions with staff, their frustrations became clear. They are asked to do too much with too little and this is impacting on school attendance. However areas in which we can be helpful have been identified.

Training sessions in the use of birthing kits occurred at or near both the schools. 1000 kits will now be distributed, together with the appropriate advice, by the Mothers’ Union on a non-discriminatory basis to expectant mothers in the area.

The impact on schools of typhoid, dysentery, other water-borne diseases and more recently cholera is far greater than anticipated. The provision of clean water is a major issue. At Hohorita, there are no water tanks while at Gona there is only one. Water from the streams is used for washing, cooking and drinking with the inevitable problems particularly during the dry season.

The next team will visit the schools at Gona and Hohorita in early April 2010 when work will continue on helping to develop school communities through an integrated approach involving health, clean water, sanitation, education and agricultural opportunities.

During the forthcoming visit it is hoped to finalise the installation of appropriate water tanks and to update sanitation facilities. In this regard, we are grateful for the advice of the Institute of Sustainable Futures at UTS. The individual health of the school children and staff will be a particular project for the medical doctor as well as further training and distribution of more birth kits. Helping teaching staff deal with a plethora of challenges will exercise the mind.

OCDP remains deeply appreciative of the support of the PNGAA and its members. Further information can be viewed on our website at www.oropng.org or if you do not already receive the newsletter you can do so, by emailing us at or mailing us at PO Box 219, Hunters Hill NSW 2110. John Kleinig

New High Commissioner to PNG

Mr Ian Ferguson Kemish, AM, has been appointed Australia’s new High Commissioner to PNG, taking up the posting in early February 2010.

Mr Kemish spent several years in Port Moresby as a schoolboy. His father Len worked for Elcom in the 1960s and early 1970s and was a commissioned officer in the PNGVR serving in Lae, Rabaul and Port Moresby.

Mr Kemish holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree from the University of Queensland and a Diploma in Education. He was a schoolteacher before joining the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1988. Fluent in Tok Pisin, Indonesian and German, Kemish served at Australian diplomatic missions in Vienna, Bander Seri Begawan and recently was Australian Ambassador to Germany.

He’s also worked on secondment to the New Zealand Ministry of External Relations as desk officer PNG/Vanuatu/Solomon Islands, and as head of the international division in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canberra. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia for managing the Australian government’s response in the aftermath of the 2002 Bali bombings.

Ian is married to Roxanne, and the couple have two daughters aged 22 and 18. Donald Hook

National Archives Display

The sinking of the Montevideo Maru with the loss of 1,053 Allied prisoners is featured in a major display at the National Archives in Canberra. The display, Memory of a Nation, traces events and decisions that have shaped Australia and the lives of its people. The display includes an extract from the nominal roll of prisoners, a plan of the ship, details from the submarine’s log and a photograph of a memorial service in Rabaul on the fourth anniversary of the sinking.

There’s also a Territory of New Guinea ‘Form of Information of Death’ relating to Ernest Charles Bye, 60, a master mariner, who’d been in Rabaul for 18 months before the Japanese invasion. The informant, his daughter Joan, a schoolteacher in Queensland, stated on 6 April 1946 that her father had been lost when the Montevideo Maru was sunk.

A ‘Military Service & Casualty Form’ lists Gunner John Eshott Carr, who turned 20 just before the ship left Rabaul, as “missing”. In late 1945 this was changed to “believed dead”. The display will run until 30 May. Admission is free. Donald Hook

Chris Dierke

It was with great sadness that the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia (PNGAA) learnt of the passing of committee member Chris Diercke on Sunday 31 January 2010.

The President, Riley Warren, and the Committee would like to express their deep sympathy to Chris’ family.

Chris had been assisting with the PNGAA website since mid-2009 and he was a highly valued and respected committee member whose friendship, loyalty, knowledge and passion for all things PNG was unsurpassed.

His energy greatly inspired the work of the Montevideo Maru Memorial Trust. His relentless research into the events surrounding the Japanese invasion of PNG in 1942 and his passion for ‘seeking out the truth’ hugely motivated the team. The President, Keith Jackson, and fellow members of the Montevideo Maru Memorial Trust have also conveyed their deepest sympathy to all Chris’ family and friends.

Chris had played an enormous role in the development of the Lark Force Wilderness Track (LFWT) in East New Britain. His easy manner enabled him to connect with Lark Force diggers and their family members and he was fascinated with their history, regularly presenting the Lark Force story to service clubs and interested groups. He carried the role of PNG representative of the International Porters Protection Group, an NGO aiming to protect the welfare of porters worldwide. His mentoring role with the LFWT porters will be one of his many legacies.

One of Chris’ dreams was to see the Kokopo War Museum revamped to become a first-class museum preserving the history of the New Guinea islands.

Chris was born at Vunapope, East New Britain, as a fourth generation direct descendant of the Queen Emma clan.

Chris’ mother, Gwen, was evacuated from Rabaul just prior to the Japanese invasion in early 1942. Gwen’s first husband, New Ireland planter Vivian Ives, was one of more than 30 people killed by the Japanese in February 1944 in a massacre at Kavieng Wharf.

Chris’ father, Rudolf Diercke, a German national, spent most of the war years in a Japanese internment camp as punishment for helping the crew of a downed American bomber. His 82-year-old great-grandmother, Phebe Parkinson, died in the camp.

Phebe was the daughter of a Samoan Princess and the sister of Queen Emma who established the first commercial enterprises in New Britain. Phebe married Richard Parkinson, the illegitimate son of a palace seamstress and a Duke who was second in line to the Danish Throne. Richard and Phebe were married in Samoa before moving to New Guinea in 1882 to be with Emma. They later settled on Kuradui Plantation near Kokopo. Richard Parkinson, a scientist, wrote the book Dreissig Jahre in der Sudsee (30 Years in the South Seas) which was first published in 1907. This book is acknowledged by historians, anthropologists and scientists as a classic recording of PNG customs of the 19th century.

Chris’ paternal great grandfather, Carl Diercke, founded the Diercke Atlas in Germany 126 years ago which is still used all over Germany. (See Una Voce No 2 June 2009 p19).

In January 2010 Chris returned to Kokopo to bury his father, Rudi Diercke, and brother, Michael Diercke, with his grandmother Helene (Nellie) Parkinson, his great grandmother Phebe Parkinson and great grandfather Richard Parkinson in a family cemetery at Kuradui.

Chris’ earlier years were spent around the Gazelle Peninsula (Induna, Reiven, Takubar, Rapopo Plantations) and his work later included both plantation management and teaching in Papua New Guinea.

Settling permanently in Australia in 1972, Chris spent 39 years in education, thirty as a school principal in NSW. He co-founded and co-managed an innovative adolescent psychiatric ICU; founded an annual public speaking competition for students; and initiated training programs for NSW Sport & Recreation. As a result of these major achievements he was a recipient of Australian Council of Education award. Chris was also involved in canoe marathons.

In October 2009 Chris and his son Nathan arranged for a 20-foot container filled with medical supplies, boots and other materials to be shipped to Rabaul to assist communities in the Bainings and Gazelle.

Chris was dedicated to his family, but his compassion for others, his ability to share knowledge, his loyalty, commitment and enthusiasm will be lasting tributes to him.

Family gathered with friends in the Community Hall next door to his Garden Suburbs school today to share special memories. His two grandsons would have made him proud, singing his favourite songs ‘Ben’ and ‘What a Wonderful World’.

Australian Business Volunteers

Strengthening Business & Communities by Stephen Ellis

Australian Business Volunteers (ABV) is an Australian based non-government, not-for-profit international development agency that contributes towards the alleviation of poverty in developing communities by delivering capacity building solutions strategically designed to foster and promote sustainable growth. By leveraging the skill and knowledge of expert business volunteers it strengthens both business and communities who benefit from a better skilled workforce and increased employment opportunities. Longer-term benefits also include improved economic stability, confidence, prosperity and independence.

Working across 16 countries in the Asia Pacific region, the projects ABV supports are firmly based on the concept of self-help and all involve a strong element of skills transfer. ABV works with private sector organisations, government agencies, local NGOs, and other community based organisations such as charities and community groups. The average duration of each assignment is between one and six months. ABV also deliver longer-term programs consisting of several linked projects, which utilise the skills of multiple expert volunteers. ABV has maintained a strong relationship with the people of Papua New Guinea since its inception in 1981. A majority of projects in PNG involve working with local businesses. Other work consists of helping improve governance, improve education and training, better health and the assist with environmental sustainability. Within these broad business sectors, ABV has helped small businesses such as the Melanesian Hair & Beauty Supplies Ltd to large companies such as PNG Ports Corporation Ltd and PNG Tourism Promotion Authority. As well as specific projects, ABV also delivers targeted business training courses to women and men across the country.

Over the years, a number of key partners have supported ABV. Current partners include the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce, Australia PNG Business Council, Australia Pacific Islands Business Council, and Pacific Islands Trade and Investment. These partnerships keep ABV in touch with people on the ground in PNG, and help source new business and community development opportunities. The Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce provides a point of contact for clients and support for volunteers working in-country. Further enhancing the relationship between ABV and PNG are current board members, three of whom have spent a significant amount of time living and working in PNG and still play an active role in rallying support for the country. Directed by the board, ABV committed to increasing its efforts to deliver more services within PNG, in areas where its volunteers are most needed. Because of this initiative, a number of ABV staff members recently spent time in-country, and are currently planning a program to help local communities and landowners deal with the significant changes that are expected to follow the initiation of the PNG LNG project.
This work will initially involve helping LABA Holdings - which represents the collective interests of landowners in the western part of Port Moresby - set up its office and build their capacity to access funding and negotiate equitable outcomes for the regions landowners. It is hoped this will ensure LABA becomes a sustainable organisation with the ability to represent the interests of landowners and benefit the whole community.

For more information on ABV, or to find out how you and/or your business can get involved, please visit www.abv.org.au.

Rotary assists the Oro Province

Rotary’s Eastern Region and Gosford Rotary Club have been trying to make a difference to the people of Oro after the devastation of Cyclone Guba in 2007. Two visits to PNG in June 2008 and June 2009 by Rotarian and PNGAA member John Phillips, discussions in Port Moresby and Popondetta with the AHC, Rotary, Provincial Officers as well as undertaking field surveys and speaking with village elders have resulted in an assessment that there are still 50+ schools needing to be rebuilt or in need of major repair and 20+ teacher houses to be built. Senior Australian Ministers have failed to respond to representations for a level of funding and participation which is beyond the capacity of Rotary or other organizations.

At the same time, much has been achieved by Rotary’s Eastern Region.

In November 2008 a Rotary Team worked at Embogo High School, near Oro Bay. The school had well over a metre of water through it, depositing a deep layer of mud through all buildings and destroying school books and equipment, etc. Although some cleanup work had been done, the team's presence and assistance gave great encouragement to all, with the purchase by Rotary of $10,000 worth of paint and other supplies and their application in rectifying some of the damage done.

After the visit in June 2009 an initiative was undertaken by E Region, Rotary, to send a consignment of school materials to assist in re-establishing schools. As a result 2x20ft containers were dispatched containing school desks, reference books, exercise books, pens, pencils, etc. Also included were water tanks, a pump and a generator, to provide water for toilets and ablutions at Embogo High School. The team from last November will go back to install these. Most of the materials would have been obtained at minimal or no cost, but the containers and delivery charges amounted to some $5,000 each.

The work to be done is significant and Rotary District 9680 together with the Gosford Club recognises the importance of it for the future of Oro. Several high schools in Oro Province are in urgent need of repair and upgrading. These schools are essential in providing higher education for students who are the future leaders of PNG—vital for sound and sustained development of the country.

Many villagers in Oro are still living in temporary ‘’Care Centres’’ two years since the tragedy. Many of the people needing help are the direct descendants of the Fuzzy Wuzzy angels who enabled our soldiers to defeat the Japanese invaders in WWII in carrying food and ammunition forward as well as saving the lives of so many of our wounded soldiers.

For further information please contact John Phillips, phone (02) 4324 4904.

For Kerevat and PNG: A new direction needed

There are moves in PNG to save the Keravat National High School from closure by finding a new direction for it. The move has the strong support of one of its old boys (1951-55), Governor-General Grand Chief Sir Paulias Matane, GCL, GCMG, KStJ, who made his views clear in September when he launched former teacher Barbara Short’s book on the school, Tuum Est: The History of Keravat National High School and its students 1947-1986.

“This school has helped shape the development of PNG,” Sir Paulias said. "Some ex-students have become teachers, scientists, professors, politicians, church leaders, businessmen and women, a Prime Minister—and a Governor-General. It needs rebuilding, not closing. It has not been coping well over the past ten years. Maybe it needs a complete new direction.”

The book took Barbara Short about five years of research. Many ex-teachers and ex-students contributed to it. The chapters are based on the years of the various headmasters, and at the end of each chapter are the names of students who graduated during that time. With the help of ex-students, Barbara then researched what the graduates had done with their lives since leaving the school. The author was not at the book launch because of ill-health.

Alumni associations in PNG are offering to help in reconstructing the school, which is in a poor state. Mannen Kuluwah, chairman of the Moresby branch of the Ex Keravat alumni association told Una Voce in September 2009 that at that point they had not reached a conclusion on how they were going to address the matter of the school’s refurbishment. Whether to rebuild completely, repair the current buildings or repair some and build others. Government departments had the responsibility and there would be discussions to see what steps could be taken, but, he said, “We are coming in because nobody is doing anything about it”.

The alumni association will be selling the book in PNG, with all profits going to the school. In Australia copies can be ordered from Barbara Short, 27 Chesterfield Road, EPPING NSW 2121, for $30 plus $10 p&p.

Speaking the following week at PNG’s 34th anniversary of independence, Sir Paulias referred to the government’s “great initiative” in putting together the National Strategic Plan, 2010-2040, and establishing a Task Force responsible for it. But, he added: “Roads and bridges have deteriorated since independence, while schools, hospitals and government facilities have also reached a point of disrepair, while the world is changing fast. This leaves us no other choices but to make the hard decisions on reinvesting in creating an enabling environment. Silver, gold, gas and oil will end some day, but roads, bridges, and facilities will remain with us.”

“Economies of scale and experience tell me that, no matter what the best managers do in the public sector, inefficiencies within the government and public service systems will continue to be problematic, resulting in ineffective service delivery. Remember, 34-plus years of ineffective government and public service delivery systems in PNG since independence have resulted in the unfortunate mess we are in today.

“My simple and sound advice to the NSP Taskforce, is to embrace Public Private Partnership now. Time is running out for us to turn the nation around.”

Montevideo Maru plaque unveiled

On 1 July 2009, a plaque commemorating the Montevideo Maru disaster was unveiled at Subic Bay. Click here for a full report.

Will Genia's debut for Wallabies

PNG born Will Genia has been named in the 30-man Wallaby squad for the upcoming Tri-Nations series, making his debut against the All Blacks on Saturday 18 July 2009 at Eden Park Auckland.

Genia spent his early years in Port Moresby before being educated at Brisbane Boys College finishing in 2005. He represented GPS, Queensland and Australian Schoolboys rugby in 2005.

Wearing # 21, the Queensland Reds scrumhalf will be backing up Luke Burgess on Saturday night.

The President and Management Committee have forwarded the following message to Will Genia on behalf of the Association: Congratulations Will. We all look forward with real pride to your successful debut against the All Blacks.

Montevideo Maru News

Kim Beazley lends support to Montevideo Maru recognition

Australia’s former Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Kim Beazley, AC, has accepted a senior role in a new organisation established to achieve greater public recognition for Australia’s worst maritime disaster.

On 22 June 1942, 1053 civilian and military prisoners interned by the Japanese invasion forces in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, were transferred to the freighter, Montevideo Maru. Nine days later, on 1 July 1942, off the coast of the Philippines, the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the American submarine Sturgeon. All the prisoners died.

The Montevideo Maru Memorial Committee was established to gain official recognition of the sinking, to determine precisely who was on board at the time and to encourage further research into events in Rabaul that led to the tragedy. Mr Beazley has accepted the position of Patron of the Committee and Keith Jackson, AM, has been appointed Chairman.

Prof Beazley’s uncle, the Rev Sydney Beazley, who resided in Rabaul at the time of the Japanese invasion, was just 33 when he was believed lost on the Montevideo Maru.

“The Montevideo Maru sinking is Australia’s most devastating loss at sea,” Prof Beazley said today, “but is a quiet part of public consciousness of World War II history.

“The military personnel lost in particular were a product of the first desperate efforts of the Australian Government to defend our immediate approaches.

“The Japanese occupation of Rabaul produced many heroic Australian efforts at resistance and escape and an enormous Australian tragedy, both from massacres on land and the huge loss of life at sea. Getting this story more firmly into our national consciousness is a noble effort,” Prof Beazley said.

On Wednesday 1 July 2009 a plaque to commemorate the sinking of the Montevideo Maru, and honouring the men lost with her, was unveiled at a ceremony at Subic Bay in the Philippines.

The plaque, sponsored by the NGVR & PNGVR Ex-members Association, 2/22 Battalion Lark Force Association, PNG Association of Australia, and Greenbank RSL, Queensland, is placed on an existing massive ‘Hell Ships’ Memorial erected by the US Navy. Subic Bay was up to 1992 a huge US Naval Base situated about 100km north of Manila. It is an appropriate location for such a memorial plaque, as it is less than 150 km south of the Montevideo Maru's resting place.

See some photos here.

New Rules approved by Department of Fair Trading

Advice has been received from the NSW Office of Fair Trading that the Notice of Alteration of Objects or Rules for the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia has been accepted for registration and the amendments now form part of the association’s records effective 1 May 2009.

Great Charity Raffle achieves an outstanding $9100

After a major fundraising effort at the end of 2008, the PNGAA handed over a cheque for $9100 to the Oro Community Development Project, (refer: www.oropng.org). The raffle was drawn at the annual Christmas lunch and was won by PNGAA Life Member Len Bailey. Oro Project organisers were delighted with the outcome and sent the following letter of appreciation:

Monday 8 December 2008

Dear Keith,
As the very fortunate recipients of PNGAA’s ‘Great Charity Raffle’, we thank you and the committee most sincerely for this extremely worthwhile initiative.
Yesterday, the Hon Duncan Kerr MP enunciated the need for closer contact between both the governments and the peoples of PNG and Australia. Such a statement of intent is important and it reaffirms what we all believe should be the status quo.
The Oro Community Development Project provides us with a remarkable opportunity to assist children in the province. The education and health systems struggled well before the impact of Cyclone Guba.
We believe our decision to concentrate on helping teachers to teach, empowering mothers to be the basic health providers and encouraging children to take a much greater interest in the village garden and agriculture in particular, will make a difference.
Thank you Keith, for making the approach to Air Niugini and persuading them to donate two return tickets as the prize. The work of Robin Mead as the Chair of the Papua New Guinea Relations Committee and others was greatly appreciated.
Without the wonderful support of PNGAA members, the idea would clearly have faltered. The winner was overjoyed and those who missed out on the tickets can be assured that their investment will benefit the communities of Oro.
On behalf of all those directly associated with OCDP, we sincerely thank you for what you achieved.
With kind regards,

John Kleinig

Minister says kiaps' role was extraordinary

The Australian Government has said the work of former Patrol Officers in preparing Papua New Guinea for nationhood deserves a "higher level of consciousness" in Australia. The Special Minister of State, Senator Faulkner, was responding to a submission proposing that official recognition be given to former Patrol Officers.

"The story of Patrol Officers is certainly an extraordinary one," Senator Faulkner wrote, "and one that deserves a higher level of consciousness than that which exists in contemporary Australian society."

The President of the Papua New Guinea Association of Australia, Keith Jackson, AM, said today: "The Minister has acknowledged that Patrol Officers, or 'Kiaps', should be recognised without indicating what form it might take. He has gone only halfway down the track."

"Many of these former District Services officers are getting on in years. They should be given official recognition of the exacting work they did that made possible the pacification and unity of Papua New Guinea and its peaceful transition to Independence," he said.

"It was a tough job which they did willingly and without thought for reward and their own well-being. Their deeds were epic and should be recognised by all Australians."

Mr Jackson said there seemed to be some uncertainty on the part of the Federal Government about the role of patrol officers. "Senator Faulkner says they were engaged in 'capacity building and not peace keeping', when in fact they were involved in both, and much more besides," Mr Jackson said.

"Patrol Officers were commissioned Police Officers and were given the responsibility to bring under Australian law vast tracts of Papua New Guinea inhabited by warring tribes. To their lasting credit, they did this with minimal loss of life.

"After World War 2, Australia ruled PNG as an external Territory. By the time Independence was granted in 1975, the entire country had been brought under a system of governance and laws developed by Australia and largely implemented and administered by District Services officers. This was an important and magnificent part of Australia's history.

"We hope the Federal Government will see fit to formally acknowledge the debt Australia owes to these men, never more than a few hundred, who achieved so much with so little and in sometimes very dangerous conditions," Mr Jackson said.

Mr Jackson said that he and Kiaps' representatives Chris Viner-Smith and Paul Oates will be seeking a meeting with the Minister when Federal Parliament resumes next year.

16 December 2008

PNG pioneer Bob Cole dies on Gold Coast

Yesterday (24 November 2008) Papua New Guinea lost one of its greatest servants and Australia lost a pioneer whose association with PNG began before World War II.

Former pre-war kiap and PNG Police Commissioner Bob Cole died on the Gold Coast. His PNG career spanned the years 1938 to 1968 and he served in the Sepik, Bougainville, Western Highlands and Southern Highland, attaining the rank of District Commissioner before being appointed Commissioner of Police.

In Una Voce, the journal of the Papua New Guinea Association, in March 1993 he wrote a story about his wife Kay's introduction to New Guinea. Some extracts.

We were married in 1943, during the War, and after I had spent three years in the Middle East writing her letters. We married within a week of my return to Australia and only had two weeks together before I reported to Melbourne and then New Guinea two months later. These separations were the pattern until the end of 1943 when I was discharged. After the war we had a wonderful ten months together before deciding that I should return to work, which meant New Guinea where the Provincial Government was in operation.

Bougainville was my posting and there being no married accommodation available I was not able to take Kay with me when I returned. I was required to build my own residence before a permit would be granted for Kay to join me and this did not worry me very much because I knew I could knock up a suitable house within a few weeks, and so off I went to get started, giving Kay an assurance that she would be with me within a week or two and that the Territory people would look after her all the way to me.

I landed at Sohano at the end of November 1946 and was sent to Buin where I arrived two weeks later, and where Jimmy Hodgekiss was in charge as ADO. Jimmy did not like crowded stations (we had a Patrol Officer, Jim Humphries, and an EMA, Alan Pinkerton) and now me, who intended bringing a woman to the station. This was too much for Jimmy so he went bush to start Boku and left me in charge at Buin to build the house for my wife.

The house was built by the end of December, native materials throughout except for the floor which was constructed from Japanese bed-boards salvaged from the huge overgrown Jap army camp in the bush nearby. These boards were better than limbum, but only just, because they were very thin and gave way frequently underfoot. Our furniture was patrol issue to start with, no refrigerator, and a camp stove salvaged from the same Jap camp. Upon completion I convinced Raleigh Farlow, the District Officer, that it was suitable as a married quarter and he notified Moresby to this effect and asked for approval for Kay to join me.

Passages to Papua New Guinea, on aircraft, were at a premium in 1946 and baggage allowances were very limited so when Kay did get a seat on 27 January 1947 she filled her handbag with cutlery and the allowable baggage space was used for linen in addition to her own clothing. I remember Treasury hit me for £10/13/6 to cover excess baggage, and duly collected it.

You can read this wonderful story in its entirety here.

Keith Jackson

PNG Governor-General praises "wonderful" Una Voce

Sir Paulias Matane
PNG Governor-General and PNGAA member

We send to you sincere greetings from Government House, Port Moresby.

I write this to express my sincere thanks and appreciation for the wonderful PNGAA journal. I read the various contributions with a great deal of interest because, apart from other things, they bring back memories of the past events in PNG, particularly during the colonial days.

It is encouraging that many Australian former employees still have nice feelings and memories of their times here. Some have written books about their activities. I would like those of you who may have not written books about your experiences here should do the same as people like Dame Rachel Cleland and others.

It is encouraging and gratifying to read that members of PNGAA are going to do something for the catastrophic Cyclone Guba that devastated the Oro Province last year. Congratulations.

When I read the first Letter to the Editor from Alan McLay in the current PNGAA issue about Fred Kaad's tribute to Harry West, my mind went back to the time when I knew them as District Commissioners. They probably do not remember me. I was also interested in saying that Alan married a Tolai lady, Nellie, in 1982. I mention this because she and Alan helped to organise a fund raising dinner on 15 November (at the Melanesian Hotel in Lae in the Morobe Province) for the Morobe Bikers' Charity Club, or MBCC. I was the main guest. The vice regal party paid for two tables.

What is MBCC, you may now be wondering. It is a charity club, formed and registered in 2003 by unemployed youths, some of whom were prisoners before but have changed to become useful citizens of PNG. There are over 300 members of the Club.

Some of the routes they had followed since the Club was started were: Madang to Lae; Goroka to Lae; Lae across the mountains to the Gulf Province, to Port Moresby where they worked for 3 months to raise money before continuing to Alotau and back to Lae.

After the fundraising dinner, ten members went by truck to Enga Province. They started riding at Porgera on 17 November, then to Laiagam, Wapendamanda, Mt Hagen, Kundiawa, Chuave, Goroka, Kainantu, Watarais, Nadzab and then to Lae where they will arrive on 1 December, World AIDS Day, to address the crowd.

On the various stops, they carried out awareness on HIV/AIDS; Violence Against Women and Children; Law and Order Problems; Consumption of Alcohol and other Drugs by young people; etc.

I am so much impressed with their initiatives and that's why I support their activities. I had made a public call for youths in other parts of PNG to do the same as MBCC members. I will continue to raise this issue.

I thank you and the leaders for your plans for the future PNGAA as recorded under What's Next in the PNGAA - Building on the Legacy. I can only see good things coming.

The other very interesting items include Those Early Days Had Their Moments by Jim Eames; Emirau by Warren Martin; The Murder of Errol John [Jack] Emmanuel by Derek Bell. This really shocked most of the people as this kind of killing was new to many of us at that time. Jack was a very good and peaceful man. We missed him. The other that stands out is Extract From "Bilong Gut Taim Bipor" by Henry G Eekhoff.

Donations moved against the clock

Robin Mead

As the PNGAA becomes more involved in moves to assist positive links between PNG and Australia, members will recall the inspiring and illuminating AGM presentation in April by Dr Ron Sommers and his team from Global Medical Support (GMS), the volunteer medical assistance group which for a number of years has been providing medical equipment, training and surgical expertise to the Kundiawa Hospital and the people of Simbu Province.

This has been assisted periodically by the donation by St Vincent’s Hospital (SVH) of used but functional superseded medical equipment, and ably coordinated by the Hospital’s Chief Biomedical Engineer, Ramesh Pullela, who also regularly goes to PNG on a volunteer basis to fix and maintain equipment.

In August this year a quantity of this older but still functional equipment was stored at the Hospital but the space was needed to be cleared in a very short time. Although the equipment was earmarked for GMS’s work in PNG, regular contact and Ramesh Pullela was unfortunately but necessarily away. Contact was made with the GMS people and also with Hospital senior management. Hospital staff, both from Biomedical and Stores, together with Dr Sommers and his wife Rae worked tirelessly to remove the equipment constituting a ‘win-win’ for all concerned, not least the patients in need of medical assistance in PNG.

Dr Sommers has since written to St Vincent’s Hospital’s Executive Director expressing his thanks for the Hospital’s charitable humanitarian donation in arranging the valuable gifts. Also included in the container are baby jumpers knitted by many of our members. The equipment is now on its way to where it is needed.

Hal Holman's artwork available

Hal Holman, OL, OAM, has responded to numerous requests for his artwork by releasing a limited series of numbered prints of four selected images of PNG subjects. Hal is famed in PNG, having been a commando in World War II, returning after the war as senior artist for the PNG Government. He designed the PNG crest and many of his large bronze sculptures are to be found in Port Moresby, including the busts of six Prime Ministers in the grounds of PNG Parliament House. He has produced hundreds of oil paintings, pastels and watercolours of landscapes, portraits, and flora and fauna - particularly the Bird of Paradise. Samples of his work are shown at www.ozemail.com.au/~halpal. Prints are available from Clive Troy for just $50 each at , phone 02 9868 2123 or write to: PO Box 23, Thornleigh NSW 2120, Australia.

Giving something back forges close bonds with Maprik

Last month eight students from Central Coast Grammar School in NSW visited their sister school, Maprik High School, in the East Sepik Province. The students were accompanied by headmaster, Richard Lornie, OAM, and a group of ten adults. Their objectives included unloading a container of educational supplies donated by the Central Coast school's community, refurbishing the Maprik school library and for Mr Lornie to continue his negotiations to establish a Community Learning Centre at Maprik High School.

Maprik High was established in 1971 and Richard Lornie first taught there in 1973. Richard wanted to give something back to the area and decided to send 1000 Christmas boxes to the school for Christmas 2006. he also decided he wanted to be there with a couple of senior students from the Central Coast school to see the recipients' faces when the gifts arrived

Read the full story of the relationship between Central Coast Grammar and Maprik High in From shoe box to shipping container in the PNGAA Library.