Pacific Studies Series. St. Lucia, QLD: University of Queensland Press, 2014. xii, 339 pp. (Map.) A$38.50, paper. ISBN 978-1-921902-43-7.
This volume focuses on the Australians who lived in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea (TPNG) in the decade and a half preceding independence in 1975. It compiles the personal reminiscences of Australians and educated Papua New Guineans to describe social conditions in TPNG towards the end of the colonial era. It probes intercultural relationships and illuminates political circumstances during the approach to independence and its aftermath.
The volume is bracketed with contributions from authors who lived in TPNG as children. It opens with a brief foreword by Lara Giddings (premier of Tasmania 2011–2014) followed by the editors’ introduction. The central chapters are written by contributors who chose to go to TPNG as adults, and in most cases, spent many years there. These contributions are grouped into three sections. The first, Medicine and Science (6 chapters), pays homage to “the many Australian doctors and scientists who have been attracted to the country” (6). The second, Policy, Governance and Justice (4 chapters), “contains the reminiscences of public servants who played important roles in building the political, legal and administrative framework of independent PNG [Papua New Guinea]” (7). The third, Education, Race and Social Change (5 chapters), examines education and colonial life, and reflects on social change and the future of the country. The collection closes with the reflections of Jonathan Ritchie, a historian born and raised in TPNG, who specializes in PNG’s transition from colonial territory to independent nation.
A quick reading of the collection gave me an initial impression of unevenness. Some of the chapters are well written and engaging; others less so. The volume triggered many memories of my own experiences living in Port Moresby (the capital city) while employed in the public service sector. But the years I spent in the hinterland, living and working as an anthropologist, afforded a different perspective that I found lacking. The voices of the Australian kiaps (patrol officers), didimen (agricultural extension officers), missionaries, and others who worked in the rural areas together with the local people they served are mostly absent, and the volume is focused on colonial life in Port Moresby and major regional centres. However, patrol officers were the face of Australia in the bush, and I was particularly disappointed to learn that Bill Brown, the sole author representing them, was asked to focus his chapter on Bougainville and the political difficulties there, rather than recalling his decades-long service in more rural areas (7). His piece is noteworthy, providing insights into an important chapter in the run-up to independence, but having him feature the contributions of Australians who lived for long periods apart from the expatriate community life highlighted here was a missed opportunity.
In digging more deeply into the collection for the purposes of this review, strengths became more obvious than deficiencies. Inevitably, only a portion of the experiences of the Australians who worked in TPNG can be described, and the volume focuses on an especially significant segment: the “prominent and successful” (2) movers and shakers, both Australian and Papua New Guinean, who were most influential in shaping an emerging nation. The editors made a special effort to represent some of these important voices through interviews with His Excellency Mr. Charles W. Lepani, Professor Ken Inglis, Dame Meg Taylor, and Dame Carol Kidu. The advantages of a relatively light editorial hand that allows the authors to speak for themselves in their own style also became apparent. Very candid assessments of social conditions are included, and potentially sensitive topics such as relationships between Australians and Papua New Guineans are addressed very directly. Diverse attitudes are represented, from Margaret Smith’s frank statement that “we did not have contact with indigenous people in Goroka. This was not snobbery; just recognition of difference” (62) to Carol Kidu’s segregation of an opposite sort: “I never lived in the Australian community. I lived completely in the Motu society” (279), to Christine Stewart’s understated but courageous stands against racism: “I still claim to be one of the first white women to appear at an official function in a meri [indigenous woman’s] blouse” (256). Others are sometimes used as a foil to address race relations, as when Anthony Radford arrived at a plantation with an indigenous medical assistant who was not included in an invitation to come in for a “cuppa” because “[w]e’ve never had one in the house” (109). Diverse themes emerge, including safety: “we did not have to lock house doors or car doors” (62), expatriate family life and activities, the founding and development of the University of Papua New Guinea, the advent of indigenous political parties and civil leaders, the legacy of Australia’s financial aid to PNG, etc.
For the non-specialist, tabulations of select abbreviations together with a glossary of Tok Pisin (a lingua franca) terms and a map are included. These are useful but somewhat incomplete. The map is basic, with important locations mentioned in the text missing (e.g., Wahgi Valley). Likewise (for example) the glossary omits tultul (a village leader) and the select abbreviations overlook RSL (Returned and Services League, a support organization for Defense Force personnel). For specialists, a helpful index locates key people, but is superficial on main topics. The notes on contributors is a valuable addition.
In sum, the volume is a success. The editors have collected and competently organized the recollections of prominent and successful Australians and Papua New Guineans who came together at the end of the colonial era to help shape an emerging nation. Their personal perspectives illustrate both the breadth and depth of Australian engagement with PNG. What comes through most clearly in the authors’ testimonies is something that Meg Taylor noted on page 267: “PNG gets under the skin and it holds you to her.”
Richard Scaglion
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA