White Australia - Black Melanesia - The Great Divide

I first went to Papua New Guinea in 1979 on a missionMelanesia is a Greek term for 'Black Islands'.
with the Australian Army. Since 1991 I have beenDuring a meeting with a senior Minister in the current
leading groups across the Kokoda Trail and havePNG Government in Port Moresby I asked how Papua
established a Foundation to have the track proclaimedNew Guineans were treated whenever they applied
as a National Memorial Park. We are working with thefor a visa to come to Australia. 'Like lepers!' was the
World Wide Fund for Nature in Papua New Guinea,candid response.
the University of Technology Sydney, the PNGThis issue is one that bites deepest in our relationships
Tourism Promotion Authority and the Kokoda Trackwith PNG. Over the years I have heard Australians
Authority to develop a model of sustainable tourism forcomplain of their 'treatment' when they arrive in Britain
Papua New Guinea.as visitors. They claim there seems to be no special
As a Member of the New South Wales Parliament Irecognition for us as a former colony, wartime ally,
have elected to use my Commonwealth Parliamentarytrading partner and fellow Commonwealth member.
Association research entitlement on our relationshipMany of those aggrieved by this treatment have
with Papua New Guinea. I have travelled to Portbecome vocal proponents of the call for an Australian
Moresby, Goroka, Lae and Madang as part of myrepublic.
research and have held numerous meetings withSo it is with PNG. Many see Australians as
Ministers, Members, Departmental Secretaries,disinterested visitors who travel to PNG, participate in
Provincial and Local Level Governmentmeetings, join a conducted tour, perhaps visit a village,
representatives and numerous clan leaders andoffer some patronizing advice - then leave! A review
landowners.of the number of times Australian politicians have
There is no doubt that we have made seriouschosen PNG as a destination for their overseas study
mistakes in our relationship with Papua New Guineatrips over the past decade would be a good indicator
since independence was granted in 1975. There is alsoof our dinkum level of interest in the country.
no doubt they are a very difficult people to 'help' givenAustralia has reciprocal arrangements for working
the complexities of their 'wan tok' system and theirholiday visas with Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark,
adherence to 'the Melanesian way'.Eire, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea,
I doubt that we will ever understand these complexitiesMalta, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan, and the
and we certainly will not solve them in our lifetime.United Kingdom. But none with PNG!
What we can do however is to begin to workshopAs a Commonwealth nation, young people from PNG
ideas that allow us to better understand each other; toare eligible for working holiday visas in the United
develop pilot programs based on educational-economicKingdom under the Commonwealth Working Holiday
partnerships; to develop political partnerships toScheme - but not in Australia!
administer our aid budgets and to develop long termWhen an Australian travels to PNG for a visit they
leadership programs for leaders yet to be born.stand in a line at Port Moresby airport, get their
'Given the youth bulge in most island nations, the issuepassport stamped and immediately obtain a visa.
of employment generation will become increasinglyWhen a PNG citizen applies for a visa they have to fill
urgent in the Pacific in coming decades, and there isout a comprehensive application form, provide bank
growing discussion about the potential to address itguarantees and detailed itineraries. If they live outside
through greater international labour mobility.Port Moresby (as 87 per cent of the population do) it
'The pressing need to find jobs for Pacific Islandbecomes even more complex and can involve multiple
workers coincides with the emergence of gaps in thetrips from remote mountain villages to the Australian
labour force of developed nations. In countries likeembassy in Port Moresby due to acts of bureaucratic
Australia, lower birth rates, the aging demographicbastardary.
profile, increased personal wealth, the provision ofThere are no exceptions - a current Member of the
social welfare, sustained economic growth, lowPNG National Parliament who is a former Australian
unemployment and higher levels of education havecitizen and decorated Vietnam War hero is given the
combined to reduce the supply of workers who aresame treatment. Another former Australian citizen
available (or willing) to undertake physically demandingwho was conscripted into the army in 1968 and sent
labour for relatively low pay. This has opened up theto PNG as a National Serviceman returned as a
debate about the potential for temporary employmentteacher. After independence he became a PNG
schemes for Pacific Islanders to work in overseascitizen and has made an outstanding contribution in his
labour markets, particularly in seasonal pursuits infield. Unfortunately he has had to forfeit his rights to an
agriculture.'Australian pension and other benefits such as health
The Australian Senate inquiry into seasonal labour fromcare - and he is treated as an alien whenever he
the Pacific Region is a welcome initiative however thedecides to visit his family in Australia.
terms of reference seem to be limited because theyAll native PNG people and former Australian citizens
do not address the impact of labour mobility on ourfind this to be a humiliating and traumatic experience.
relationship with our Melanesian neighbours in theOne told me of a talented young PNG artist who was
Pacific Region. These nations comprising the islandinvited to come to Australia but was afraid to go
chain from Timor in the northwest through Westthrough the process of obtaining another visa because
Papua, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Vanuatu, Kiribati, thehe was so traumatised by a previous application.
Solomons and Fiji have been referred to as our arc ofOn January 30, 2005 the Sydney Sun-Herald reported
instability.that the shortage of seasonal labour for fruit and
It is certainly our international area of responsibility.vegetable picking was so chronic that the Sunraysia
Recent reports from the Centre of IndependentMallee Economic Development Board is planning to
Studies, the Menzies Research Centre and theimport 10,000 Chinese temporary workers. Eighty-five
Australian Strategic Policy Institute have traced ourpercent of PNG citizens live in rural areas on a
historical ties with each of these nation states and thesubsistence basis. They have been harvesting fruit and
impact of our withdrawal from anything smacking ofvegetables for generations over thousands of years.
neo-colonialism in the 1970s. More ominously they haveIn 1930 the Australian Government Anthropologist, F.E.
highlighted the failure of our aid policies over theWilliams wrote of the Koiari:
decades since they were granted independence from'the Koiari are very definitely gardeners and quite
their colonial administrators.dependent on the soil... they are given a good
Those with expertise in the region warn ofcharacter by employers as honest labourers and
catastrophic consequences for Australia and the islandpleasant men to work with...'
nation states if the impending crisis is not arrested.Twelve years after Williams wrote his report on 'The
This realization has led to our direct intervention inBush Koiari', they were called to our aid in one of the
Timor and The Solomons, a change in our aid policymost desperate chapters in our history - the Japanese
from a 'magic pudding' concept to a 'tied-aid' policyinvasion of Australian mandated territory in New
formula, a more forthright role in the Pacific Forum, andGuinea. They answered the call and worked tirelessly
the implementation of an Enhanced Cooperationunder atrocious wartime conditions to carry vital
Program (ECP) for Papua New Guinea.supplies to our endangered troops and then saved
Our relationship with Papua New Guinea is particularlynumerous lives by carrying our wounded back to
important given our historical links as a colonialsafety. They were immortalised as 'fuzzy wuzzy
administrator, wartime ally, fellow Commonwealthangels' and without their assistance we would have
member and closest neighbour. More recently thebeen defeated by the Japanese on the Kokoda Trail.
threat of terrorism, the sharing of a border withTo our eternal shame they have never received a
Indonesia, the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, crimemedal for their heroic sacrifice on our behalf - and
and widespread corruption has led to manytoday they are not even regarded as worthy to pick
commentators issuing dire warnings about its future.our fruit or harvest our vegetables.
The ECP program has been implemented in responseAnd we wonder why they feel we neither care nor
to these concerns but many of the problems are nowunderstand them!
so entrenched that the Australian Strategic PolicyIt is interesting that the Australian Strategic Policy
Institute argues the program should be regarded asInstitute regards PNG as 'one of our three top policy
only the first phase of a process that will takechallenges'. If this is the case then those responsible for
generations to resolve. Former Prime Minister, The Rtformulating and implementing policy need to change
Hon Sir Mekere Morauta, Kt MP expressed a word oftheir itineraries for overseas travel post-haste!
caution in his response to the Australian Security PolicyGraeme Dobell, in an address to the Menzies
Institute report:Research Centre, refers to the issue of a special
"I am worried that the Enhanced Cooperation Programmigration status for PNG citizens as the great taboo.
is too much at once, and expensive for what it might'Over the past four decades, we have gone from the
achieve. What is critical for any measure of success isWhite Australia policy to a universal, non-discriminatory
for Papua New Guinean officials to be deeply involvedpolicy. And at no point in that huge shift has there ever
in it and for people to see tangible accomplishmentsbeen a moment when Australia opened its doors to
soon."the Islanders. Australia has unintentionally
This is a prescient warning for Australia in consideringsub-contracted its Pacific people policy to New
the value of any programs under this initiative.Zealand. Polynesians have the right to go into New
Each of the reports from the Centre of IndependentZealand and from there to Australia. Melanesians have
Studies, the Menzies Research Centre and theno such avenue. What that means is that you are
Australian Strategic Policy Institute has made amuch more likely to see a Polynesian face on the
significant contribution to the debate about thestreets of Sydney or Melbourne than a Melanesian
significance of our relationship with PNG and ourface.'
international responsibility as a leader in the region.The issue has been addressed by the 1984 review of
Apathy or Empathy?overseas aid, the Jackson Report, and the 1997
In my view there is a growing empathetic gapSimons report but the findings and recommendations
between Australia and Papua New Guinea. Up tillwere largely ignored. More recently submissions to a
independence in 1975 Australia had an active patrolSenate inquiry on relations with the Pacific 'were
officer/kiap program involving young men workingsurprisingly sensitive to this 'no-go' area - most not
throughout Papua New Guinea under our colonialeven mentioning it.'
administration. Many of them stayed on afterThe Australian Council for Overseas Aid came down
independence, married and became PNG citizens.with a non-committal bureaucratic conclusion: 'The
They developed a good understanding of theissue of job opportunities for Pacific Islanders in
complexities of Melanesian culture and are much moreAustralia is a complex and sensitive one but the pros
understanding of their ways and their needs. At theand cons of the issue need to be considered.'
same time students from Papua New Guinea came toAustralia has to come to terms with the reality that our
Australia to complete their tertiary education and cameimmigration policy is racially biased against Melanesians
to better understanding the complexities of our- the very people we have an international
western culture.responsibility to help and assist.
The Australian 'kiaps' are now approaching retirementThe Centre for Independent Studies reported that 'the
and Papua New Guinea now has its own university.problems of Papua New Guinea and its Melanesian
We do not have any exchange programs whereneighbours do not divide up neatly between
young leaders from either country can develop agovernment departments'. The report noted that
proper understanding of each other. Our corporate'Australia has an Iraq taskforce when it needs a
knowledge is therefore diminishing and our empatheticMelanesian taskforce'.
gap is widening.Labour Mobility in the Pacific
This gap is reflected in our attitude to the administrationA research paper titled 'Labour mobility in the Pacific:
of aid. Here in Australia we often beat ourselves oncreating seasonal work programs in Australia' and
the chest with announcements of how much wepresented to the Globalisation, Governance and the
provide in aid each year. In Papua New Guinea theyPacific Islands conference at the Australian National
are more circumspect as they realise that most of theUniversity (25 -27 October 2005) is deserving of
aid money 'boomerangs' back to Australia. Seanspecial consideration by the Senate Committee.
Dorney's description of a two- day forum regardingAuthors Nic Maclellan and Peter Meares address the
our change in policy to 'project' or 'program' aid inissues of remittances, pacific development, modelling of
Brisbane in 1993 is instructive:seasonal work schemes in Australia and the
'This switch was explained to 400 hungry-eyedrequirements for effective seasonal workers
Australian consultants and representatives of variousschemes.
NGOs all with ideas on how to get in on the action. AThe paper notes that 'in its 2003 inquiry on Australia's
year or two prior to this, Australian aid officials had setrelations with the region, the Senate Foreign Affairs,
up 'joint' committees covering the agreed sectors intoDefence and Trade Committee received numerous
which Australian money could be channeled - health,submissions suggesting schemes to bring workers
education, infrastructure, renewable resources, law andfrom the Pacific and recommended 'a pilot program to
order, and the private sector. The chairman of theallow for labour to be sourced from the region for
Sectoral Working Groups presented their reports onseasonal work in Australia.' In its formal reply to the
what was planned in their area of expertise. It wasSenate report, the Australian government simply 'noted'
stunning just how much basic policy on fundamentalthe recommendations for a pilot study, adding a one
issues, such as the future of education and health inline response: 'Australia has traditionally not supported
PNG, had been appropriated by these committees.programs to bring low skilled seasonal workers to
Admittedly they did have PNG representation butAustralia''
given the shortage of skills in the PNG bureaucracyMaclellan and Mares conclude that the obstacles to
and the multiple demands on talented manpower itsuch a scheme are political and bureaucratic. I believe it
was inevitable the Australian 'experts' dominated,reflects an appalling lack of understanding and
working under the imperatives of deadlines set by theempathy with Papua New Guinea; a lack of political will
Australian aid authorities.to address the issue and a deep seated racial bias
Sir Julius Chan, who was Finance Minister at the time,against Papua New Guineans in the bowels of the
told me during the forum that it was "a veryCanberra bureaucracy.
cumbersome, very tedious, very unnecessary load ofThe paper examines the political and bureaucratic
work". Australia's then Development Cooperationobjections to seasonal labour schemes and relates
Minister, Gordon Bilney, put the alternative argument. Hethem to Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers
asked whether the untied aid arrangement agreed toProgram and their experience with the issues
at independence out of "respect" for PNG'sconcerning regulation, labour rights and social impacts
sovereignty might have been the wrong decision.which would have to be addressed in Australia if
"Would it have been better." Bilney said, "[for Australia]seasonal work schemes were to operate 'without
to have remained engaged in some way? Would itevoking memories of blackbirding'.
have been better to use Australia's more developedVillage - Farm Relationships
technical and human resources to work together withOne of the major concerns in Australia is the fear of
Papua New Guinea to develop their country? Wouldseasonal workers overstaying their visa's. This would
that have ensured more rapid and more equitablebe ameliorated by the development of a disciplined
development?" Chan's answer was a flat no. "We areprogram in partnership with Papua New Guinea to
concerned," Sir Julius told the forum, "that theensure participants are carefully selected, medically
decreasing real value of support could lead to be ofscreened and that they undergo some in-country
less and less tangible benefit if it is frittered away onpre-employment training. They should also be assisted
too many programs and projects which havein establishing a system to ensure there is a saving
excessive bureaucratic and administrative costs. "Heelement with their remittances and that an appropriate
was particularly concerned about the rake-off toamount is directed to their family.
consultants. The then Secretary of the PNG PrimeA long-term strategy to develop partnerships between
Minister's Department, Brown Bai, after hearing thevillage areas in Papua New Guinea and farming
presentations by the Australian chairman, expressedcommunities in Australia would also have mutual
surprise at the amount of work the teams had donebenefits. If Papua New Guinea seasonal workers
planning PNG's future. "I am supposed to be the PNGknow they will be able to return the following year for
Government's chief adviser," he said, "but I knowwork it will remove any incentive for them to overstay.
nothing about this."Training would also be an integral component in any
Many MPs in the National Parliament are critical of thissuch scheme. This would involve pre-embarkation
approach. AusAID is seen as a law unto itself and dotraining in Papua New Guinea and vocational/on-job
not have to report to, or liaise with, local Memberstraining in Australia.
when undertaking project work in their electorates.Conclusion
This causes them embarrassment when theirAustralian policy makers cannot ignore the dire
constituents advise them of the work beingwarnings in recent reports regarding our relationship
undertaken and undermines their status in the eyes ofwith our Melanesian neighbours who form the 'arc of
their people. According to Sean Dorney:instability' to our immediate north. This is our
'There is a terrible temptation facing Australians whointernational area of responsibility. We have to change
work on these aid projects to push the Papua Newour approach and seek to emulate the New Zealand
Guineans aside and take over the problem to effect away of treating our neighbours as 'cousins' rather than
quicker result. But it is self-defeating.''little brothers'. An essential part of this change will be
The root cause of this attitude can be traced to ato demonstrate that we are going to deconstruct the
Committee established in the 1960s by the Australianracial bias we have against them and implement
External Territories Minister, CEB Barnes. According toprograms where we can help each other and better
Professor Donald Denoon in his recently publishedunderstand each other.
book on Australia's decolonisation of Papua NewA first step in this process would be to establish a joint
Guinea, called A Trial Separation, he wrote: 'Westernworking group with Papua New Guinea in order to
behaviour was the goal, indigenous values the obstacledevelop a pilot project for seasonal work in Australia.
and paternal administration the solution.'I would hope this would be a strong recommendation
A review of our aid programs would indicate that notof the Senate inquiry into seasonal labour from the
much has changed over the 45 years since MinisterPacific region and that somebody within the
CEB Barnes established that committee.government will give it more than a cursory glance.
White Australia - Black Melanesia