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23.01.2022 Did you know that we have an entire series dedicated to Pacific studies with over 20 titles to choose from? The islands of Melanesia are a particular focus, but... the Pacific series also publishes ground-breaking research on Polynesia and Micronesia. You can download all titles for free https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/series/pacific

23.01.2022 This week well be highlighting some of the results of the huge digitization project undertaken by the Pacific Research Archives at the Australian National Univ...ersity Archives. One of the collections comprises 147 images taken by Lillian Hardman, an employee of the British Phosphate Commissioners on Banaba (Ocean Island) in the 1960s/70s. There are some wonderful photos in here, capturing - consciously or not - many of the contradictions of daily life on a Pacific phosphate island. https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/hand/1885/165210

23.01.2022 To mark PNG independence day, we are reproducing a section from the life story of Somu Sigob (c.1917-1976), labelled one of PNGs most loyal sons. #PacificBiogr...aphyInAustralia #papuanewguinea #PNG45 He served in the Second World War, became Sergeant-Major in the New Guinea Police Force, and was an elected member of the Legislative Council before it made way for the House of Assembly. The following excerpt where he describes the frustrations of serving on such an unequal body comes from Somu Sigob: The Story of My Life recorded in Pidgin by students in the Department of History at UPNG, and translated into English by Kakah Kais. The autobiography first appeared in Gigibori vol. 2, no. 1 (April 1975) but was reprinted in Ulli Beiers edited collection, Voices of Independence: New Black Writing from Papua New Guinea (1980). As I have said, I was getting tired of police work. You wouldnt be willing, but still they would send you like a mail bag here and there, and I had been in the police force about eighteen or almost twenty years and was beginning to get sick of the idea of transfer. Of course my time to finish was drawing near. When I finished I didnt know anymore how to live differently. I went home and stayed there, doing nothing. I thought I would stay for a little while and then join the police force again. But a new council was started. So I was elected councillor and represented three villages in the Finschhafen council. I was later elected president of that council. After I had spent a few years in the council there was talk of electing some people to the Legislative Council. So I thought, I must try, whether I win or lose. I think the New Guinea coastal councils knew very well that I was a maus wara [a good talker], because every time there were combined meetings of representatives of all councils I dominated them. They believed in me, thinking a good talker like him should get all our votes and win. I think this was what they thought. So I put in my name to stand for election to the Legislative Council. And I won. So I represented three districts Sepik, Madang, and Morobe. In Papua, John Guise represented the area extending from Milne Bay to Abau. A Daru man, Simoi Paradi, was elected to represent the area extending from Central to Daru. And Kondom represented New Britain. Nicholas Brokam represented Buka (Bougainville), Manus, and Kavieng (New Ireland). Some members were appointed by the government. The time for us to talk was not like it is in the House of Assembly today. The government had the majority, and sometimes the appointed members did not believe anything. Sometimes, when we succeeded in swaying them, they would come on our side. But if we didnt succeed in swaying them they would side with the government, and we just wasted our breath without getting anything through. They defeated us almost every time. Sometimes, when I got very angry, I was the first one to talk out during the working session. Our speaker was Sir Donald Cleland. I think he got sick of my hot-headedness because whenever they talked about work I said, Its no use, its no use and who are we voting against? We are only six elected members, while you, the government, have the majority. We must just talk and let it die. I wasted my time for nothing, voting, so I used to leave my seat and go out. I knew we could not win. Maybe we were bad. During that time I was appointed a DO [district officer].

22.01.2022 The Kiribati Parliament has made history today with MPs voting in the countrys first female Speaker of Parliament, former Opposition member Tangariki Reete.

20.01.2022 Australia has accepted PNGs offer to deploy 100 troops to help conduct bushfire recovery work. Australias High Commissioner to PNG, Bruce Davis, says an initial deployment of 100 troops will join the Australia Defence Force to assist with the bushfire response.

20.01.2022 The historic referendum was carried out over a two-week period, with people asked if they wanted independence or greater autonomy from Papua New Guinea.

20.01.2022 Two other important peoples we are interested in getting into the Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB) is Rotan Tito and his son Rev. Tebuke Rotan who were ...both renowned leaders of the Banaban struggle against the British Phosphate Commission. #Banaba #PacificBiographyInAustralia Rotan Tito (in the first and second images) was the undisputed leader of the Banabans on Banaba and Rabi, he led the legal action against the British Phosphate Commission, and was chairman of the Banaban council for over 30 years. Son of Rotan Tito, and a graduate from Davuilevu Theological College, Tebuke Rotan (in the third image) took over leadership of the Banabans on Rabi from his father, and also led the legal action against the British Phosphate Commission and the British Government.

20.01.2022 Another recent edition to the Australian Dictionary of Biography in 2019 is Sione Ltkefu, one of the Tongas most celebrated academics and Methodist ministers...! #PacificBiographyInAustralia "Sione Ltkefu (19271995), Methodist minister and Pacific Islands historian, was born on 16 April 1927 at Kolovai village, Tongatapu, Tonga, eldest of nine children of Siosiua Alopi Ltkefu, Methodist minister, and his wife Mele Vaimoana, ne Ahio. Siosiua was an authority on traditional wisdom and Methodist orthodoxy, and he and his wife were prepared to make sacrifices to educate their children. Studious and quick, Sione was fascinated by traditions and Bible stories. In hierarchical Tonga, he was destined to teach in local schools or become a village pastor. Two vital influences expanded Ltkefus choices. Queen Slote recognised his gifts and encouraged his studies; and Australian missionaries nurtured his education at Tupou College, at Sia--Toutai Theological College (LTh, 1954, Melbourne College of Divinity), and at the University of Queensland (BA, 1958; DipEd, 1959; BEd, 1962) where he studied history. Accustomed to the authority of traditional knowledge and rote learning, he wrestled with long reading lists and the need to argue a case. While working to support himself, he studied heroically for his degrees. The Church vetoed postgraduate studies, so he came home, taught at Tupou College (195962), and was ordained a minister of the Free Wesleyan Church in 1960. With help from friends, particularly Rev. C.F. Gribble, at the time head of Methodist Missions in Sydney, and despite opposition from the Tongan Traditions Committee, Ltkefu returned to Australia in January 1962 and found temporary work at the University of Sydney carting milk crates. The Methodist network supported his move to the Australian National University (ANU), where scholarships enabled him to study history full time (PhD, 1967). Queen Slote hoped that he would be Tongas first archivist, but her death in 1965 deprived him of her patronage, and no position eventuated. Meanwhile he had courted another great influence on his life, and on 4 June 1966 he married the German-born anthropologist Ruth Annette Fink at Wesley College Chapel, University of Sydney. Ltkefus loyalty to Tonga never wavered but relations with traditional authorities back home were always delicate for a commoner with an enquiring mind and independent access to archives. In 1965 he had challenged the accepted view of King George Tupou Is birthplace. Several notables objected, but he repeated the claim in the book arising from his thesis, Church and State in Tonga (1974), and defended his view at a meeting chaired by the premier, Prince Fatafehi Tui Pelahake. Eventually King Taufaahau Tupou IV affirmed Ltkefus interpretation. A serious dispute arose in 1967 when he published Tonga after Queen Slote in the Journal of Pacific History, which was more analytical and less reverential than the Tongan establishment expected. His reputation in his native country was secured when he was found to be the only scholar equipped to write The Tongan Constitution, a centenary history published in 1975. After unsuccessful attempts to obtain suitable employment in Tonga, Ltkefu and his wife applied to lecture at the new University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG). In 1967 they began eighteen productive years on Waigani campus, where he created a Pacific Islands history course. Equally important, he was a role model who embodied a successful career from mission schools to a doctorate, and he offered perspectives other than those of local politicians or Australian academics. Unlike the Polynesian pastors his students remembered, dominating the villages where they served, he did not condescend, but suggested how to reconcile Christian faith with Western rationalism. His empiricism moderated the radicalism of some colleagues and the anti-colonial zeal of some students, and his benign opinions shaped the editing of his last major publication, Papua New Guinea: A Century of Colonial Impact, 18841984 (1989). Retiring from UPNG in 1985, Ltkefu became a visiting fellow in the Research School of Pacific Studies at the ANU until 1988, when he was appointed principal of the Pacific Theological College, Suva, Fiji. Three years later a heart condition prompted his retirement. He returned to the ANU where he resumed as a visiting fellow to research the Tongan pro-democracy movement. Down to earth in every way, he had grown such fine crops in the arid soil of his Waigani garden that many suspected magic. His courtesy and steadfastness in the seminar room or on the tennis court disarmed his few opponents: he always expected the debateor the ballto come his way. Survived by his wife, and their daughter and son, he died in Canberra on 2 June 1995 and was cremated. His family took his ashes to be interred in Tonga." Written by Donald Denoon, for more check out: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/latukefu-sione-27650 Images sourced from Pacific Manuscripts Bureau.

19.01.2022 This touching story highlights the power of learning a language https://www.sbs.com.au//missed-communication-her-grandmoth

19.01.2022 Please follow the new page "Pacific Biography in Australia" for more stories on Pacific lives in this country!

19.01.2022 Please share widely to your Pacific networks ! The Oceania Working Party of the Australian Dictionary of Biography is looking for submissions for prominent Pacific Islanders in Australian History!

16.01.2022 Could the Pacific be about to run out of tuna? Billions of dollars worth of tuna is caught in the Pacific each year, but climate change could change where tuna live.

16.01.2022 The 2019 Pambu newsletter is now up on our website! You can read about Fijian military papers found in a suitcase; photos of Presbyterian missionary to Malekula... Rev Conrad Stallan; our search for lost climate data; Pacific languages activities and a lovely tribute to our friend and colleague, Mrs Sioana Faupula, who retired from Pambu in 2019. http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au///Pambu_Series6_No6_2019.pdf See more

16.01.2022 To mark the 201st anniversary of the birth of the Bab, the Herald of the Baha'i Faith, here we share the story of Dulcie Dive who we hope to get published in th...e ADB. She was a Maori member of the Bahá'í faith who was influential in spreading it across Aotearoa, Australia and the Cook Islands. #PacificBiographyInAustralia "Dulcie became a Bahá'í in April 1938. She was an active member of the Auckland Bahá'í community, and she also supported the Australian Bahá'ís by contributing to the curriculum of the Australian Bahá'í Summer School held in Yerrinbool, although travel costs prevented her from attending the school in person, with the exception of the 1939 Summer School. She was appointed to the Bahá'í Quarterly Committee in 1943.She was appointed to the Yerrinbool School Committee, and also the National Teaching Committee, in 1948. Dulcie visited Australia in 1944 with Hugh Blundell for the Bahá'í Centenary celebrations and moved to Sydney, Australia when she was elected as the Secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand in 1944, succeeding Hilda Brooks. She also later served as Assembly Treasurer. In 1945 she was interviewed by a journalist for an article published in Truth, a Sydney newspaper. Dulcie was appointed as Frank Khan's assistant when he was elected Treasurer of the Assembly in 1950. She was also appointed as Australian and New Zealand Editor of Bahá'í World in 1950, and held the position until 1952.She briefly returned to New Zealand to undertake a teaching tour in 1950. She retired from the National Spiritual Assembly of Australia and New Zealand in 1954 and pioneered to the Cook Islands, opening a book store on Rarotonga Island. She found it difficult to teach the Faith due to sexism and was the victim of a brutal attack. She wrote the following shortly before her passing: "... religion here has always been taught by men. It was a man who brought Christianity to the Cook Islands, not a woman. The people here will take religion from a man. Probably if I had had a husband the Faith may have been further advanced than just half hearted as it is at present"." She was elected to the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the South Pacific as Treasurer when it was established in 1959 and served on the body for the rest of her life. The first Cook Islands Summer School was held in her home in October 1961. She became ill in 1962, and travelled to Auckland to receive an operation, and she passed away in New Zealand in September, 1962. The Custodians cabled the following after her passing: REGRET PASSING KNIGHT OF BAHAULLAH DULCIE DIVE LONGSTANDING SERVICES AUSTRALASIAN FIELD UNFORGETTABLE CONVEY LOVING SYMPATHY RELATIVES." Excerpt from https://bahaipedia.org/Dulcie_Dive

15.01.2022 Good news, all of the out-of-copyright Pacific maps (excl. Australia) in the ANU Asia-Pacific Map Collection are now available for download from https://bit.ly/329nCba!

15.01.2022 The call for papers for this years PHA conference has been released. Presenters can either submit an abstract for one of the proposed panels in the list (in w...hich case they are advised to contact the panel convenor before 30 April). Or submit an individual paper unrelated to one of the proposed panels before 31 May - the final day to submit an abstract. https://www.pacifichistoryassociation.net/pha2020-cfp

13.01.2022 A recent entry from 2019 is Sir Albert Maori Kiki, a politician who was one of the founding fathers of the nationalist Pangu Pati and Papua New Guineas first d...eputy prime minister. #PacificBiographyInAustralia "Sir Albert Maori Kiki (19311993), author, politician, and trade union leader, was born on 21 September 1931 at Orokolo village, Gulf Province, Papua, first child of Erevu Kiki, village constable, and his wife Eau Ulamare, of the Parevavo tribe near the Purari River. Raised in the traditional manner by his mother, Kiki attended the London Missionary Society primary school at Orokolo and in 1946 passed Standard V. After a few briefly held jobs, he worked as a doctor boy (orderly) at Kerema hospital under the medical assistant Albert Speer, who recognised leadership qualities in Kiki and became his mentor and a father figure. In 1948 Speer arranged for Kiki to study at Sogeri Education Centre near Port Moresby, then at the Central Medical School in Fiji (195256). He failed the medical course but went on to gain a diploma in pathology. More important to Kiki than his studies were his discoveries in Fiji of the existence of trade unions and the greater racial equality in everyday life. He was inspired by these revelations to work against inequality when he returned to Port Moresby in 1957. While in Fiji, with Speers permission, he adopted Albert as his first name. In 1958 he married Elizabeth Arivu Miro, a nurse, in a traditional ceremony and later a Catholic service; she came from Moripi, a village near Orokolo. The following year, while employed as a laboratory technician at Port Moresby General Hospital, Kiki established the Kerema Welfare Society, which led to the formation in 1960 of the countrys first trade union, the Papua and New Guinea Workers Association. He then gained employment as a welfare assistant (196163) for the Hahalis Welfare Society at Buka, North Bougainville. In 1962 he was selected by the administrator, Sir Donald Cleland, as the official delegate for Papua and New Guinea at the independence celebrations of Western Samoa. That year, in response to the local white-dominated rugby league, he helped to form the Rugby Union Association of Papua and New Guinea which welcomed players of all races. Kiki commenced study towards a laboratory technician diploma in 1964 at the Administrative College in Port Moresby. While there he joined an elite group of politically aware students in the Bully Beef Club which came together to consider the countrys political future. In 1966 a committee of its members, including Kiki, caused controversy with demands for self-government and for the rapid promotion of local public servants. Mainly from this group, the Pangu Pati (Papua and New Guinea Union Party) was formed in 1967, and Kiki became its full-time secretary and treasurer. By then he was well known as an outspoken advocate of political advancement and equality for his people, and he was soon challenging opponents of early home rule with his attacks on Australian colonial policy and practice. In 1968 Kiki unsuccessfully contested the House of Assembly elections. That year, with the assistance of the German-born academic Ulli Beier, his autobiography, Kiki: Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime, was published. The book was acclaimed for its descriptions of traditional culture and for its trenchant criticism of colonialism. He was elected to the Port Moresby Town Council in 1971, remaining a member until 1973. In 1972 he was elected to the House of Assembly and was appointed minister for lands and environment (197275) in the administration of (Sir) Michael Somare, and then deputy prime minister (197577) and minister for defence and foreign relations (197577) in the first post-independence government, also led by Somare. In 1975 he was appointed KBE. His political career ended abruptly when he failed to be re-elected in 1977. Having purchased a farm near Port Moresby, he tried unsuccessfully to develop piggery, poultry and cattle ventures. In the late 1970s he helped to found and was a board member of Kwila Insurance Corporation Ltd, and Credit Corporation (PNG) Ltd (chairman 1980). He served on the board of a number of other companies, including the government-owned PNG Shipping Corporation Pty Ltd (chairman 197780), and New Guinea Motors Pty Ltd. Sir Albert died suddenly in his Port Moresby home on 13 March 1993. His body lay in state in the Grand Hall of Parliament House and, after a service at the Boroko United Church, he was buried in the Nine Mile cemetery. His wife and their two sons and three daughters survived him. Described as being perhaps too honest for a politician (Beier 1968, iii), and a great man with great vision for PNG (Canberra Times 1993, 13), he was a major figure in the pantheon of his nations founding fathers and was its first author of note." Written by Eric Johns. For more, goto: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kiki-sir-albert-maori-28143

13.01.2022 Last year the Pacific Institue was proud to host an unprecedented panel on West Papua bringing togher diverse voices and scholarships to support and highlight the ongoing debates and struggles of the reigon. Please check out the edited audio recording of the event. SPEAKERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (0:00 5:21) Veronica Koman ...Continue reading

11.01.2022 Announcement of referendum results

11.01.2022 Register here for this special online screening of the 2019 film Power Meri about the PNG Orchids journey to the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. Brought to you by ...the Griffith Asia Institute. Thursday 9 April. https://www.cvent.com//invitation-9c11bce78e754798b57b2970

11.01.2022 How are Pacific Islands countries tackling the threat of COVID-19? You can keep up-to-date with responses throughout the region with our weekly blog, published by Policy Forum in partnership with the Australia Pacific Security College.

09.01.2022 Join us for the second instalment of the Bung Wantaim HDR series with three PhD students: Eileen Bobone, Romalani Leofo and Dori Patay on the 13th of November 2020. Eileen Bobone (ANU DPA) explores voters behaviours towards women candidates in the Rigo district of Papua New Guinea. Romalani Leofo (ANU CBE) examines the relationship between auditors' key audit matters disclosures and stock price crash risk for United Kingdom premium-listed companies. ... Dori Patay (ANU RegNet) explores the conflicting mandates and interests in the governance of the commercial determinants of health with two case studies in Fiji and Vanuatu. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/bung-wantaim-seminar-series

07.01.2022 The ANUs new interdisciplinary Evolution of Cultural Diversity project is looking for a level B lecturer with a background in history, archaeology, linguistics... or anthropology, with a focus on the SW Pacific, northern Australia / eastern Indonesia. The position is full time for 3 years. Applications due by 3 April, 2020. https://jobs.anu.edu.au//lecturer-in-evolution-of-cultural

07.01.2022 Wow! The story of Else Klink is just fascinating! Follow Pacific Biography in Australia for more stories about Pacific lives!

07.01.2022 The Hank Nelson Prize is open to all PhD students submitting a thesis on Papua New Guinea before April 2020. This award was established by family and friends o...f historian Hank Nelson to honour his commitment to PNG. It offers a prize of AUD$1000 for the best PhD thesis submitted by any student, internationally, on any aspect of PNGs history or society. For more information about the prize, please contact Professor Bill Gammage AM at [email protected] https://www.anu.edu.au///prizes/hank-nelson-memorial-award

06.01.2022 Princess Fusipala of Tonga was the daughter of the late King George II of Tonga and half-sister of Queen Salote. The princess was very well known of in Australi...a and news articles were regularly written about her. In the 1920s and 1930s, she spent a considerable amount of time in Sydney and Melbourne for her education like many other royals from the Pacific! #PacificBiographyInAustralia After early education in Tonga and Auckland, she was educated at the Methodist Ladies College in Hawthorne Victoria. Her 'charming nature and sterling character gave her many staunch school friends'. She subsequently travelled to Australia many times to visit these friends across the country. She was known for being a very accomplished pianist and supporter of the Tongan creative arts. She tragically passed away on a health trip to Sydney in 1933 at the young age of 20 after a long battle with an illness. Thanks to Rita Seumanutafa from the OWP for suggesting her addition to the Australian Dictionary of Biography, we hope to do this soon!

06.01.2022 The gravity of the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the Pacific region is becoming clearer, with some countries in the region looking to pass additional stimulus measures. Read more in our weekly update on the Pacific response to COVID-19.

04.01.2022 In honour of the Papua New Guineas upcoming independence day, today we share another recent entry into the ADB of Sir John Douglas Guise! #PacificBiographyInA...ustralia #PapuaNewGuinea "Sir John Douglas Guise (19141991), politician and governor-general of Papua New Guinea (PNG), was born on 29 August 1914 at Gedulalara, near Dogura, Milne Bay, Papua, son of Edward Guise, mission worker, and his wife Grace Samoa. Both his parents were of mixed European and Papuan descent. Reginald Edward Guise, his paternal grandfather, had been an English soldier and adventurer whose family had acquired a baronetcy at Gloucestershire in 1661. John received four years of education at a local Church of England mission school before joining the workforce, aged fourteen, as a labourer. His first job was with Burns, Philp & Co. Ltd, Pacific traders, at Samarai. An outstanding cricketer, he enjoyed demonstrating his superiority to his European bosses: during working hours I had to be a servant, on the field of sport I showed them I was their master (Guise quoted in Nelson 1991). On 26 December 1938 Guise married Mary Miller at Dogura. After Japan entered World War II, in early 1942 he was drafted into the Papua (later Australian New Guinea) Administrative Unit (ANGAU). Initially serving in the labour corps, he later became a signals clerk for ANGAU, rising to the rank of sergeant. Even-handed, non-racist military experiences politicised his thinking. After the war he joined the police force as a sergeant. He visited Australia for the first time in 1948. Promoted to sergeant major, the highest rank available for non-Europeans, he returned to Australia in 1953 as senior non-commissioned officer in the Royal Papua and New Guinea Constabulary en route to England for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. A devout Anglican, he represented the Territory of Papua and New Guinea at the Church of England Synod in Sydney four times from 1955. In 1957 he joined the Department of Native Affairs in Port Moresby and began taking an active part in local politics. As president (1958) of Port Moresbys Mixed Race Association he called on people of mixed descent to see themselves as natives (Nelson 1991) rather than Australians. Following the death of his wife in 1944, in 1947 Guise had married Unuba Aukai, who was born at Lalaura. Through her he strengthened his association with the south Papuan coast. In 1961, in the first election in which Papua New Guineans were able to stand for the Legislative Council, he was elected as the member for East Papua. The following year he represented the Territory at the South Pacific Commission conference in Pago Pago, American Samoa, and was special adviser with the Australian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In the first elections for the House of Assembly in 1964, he was elected to represent Milne Bay and was later selected as the leader of elected members of the House. The most experienced indigenous member of the Assembly, he spoke six languages in a House in which three languages (English, Tok Pisin, and Hiri Motu) were official. In 1964 he startled Canberra when he called for a Select Committee on Constitutional Development and became its chairman (196566). He probed in vain the possibility of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea becoming a seventh State of Australia, yet he was also the first to recommend cementing national unity with a new name, crest, flag, and anthem for the Territory. Elected as the representative for Alotau Open in the Territorys second general election in 1968, Guise beat two European candidates to become the first indigenous Speaker of the House. He added his own style to the position, wearing both the traditional white wig of Westminster and a cloak of tapa cloth (beaten bark) fringed with bird of paradise feathers and a kina (pearl-shell) decoration worn by big men. Outspoken in his support for greater access to education and the need for a university in Papua New Guinea, he received an honorary doctorate of laws from the newly established University of Papua New Guinea in 1970. Guise was an early member of the pro self-government Pangu Pati. However, in what has been viewed as his shifting strategy to become chief minister, he contested the 1972 election as an independent. Few local contestants understood that party solidarity was healthy for the Westminster style of government imposed by Canberra. A former administrator of the Territory, Sir Leslie Johnson, opined that Australians had discouraged the development of political parties [that] might challenge the authority of the Administration (1983, 264), and that Papuan New Guineans had been thoroughly brain washed to accept their inferior status as the natural order of things (1983, 264). Returned as the member for Alotau Open in 1972, Guise stepped down as Speaker and was made deputy leader and minister for the interior, later agriculture, under Michael Somare, chief minister and leader of the Pangu Pati, in a coalition administration. With Australia pressing for early decolonisation, Somare and Guise worked in the background of the Constitutional Planning Committee (197275) chaired by John Momis. Ignoring earlier draft reports, in June 1974 Somare and Guise submitted a minority report (White Paper) on the proposed constitution. Seemingly under pressure from outsiders, they had somewhat enfeebled its humanitarian liberal intentions. Momis viewed it as a betrayal of trust by the government. In 1972 Guise had been appointed CBE. Under Somares wise and cunning patronage, he was elevated to KBE and made GCMG in 1975; however, he preferred his Dr title to Sir. He was appointed the countrys first governor-general that year. Marking the end of sixty-nine years of Australian rule, the Australian flag was lowered for the last time on 16 September. Guise, commenting on the peaceful transition, emphasised: We are lowering it, not tearing it down (Papua New Guinea Post-Courier 16 September 1975, 4). When PNGs own national flag rose with its bird of paradise and Southern Cross stars, he proudly announced his countrys independence. Meanwhile a mighty Mekeo sorcerer, who supported the Papuan separatist cause, had been making rain to wash out the Independence ceremony. Heavy rain arrived late and failed to ruin the legal formality. Guise had strong views on the role of a governor-general; it was to be guardian of the Constitution and the rights of the people I wont be a replica of the Australian Governor-General or a rubber stamp (Jackson 1975, 4). In Government House he set aside a room for betel nut chewing. His door open to all, he would squat on the floor with his guests, bare-chested and dignified. By turns effusive, choleric and sanctimonious (Griffin, Nelson, and Firth 1979, 161), he refused to stay out of politics and fell into an unseemly dispute with the deputy prime minister, Sir Albert Maori Kiki, in 1976. Kiki demanded his resignation. Guise, who planned to resign anyway, did so in 1977 to contest a House of Assembly seat in the next election. Returning to parliament as the independent member for Milne Bay in July, he sought to form a ruling coalition but was unable to gain the numbers. His bid to become prime minister unsuccessful, he saw out his term as deputy leader of the Opposition, retiring from politics in 1982. Upright and clean shaven, Guise favoured a small moustache and wore dark-rimmed spectacles. In retirement he served on the council of the University of Papua New Guinea, chaired the Papua New Guinea Copra Marketing Board and wrote a column for the weekly Times of Papua New Guinea. Predeceased by four of his nine children and survived by his wife, he died at his home in Port Moresby on 7 February 1991. Following a state funeral, his body and famous spectacles were flown to Lalaura for burial. He was described as the cunning lone wolf of Papua New Guinean politics (Moore 2000, 283) and elder statesman and father of inspiration to many leaders (Canberra Times 1991, 2). His public life mirrored the vicissitudes of his countrys decolonisation, at times embodying PNGs uncertain future (Denoon 2018). The Sir John Guise Sports Precinct in Port Moresby honours his memory." Written by Helga M. Griffin For more check out: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/guise-sir-john-15980

03.01.2022 This is today!!! Join us for the next event in the The Australian National University (ANU) Pacific Institute's Bung Wantaim Seminar Series. The Bung Wantaim Seminar Series features presentations by a variety of scholars from different perspectives and disciplines with a view to share their knowledge with the Pacific research community at the University.... Speaking at our next event on 27 November will be: Eliorah Malifa (ANU Department of Pacific Affairs) George Gavet (ANU Department of Pacific Affairs) Telusa Tu''Onetoa (ANU Department of Pacific Affairs) This seminar will be held via Zoom and be recorded. There will be a Q&A session after each presentation. We look forward to seeing you there. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/bung-wantaim-seminar-with-e?

02.01.2022 PhD Position available at the Georg-August-Universitt Gttingen under Christian Vogel to join the project: Sensitive Provenances Human Remains from Colonial ...Contexts in the Collections of the University of Gttingen. To begin 1 July 2020 for 3 years. The candidate will conduct provenance research on a selected number of human skulls that came to Europe by means of the so-called Hamburger Sdsee Expedition between 1908 and 1910. Requirements for the position: - The candidate should hold an MA degree in one of the following disciplines: (colonial) history, cultural anthropology, postcolonial studies, or history and philosophy of (colonial) science (or related disciplines). - The candidate should be able to take on perspective of peoples and communities from formerly colonized regions of Oceania, preferably from those regions conventionally described as Melanesia or Micronesia. - He/she should be familiar with the colonial history and current conditions in Oceania (including Australia and New Zealand), especially in the former German colonies in the Pacific region; a research interest in postcolonial debates about restitution, colonial museum holdings or human remains is desirable. - The candidate is eager to take up the challenge of combining historical and ethnographic methods. - Museum experience would be an advantage. - Basic knowledge of German is advantageous; additional training on language is part of the grant package. http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/305402.html?cid=100672

02.01.2022 Make sure you don't miss out on the third and final instalment of the Bung Wantaim seminar series for 2020. On 27 November at 2pm AEDT, there will be three presentations by Eliorah Malifa (DPA), George Gavet (DPA) and Telusa Tu'i'onetoa (DPA). Eliorah will explore the recent contributions of the Pacific film industry and its possibilities as a sustainable creative industry. George will examine the challenging experiences faced by young Pacific NRL players who re-locate from... New Zealand to Australia. Telusa will discuss Tongan migration in relation to house-hold decision making and pacific seasonal labour schemes. To register, please click the link below: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/bung-wantaim-seminar-with-e

01.01.2022 As the independence referendum for Kanaky/New Caledonia looms, today we reflect on a Kanaky entry for the ADB, William Jacob Watriama (1880?-1925). First coming... to public notice in 1911, he launched a campaign urging the end of French colonial rule in New Caledonia and its dependencies. Later exiled to Australia he described himself as the "King of the Loyalty Islands" and fought in the South African War and WWI. After his return, as a black digger he gained quite a public profile and greater acceptance from White Australian society for his service. #PacificBiographyInAustralia "William Jacob Watriama (1880?-1925), soldier and patriot, was born probably on 30 August 1880 at Tuo village, Mar, one of the Loyalty Islands of New Caledonia, son of Waupo, a servant of the chiefly Naisiline clan, and his wife Sera Wakanude. Adhering to the London Missionary Society, the family was Protestant. From an early age Watriama showed remarkable independence. About 1887 he left Mar to work as a household servant in Nouma. Subsequently he joined a Socit le Nickel vessel which he deserted in Sydney in 1891. In his first years in Australia he was possibly helped by Rev. John Jones of the L.M.S. who had been expelled from Mar by the French in 1887. Watriama later made a living as a gardener and house-painter. In 1907 he lived at the Methodist mission headquarters in Castlereagh Street, Sydney. Watriama first came to public notice in 1911 through a campaign he launched urging the end of French rule over New Caledonia and its dependencies. He saw an influx of Japanese labourers there as the start of a Japanese invasion of the South Pacific and as a threat to the security of Australia. Accordingly, he declared himself to be the exiled King of the Loyalty Islands and in that assumed role sought to persuade the British and Australian governments to annex New Caledonia and so abort the Japanese menace. He twice attempted to visit New Caledonia, but was deported each time. Although unsuccessful, his cause did enjoy considerable public following, while his pretensions to royalty were generally treated sympathetically. As the recipient of this attention Watriama is a figure of some historical interest, for he was one of the few Black men to attain such a degree of acceptance in White Australian society. Much of his support was due to his war record. In 1901-02 he had served in the South African War as a trooper with the 2nd New South Wales Mounted Rifles. In 1914 he joined the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force which occupied German New Guinea and, en route to Rabaul, helped to train troops aboard the Berrima. Enlisting as a private in the Australian Imperial Force in December 1915, he served with the 5th Australian Training Battalion in England and with the 18th Battalion, A.I.F., in France. He was discharged on 5 December 1917. His most dramatic demonstration of patriotism occurred during an Anzac Day service in 1921: with a party of ex-servicemen, he hoisted a Union Jack above Sydney Town Hall in protest at the alleged disloyalty of the lord mayor W. H. Lambert. On 21 March 1916, before departing on active service, Watriama had married Ethel May Tipping at Wesley Church, Melbourne. They lived at Northbridge, Sydney. Survived by his wife, daughter and son, he died of cancer on 5 January 1925 at Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Sydney, and was buried in the Methodist section of Northern Suburbs cemetery. Prime Minister Hughes delivered a eulogy at the graveside." For more check out: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/watriama-william-jacob-8996 All images from the Australian War Memorial.

01.01.2022 In the early 1900s, if you were to see Pacific Islanders travelling to Australia it would probably be for labour, religious or academic reasons. However, the st...ory of Ratu Kadavu Levu (Prince and the grandson of King Cakobau) tells a different tale which goes to show that there is a deeper history of Pacific Islanders in Australian sport than one might expect! #pacificbiographyinaustralia #F1J1 Ratu Kadavu Levu also known in the Australian press as "Kadavu the Great" captained a very strong cricket team from Bau. Here he kept his own private cricket ground and trained with his team regularly. Every year would travel to Suva to play Suva U.C., a team chosen by the white population who they beat on several occasions. From 1907-1908, the Fijian cricketers toured Australia to places such as Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. They wore traditional dress consisting of cricket shirts and white sulus. The group won praise for their 'wonderful keenness and celebrity in the field'!