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Securing Village Life: Development in Late Colonial Papua New Guinea

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Securing Village Life: Development in Late Colonial Papua New Guinea Securing Village Life Development in Late Colonial Papua New Guinea Scott MacWilliam Securing Village Life Development in Late Colonial Papua New Guinea Scott MacWilliam Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: MacWilliam, Scott Title: Securing village life : development in late colonial Papua New Guinea / Scott MacWilliam. ISBN: 9781922144843 (paperback) 9781922144850 (ebook) Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Subjects: Economic development projects--Papua New Guinea. Australia--Foreign economic relations. Papua New Guinea--Foreign economic relations. Dewey Number: 338.9009953 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Cover image: Smallholders from the Nimai Group of Sinasina, Chimbu District, near Koge village pruning and rejuvenating 20-year-old coffee trees in 1973 at approximately 1850 metres altitude. Photograph by Robin Hide. Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2013 ANU E Press Contents Acknowledgements . vii Abbreviations . ix Introduction . 1 1 . The International Idea of Development Reformed . 17 2 . Postwar Development’s Uncertainties . 41 3 . Uniform Development Framed, Implemented and Challenged . 77 4 . Uniform Development in Practice . 119 5 . Accelerated Development . 157 6 . Uncertain Development and Independence . 211 7 . Conclusion . 241 Appendix on Data . 249 Bibliography . 253 Index . 297 v Acknowledgements The research and thinking upon which this book is based has, in many aspects, taken over 40 years. During the early 1970s in East Africa, I became acutely aware of the academic and political tussles regarding colonialism and indigenous peoples. In particular two early intellectual mentors, Mike Cowen and Nicola Swainson, introduced me to the most controversial dimensions of what became known as ‘the Kenyan debate’: exploring the nature and contemporary condition of households in the countryside and indigenous capital. I have since had the good fortune to continue researching these dimensions of what Ernest Mandel optimistically termed ‘late capitalism’. On moving to Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 1983, and over the subsequent 30 years working in the Pacific, I have been assisted by many people with similar interests. Throughout my time as a teaching academic, countless students in Australia, PNG and Fiji have contributed to the further development of my thinking about development. Academic colleagues, government and corporate officials, as well as a wide range of knowledgeable informants have instructed, advised and informed my research and been unsparingly generous with their time and knowledge. To the many who have been important in shaping this study, ‘Thank You’. There are some people who I would like to single out for particular contributions. Dick Bryan, Robert Foster, Robin Hide, Michael Rafferty and Tony Smith remain constant guides, sources of advice and comradeship. Geoff Kay has been an important intellectual influence. Dave Roberts, a generous and wise counsellor, has always been available to help. In the United Kingdom, my recently deceased cousin Iain MacWilliam kindly provided accommodation, companionship and encouragement over many years. Huntley Wright also wrote a thesis about late colonial development in PNG and generously shared his notes, references, drafts and friendship. Dedicated librarians and archivists have provided documents and other material, as well as given sound advice. The most important support came from staff at the Robertson Library, Curtin University of Technology, and in particular from the inter-library loan sections of the National Archives of Australia, the Noel Butlin Archives, the Chifley and Menzies libraries at The Australian National University (ANU), the PNG National Archives and the New Guinea collection in the Sir Michael Somare Library at the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG). Mrs Joan Humphries at the former Burns, Philp archives provided an important starting point for research into that company’s operations in PNG. vii Securing Village Life My PhD supervisor Rick Kuhn is an exemplary academic, who not only guided me through the sometimes difficult process of completing the thesis, but also found other ways to continue providing support for its publication. Rick was responsible for the successful nomination to the Australian Political Studies Association (APSA), which resulted in the thesis being awarded the 2011 PhD Dissertation Prize. He also was responsible for the nomination of the Humanities and Creative Arts Award from the Research School of Humanities and the Arts, ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences (CASS) which provided for copy editing of this book. Two other members of the thesis supervisory committee at ANU, Peter Larmour and John Ravenhill, were in right measure critical as well as encouraging. Three anonymous thesis examiners provided telling suggestions as to how the thesis could be turned into a book. Hopefully the final product warrants the generous support I have received from these academics, the APSA and the Humanities Research Centre of CASS, ANU. I am deeply indebted to Mary Walta for her patience, enthusiasm and wise counsel as a copy editor. Duncan Beard at ANU E Press has provided invaluable advice and assistance. I would further like to thank Sinclair Dinnen of the State Society & Governance in Melanesia Program in the College of Asia & the Pacific (CAP), ANU and am indebted to the Multimedia Services in CAP for assistance with the presentation of maps that appear in this book. The book is dedicated to the late Mike Cowen for nearly 30 years of wisdom and comradeship, who was physically there at the beginning and remains present in my mind. And to my sons, Hugh, Michael, Ewan and Lachlan, who have given me more by way of support, good humour and affection than I had ever thought possible. viii Abbreviations ALP Australian Labor Party AN Accession Number ANGAU Australian and New Guinea Administrative Unit ANGPCB Australian New Guinea Production Control Board ANU Australian National University ANZAAS Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science AO Agricultural Officer AusAID Australian Agency for International Development BCL Bougainville Copper Limited BDC Bougainville Development Corporation CILM Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters CMB Coffee Marketing Board CPC Constitutional Planning Committee CPO Central Planning Office CRA-RTZ Conzinc Riotinto of Australia-Riotinto Zinc DASF Department of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries (Territory of Papua and New Guinea) DC District Commissioner DEA Department of External Affairs, Commonwealth of Australia DET Department of External Territories DoT Department of Territories DO District Officer DPI Department of Primary Industry ENB East New Britain F/N File Number IBRD World Bank International Bank for Reconstruction and Development ICA International Coffee Agreement ICO International Coffee Organisation LGC Local Government Council LPA Liberal Party of Australia MA Mataungan Association MHA Member of the House of Assembly ix Securing Village Life NAA National Archives of Australia NCDS National Centre for Development Studies NGDC New Guinea Development Corporation NGIP New Guinea Islands Produce Company NGRU New Guinea Research Unit NIC Newly Industrialized Country NLA National Library of Australia OPC Office of Programming and Coordination PM Prime Minister PNG Papua New Guinea PNGNA Papua New Guinea National Archives POC Office of Programming and Coordination PNGNA Papua New Guinea National Archives RAO Regional Agricultural Officer RSPAS Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies SAE Senior Agricultural Economist SAO Senior Agricultural Officer TCP Tolai Cocoa Project TPNG Territory of Papua and New Guinea UN United Nations UPNG University of Papua New Guinea UNDP United Nations Development Program UPNG University of Papua New Guinea VSD Vascular Streak Dieback x Map 0-1: Papua New Guinea Source: Adapted from Government Printer of Australia 1976, redrawn by ANU Multimedia Services, 2012. xi Introduction The ‘Badness’ of Colonialism There is now almost universal agreement ‘that colonialism was bad’.1 Even if there has been a degree of revisionism in recent years, as documented by William Easterly in favour of neo-trusteeship and ‘postmodern imperialism’, it is still common to find condemnation of colonial rule. Accounts abound of brutality by colonial officials against indigenous populations. There are numerous assessments which purport to have found a lack of growth, improvement in living standards and generalised political repression. Where colonial rule continued after World War II, the consequences are included in what another economist asserts is ‘the failure of post-war development policy’.2 While more measured accounts appear they are less influential. The near-universal assessment of colonialism’s damaging effects also is applicable to accounts of the South Pacific and particularly late colonial, post-World War II, Papua New Guinea (PNG). The views of influential former academic and ex-World Bank economist Helen Hughes are typical. Hughes is scathingly condemnatory, concluding
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