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Papua and New Guinea : Australia's Trust Territory

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Papua and New Guinea : Australia's Trust Territory Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth H MESSAGE FROM THE PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA, RT. HON. R. G. MENZIES, TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE In the Territory of Papua and New Guinea there are almost two million native people. Until recent times they have lived in most primitive circumstances, separated by the massive features of their rugged country, in many tribal groupings, with differing customs and speaking about 700 different languages. They arc not yet a nation; they are still separate tribes of the coast, the swamps and the mountains. To these people Australia has great obligations which have developed in various ways. In part these arc historical; in part they have developed from association between Australians and the native people in joint efforts over the years; in part they derive from the claims of common humanity. More recently they have developed from common sacrifices made in the War of 1939-45 when Australians and New Guineans fought and died side by side for the same great cause-^and when many Australians owed their lives to their faithful New Guinea comrades. In the inter- national field our obligations have grown from the solemn undertakings accepted by Australia through the Charter of the United Nations and, in respect of the Trust Territory of New Guinea (joined in an administrative union with Papua to form the combined territory) under the Trusteeship Agreement of the United Nations. For these reasons alone Australians would be working in Papua and New Guinea as they are now doing. But a most important consideration for both countries is that only a few miles separate them at their nearest points. Therefore, for their mutual benefit, it is essential that the people of the two countries should, "" the changing years which lie ahead, continue to live in. the closest and friendliest association with one another, whatever form of government the people of Papua and New Guinea ultimately develop for themselves. Australia is pledged to promote the development of self-government by the inhabitants of Papua and New Guinea as rapidly as possible. But the path to self-government is a difficult one. It demands great efforts and sacrifices by the Australian nation, and a real response by the people of Papua and New Guinea themselves. Australia is not failing to do her part. But full success will require individual efforts by those who will become teachers, doctors, officers in every field of administration in New Guinea, prepared to lead and assist the people there to the point when they will emerge as a new nation. That nation must be able to take its place effectively in the world of the twentieth century. It must be equipped to add to the peace and harmony of that world, not shatter it nor detract from it. There is, in all this, a great challenge, especially to the ardour and enterprise of the young Australian. I am confident that the challenge will be met and our great tasks performed. THE PLAN The series of brochures published by the British Commonwealth Youth Sunday Council in recent years has shown the transition from Empire to Commonwealth; the ways in which Britain herself has helped and guided colonies to self determination and independence as partners in the new Commonwealth; and finally, the story of particular member countries such as Ghana and Malaya. In all these stories the same principle has been used — the development of social, political and economic stability in which the inhabitants themselves assume responsibility and control. This result has been and is being achieved through education and health services, training in agriculture and science, and significantly in the principles of government which we as members of the British Common- wealth have shared. To all this has been added the very real help of devoted men and women, and financial help from other members of the Commonwealth. This year we take the story into a further stage, where a member of the British Commonwealth, Australia — not Britain — is assuming her responsibility as trustee, of helping a younger partner, the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, to self government and independence. The following pages tell a little of this vital and interesting development. 3 SOME HISTORY The islands we now know as the Trust Territory of Papua and New Guinea were brought significantly closer to Australia by the second world war. The 1949 Papua and New Guinea Act of the Federal Parliament gave common legislative, administrative and judicial systems to the two areas — the Australian possession of Papua, and its Trust Territory of New Guinea. From 1949 Australia assumed uniform and overall administrative responsibility for the whole of the combined Territories. The islands had however been known to Europeans for some 430 years. A Portugese navigator (Don Jorge De Menesis) in 1526, struck by the dark skinned people he saw there, named the island Papua (from a Malayan word for black frizzy hair). In 1545, a Spanish Navigator, De Retez, believing he saw a resemblance to the people of African Guinea, gave the name of New Guinea to the island. Dampier and Cook visited the main island in 1770. The 19th Century brought an Port Moresby — From the Air. increased interest. Holland annexed the western half of the main island, Germany and Great Britain the northern and southern halves respectively of the eastern half. Trade, particularly in copra, developed. Following World War I., Australia was given responsibility by the League of Nations for the former Germany Colony; she had already received in 1906 the southern territory of Papua. Between the two world wars administration of these two territories developed under District Officers, Resident Officers and Patrol Officers. World War II, with the Japanese invasion, brought destruction to much that had been done to develop the islands. Since 1945 however, a new phase of re-construction and progress has begun. Some of its most interesting features can now be shown. 4 Sanananda Area, Papua. Much has been said of the invaluable help which the New Guinea natives have given the Allied troops. This picture shows natives carry- ing out a wounded soldier, and the nature of the country from which they evacuated the casualties. Between 1942 and 1945, thousands of Australian ser- vicemen and women fought in the jungles, on the sea or in the air of these islands. Australians had fought in New Guinea in World War I. In World War II, the Kokoda Trail, Buna and Solomons, the Coral Sea, Bismarck Sea and Milne Bay, became part of our history Beside them their comrades, the "fuzzy-wuzzies" as they were affectionately known, fought and died. Through hundreds of miles, in rain and mud, on mountain top or gloomy jungle they carried the Allied wounded with loving care. Others carried supplies in conditions unequalled elsewhere in the world. The years 1942-1945 estab- lished a bond between the people of New Guinea and Australia that can never be broken. We are proud to-day to try to repay those who did so much for us and our country. How significant it is Australian Troops on Shaggy Ridge. to know that both European and Native ex-servicemen arc to-day eligible for financial grants, side by side, in peace as in war. Papua, September, 1942. Men of the 2/33rd Australian Infantry Battalion crossing the Brown River on their way from Nauro to Menari, on the Kokoda Trail. Typical Highland Country, from the air. THE TERRITORY OF PAPUA & NEW GUINEA The total land area of Papua and New Guinea is about 183,540 square miles of which only about 2J% is owned or occupied by the Adminis- tration (Australian) or non-indigenous settlers. Future, as well as present policy must and does recognize the age-old hereditary land rights which control so much of the land. There is no ownership of land as we know it. Communal groups, by native custom, have established a possessory right to certain land which is then allotted to individuals. The social structure of the native population depends upon these land rights. Geographically, the main island of the Territory presents a forbidding picture. From tropical palm-fringed shores, mountains rise dramatically through steaming, rain-soaked jungles, where light can scarcely penetrate, to chilly peaks, some nearly 16,000 feet high. Rainfall varies from 60 to 300 inches per year in different areas. Icy torrents rush from mist- shrouded mountains to the narrow coastal plains. Only on the smaller islands can the familiar pattern of tropical life exist in a more equable climate. The terrain makes road communication difficult and often impossible. Nearly 2,000,000 native people live in the Trust Territory. There are some thousands of European and other non-indigenous people. The majority is engaged in the many Government Departments, assisting and training the people of the islands in the tasks which lie ahead. Although much of Papua and New Guinea and its people was unknown to Europeans before the early 20th century, and the tribal groups lived lives often dominated by sorcery and savagery — a life of self-preserva- tion — to-day only some $% of this vast and difficult area remains "unpenetrated". More significant is the way in which her intelligent people are absorbing and developing the scientific aids offered to them. 6 AGRICULTURE & ALLIED INTERESTS The climate, terrain and to some degree the people of the Territory place a predominant significance on agriculture. Earlier this was largely for subsistence food — taro, sago, and some vegetables. To-day, both as owners and employees, the native people are turning to the cash or export crops for which there is such a demand.
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