Short review: West Papua New Guinea

Abstract

In May and June of 1977 more than 1,000 people crossed the border between Indonesian West Irian and the recently independent state of Papua New Guinea, long an Australian protectorate. Since those border crossings, people have become increasingly aware of a previously unacknowledged, little-understood liberation movement to free West Irian (or West Papua New Guinea as the rebels call it) from Indonesian control.     

Political Chronicle: Australia and Papua New Guinea

This was a period dominated by the budget and economic questions concerning the magnitude and rate of the economic recovery. Government and Opposition continued to have difficulty in adjusting to their new roles, but the prime minister's dominance of ALP and national politics was unquestioned. The Senate, however, remained somewhat beyond his control.     

Theorizing simple commodity production in Papua New Guinea

In the social sciences it often takes several generations to dislodge obsolescence. In the meantime, serious mistakes can be, and are made, hurting the lives of millions of hapless people. In poor countries…the mistakes can be costly. And the funerals premature and unnecessary—funerals, not of social scientists, who usually operate from a secure haven, but of the designated beneficiaries of development policies formulated on the basis of faulty premises and paradigms.     

Anti‐Conservatism: Paul Hasluck and Liberal Development in Papua New Guinea

In the continuing debates about the relative importance of conservatism and liberalism in the history of the Australian Liberal Party, one important dimension remains absent. Liberal developmentalism as an important anti‐conservative strand of thought was critical to the party's formative years after the Second World War as a party of government. The importance of this facet of liberalism is illustrated here by reference to the role of long‐serving Minister for Territories Paul Hasluck in overseeing development in Papua and New Guinea (PNG). Hasluck and the Australian Administration formulated policy intended to secure the indigenous population on rural smallholdings at higher standards of living before industrialisation's anticipated effects of proletarianisation could take effect.