Adventure Kokoda Blog

A post by Sandy Lawson

In 2006, because tourist numbers on the Kokoda Track were rising rapidly, I outlined (on invitation) a proposal to animate community development. Based on local agriculture, it recognised that for tourism to be sustainable and welcome, it must engage the interest of the villagers along the historic trail. It must give them power as custodians of their land to explore new ways of using their land by carefully exploiting opportunities offered by a growing tourist industry. They must reap a real benefit.

We are now at the end of the 2008 tourist season. So what has happened? We have increasing numbers of tourists (currently in excess of 5 000) using the track each year; the number looks like stabilizing at about 5 500. We have sections of government departments concerned with management and governance issues. We have proposals for world heritage listing of the area. We have inter-governmental agreements and committes and task forces established to deliberate on the track. We have had forums, think tanks, reports and strategic plans.

We have had ‘needs surveys’ purporting to tell us what villagers need/want to make their lives better. Much of this information has been collected by teams bouncing from one village to the next in a helicopter, asking set questions and noting responses on forms which can then be collated and analysed. Given the backgound of the this adventure (Australia has money to give away), this kind of survey produces, not a real look at what is needed, but a “Christmas list” of desires produced short term, based on what the villagers think the interviewers might like to hear, and how much they think they can get. Read the rest of this entry »

On 12 October 1972 the name ‘Kokoda Trail’ was proclaimed in the Government Gazette of Papua New Guinea. This proclamation has never been amended or rescinded so the official name of the track over the Owen Stanley Range between Owers Corner and Kokoda is ‘The Kokoda Trail’.

The custodian of Australia’s Military History, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, revisited the debate in 2002 after some new-age historians argued it should be referred to as the ‘Kokoda Track’.  The official historian at the War Memorial concluded that the term ‘trail’ was favoured by a majority of veterans and because it appears on the battle honours of units who served in Papua in 1942. He concluded that the official designation for the track is ‘The Kokoda Trail’.

It is wothy of note that the 39th Battalion has ‘Kokoda Trail’ embazoned on their battle honours, and the official history of the 2/14th Battalion (Halstead Press, 1948) refers to the track as the ‘Kokoda Trail’. Read the rest of this entry »

The Federal Labor Governments announcement of a Guest Worker Scheme from Pacific nations is welcome news for neighbouring countries situated within our international area of responsibility. It is also good news for the horticultural industry that estimates up to $700 million worth of fresh produce is left to rot for the lack of reliable workers. This is almost double the value of our annual aid budget to PNG!The Rudd Government is to be congratulated for its re-engagement of the islands in the Pacific – particularly PNG – through the Pacific Partnership for Development and Security initiative. The Hon Duncan Kerr was a wise choice for the appointment of Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs in view of his previous experience as Dean at the Faculty of Law at the University of Papua New Guinea.

Kerr has given an assurance that the scheme will have legislative safeguards to protect guest workers from exploitation.

It is difficult to understand the Federal Oppositions objection to such a scheme. There is no doubt that Melanesia in general and PNG in particular were policy blind spots over the past decade. Responsibility for our region was sub-contracted to bureaucrats in AusAID and other NGOs while we tried to punch above our weight on the more appealing international circuit in London, Paris, Washington and New York. Read the rest of this entry »

Our experience with Kokoda has provided an interesting insight into our relationship with Melanesia in general - and Papua New Guinea in particular.

At the beginning of our journey in 1991 we quickly realised that Papua New Guinea was not on our collective radar. Our general views were conditioned by negative media reports that registered the country as a ‘no-go zone’ in our national subconscious.

Nobody would argue against the widely held view that Papua New Guinea faces some formidable challenges in the short and medium term. Some commentators argue the country will descend into chaos before the problems are properly addressed. Others believe the natural assets of the country - mineral wealth, agricultural potential, pristine environment and cultural diversity will see it emerge as a destination of choice for eco-trekkers.

We were once brothers in the Pacific. The United Nations decreed that Australia be responsible for nurturing our closest neighbour, which was regarded as a ‘nation of a thousand tribes’, into the 20th Century. We established a Department of External Territories and set up a colonial administration based on Governors and Patrol Officers known as ‘kiaps’. A School of Pacific Administration was established in Mosman to train adventurous young ‘kiaps’ in the language and culture of Melanesia. Read the rest of this entry »

Diggers descriptions of the climb up the ‘Golden Staircase’ towards Imita Ridge never seemed to gel with the actual climb on today’s trek route.

Last November I met up with a team of our PNG trek leaders, Patrick, Wahu Womara, Joe Adoa, Elijah Billy, Robin Guia, Auda Gudoi, Stanley Elodo, Joe Wea. Leonard and Joe Wuena and we went in search of the original route over Imita Ridge.

Our readings took us to the east of a knoll and parallel to the Goldie River for awhile. We eventually picked up the the spur at the base of Imita Ridge which led us up a narrow ridge to the north-east. Even with my GPS and all of the boys cutting with their machetes we we still finished up in re-entrants a couple of times. We will never fully understand the desperation our diggers faced in this environment when they were forced off the track and cut-off for weeks on end.

I was grateful to have our GPS satellite technology combined with the natural bushcraft of our boys and their razor sharp machetes. It was a special to be with them in this environment. Read the rest of this entry »

The 2008 Victory in the Pacific (VP Day) Service was conducted at the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway at Concord on 15 August 2008.

The keynote speaker for the commemorative service was the Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie AO DSC CSM. 

General Gillespie:

It is an honour to be here with you today as we pause to reflect on the very real sacrifices and fabulous achievements of the Australian people in their contribution to the Allies’ Victory in the Pacific in the Second World War.

On August 15, 1945, Prime Minister Chiefly announced to the nation that the Japanese had agreed to unconditionally surrender, and as a consequence, the Second World War was over.  Australians reacted to the surrender in a tremendous mood of joy, with spontaneous celebrations breaking out all over the nation.   For a jubilant Australia wildly celebrating on 15 August one thought was paramount.  The war was over. 
But, in the immediate aftermath of these celebrations, Australians began to appreciate that, because of the six years of war, the world had changed.  And, Australia too was forever changed by this most destructive of conflicts.

We gather here this morning to commemorate the end of war in the Pacific 63 years ago. Of the many occasions and anniversaries we commemorate in the course of each year, including those marking the conclusion of past conflicts, this one is of particular significance. The Pacific war was the first and only time in the short history of our nation when our territorial integrity was subject to threat, and when acts of war were carried out against our people on – and above - Australian soil. Read the rest of this entry »

Education is the only chance Papua New Guineans have of breaking the shackles of international aid donors and taking ownership of their own destiny.

Unfortunately the system does not have the resources to meet the most basic demands. According to PNG Department of Education supply and demand projections for 2006 there will be 1,707,677 students seeking enrolment this year but only 908,096 places available - a shortfall of 799,581 or 46.8 per cent!

Of more concern for the immediate future is the situation for year 11 and 12 students. According to the Departments figures there will be 244,613 students competing for 16,060 places - a shortfall of 600 per cent!

Responsibility for education PNG was transferred from National to Provincial Governments in 1978. Inefficiencies and corruption within these decentralised systems have been well documented over the years and the quality of education has diminished to the extent that Papua New Guinea’s educational enrolments are now among the lowest in Asia. The rate of attrition and dropouts at primary level is exceptionally high at 40 per cent.

Whilst a few government schools are doing their best to cope students seeking a quality education are advised to seek placements in independent schools run by churches or private boards.

Our experience with government schools in Central and Oro Provinces over the past few years supports this advice. We were unable to develop an objective merit-based selection process for students or a system to prevent those we did select from being substituted by other ‘wan-toks’. We also found it difficult to communicate with schools as lines are often down; fax machines are unserviceable and progressive school reports were almost impossible to obtain.

We therefore sought an independent school with professional management, proper governance and the capacity to adopt a scholarship program for Koiari and Orokaiva students from Central and Oro Provinces.

The Port Moresby Grammar School was recommended to us.  This is an independent International School for students in the Nation’s capital. It offers high quality and relevant education in a caring and disciplined environment, which will prepare children for life in Port Moresby or anywhere else in the world. Read the rest of this entry »

The Adventure Kokoda ‘Bring-a-Book’ campaign for the Port Moresby Grammar School has delivered more 1,000 books in 2008.

Adventure Kokoda trekkers are encouraged to each ‘bring a book’ which we consolidate and present to the school on arrival in Port Moresby.

Deputy-Principal, Michael Luff, has advised that Port Moresby Grammar has been able to employ a second librarian because of the response to the program.

Adventure Kokoda has entered into a partnership with the Port Moresby Grammar school because of its philanthropic approach to education in PNG - and because it has proper governance. This is a key factor in considering any form of philanthropic partnerships in PNG.

Adventure Kokoda has established a Kokoda Bursary Program with the school. Trekker who wish to sponsor a student can have the bursary named after them.

Michael Luff has provided an update on our ‘Bring-a-Book’ campaign in a recent email: Read the rest of this entry »

The opening of the Isurava Memorial on the 60th anniversary of the Kokoda campaign was a proud moment for all who fought in the campaign and for those who are determined that their legacy will never be forgotten. The journey began with the desire of a trekker, Graham Scott, to bring some of the veterans from the 39th Militia and 2/14th AIF Battalions who fought at the battle for Isurava, back to Kokoda for a ‘last parade’. We were then requested to find an appropriate site for helicopters to land as close to the battlesite as possible and begin the necessary planning to make it happen. As part of our research we obtained copies of Army Topographical Maps which had been printed from data collected in 1942; some wartime sketch maps from the Australian War Memorial; a portable Global Positioning System (GPS); and as much information as we could glean from the books we had read.

According to the readings we took from our GPS, the battlesite was located approximately one hour’s trekking time south of the where the village of Isurava is located today. We then advised the local clan leader, Mr Ivan Nitua, of our plan to bring the veterans back for a last parade and requested that he organise his people to clear the site and set up some shelters.

Inspector John Rennie an Australian Federal Officer on secondment to PNG, then led a party to explore the battlesite. They did a remarkable job in identifying all the positions occupied by the 39th Militia and 2/14th AIF Battalions during the battle for Isurava. The selection of this ground as the main defensive position to stop the Japanese advance is testimony to the tactical brilliance of the Commanding Officer of the 39th – Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Honner. Read the rest of this entry »

After more than 60 years years the gallant 39th Battalion has been placed back on the Australian Order of Battle. Nobody has ever been able to adequately explain why the 39th was ever removed from the Order of Battle at the end of the WW11.

It could well have been because army headquarters did not realise the significance of their actions at Kokoda and Isurava because of the censorship exercised through General Macarthur’s headquarters at the time.

One who was well aware of their achievements is the Governor General, H.E. Major General Michael Jeffrey AC MC. After a meeting with the President of the 39th Battalion Association, ‘Kanga’ Moore’ the Governor General had a ‘word’ with the army Chief of the General Staff, General Peter Leahy, and on 8th August 2006 the 39th Combat Support Battalion was formed at a parade at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.

The 39th Battalion is the only army unit to have the word ‘Kokoda’ emblazoned on their regimental banner as they were the only unit to actually fight on the Kokoda plateau.

On 21 November 2006 the 39th Combat Support Battalion held their first Regimental Dinner at the Randwick Sergeants Mess. Guests of honour for the evening were the President of the 39th Battalion Association, Lt Col Alan (Kanga) Moore, Sergeant Joe Dawson and their tireless secretary, Norm Stockdale. Kanga and Joe served together on the track at Kokoda and Isurava and the respect they have for each other - and for fellow members of their battalion - will be an inspiration for our young solders of the 39th Combat Support Battalion.