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. (more…)

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 This proclamation has never been amended or rescinded so the official name of the track over the Owen Stanley Range between Owers Corner and Kokoda is ‘The Kokoda Trail’.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’. (more…)

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. (more…)

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! (more…)

Wouldn’t it be great if . . . during the current election campaign . . . our political leaders took time out from babykissing, glad-handling and giveaway competitions and let us know what their plans are to address the challenges of our Melanesian neighbours in our ‘arc of instability’.Wouldn’t it be great if they were to announce:. The establishment of a ‘Minister for Melanesia’ with a Department of Melanesian Affairs to focus on our relationship with the island nations in our region. (more…)

The Australian Senate inquiry into seasonal labour from the Pacific Region is a welcome initiative however the terms of reference seem to be limited because they do not address the impact of labour mobility on our relationship with our Melanesian neighbours in the Pacific Region.  These nations comprising the island chain from Timor in the northwest through West Papua, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Vanuatu, Kiribati, the Solomons and Fiji have been referred to as our arc of instability. (more…)

‘You can’t let them kill my guide just because they think he’s a sorcerer’ I bellowed to the police at the end of my 37th expedition across the Kokoda track last year.  A couple of recruits I engaged had decided that one of my older guides from a neighbouring village was a sorcerer so they felt obligated to kill him.  The impending execution was not discernible to my Western mind.  We trekked together, sang traditional songs of an evening and they worked assiduously to ensure every one of my band of trekkers completed their journey safely.

As we sat down to dinner in Port Moresby we reflected on their selfless devotion to us and agreed they were proud sons of the ‘fuzzy wuzzy angels’.

But they had unfinished business in their own tribe and by the time we finished our meal the alleged sorcerer was dead. (more…)

The recent popularity of Kokoda has spawned a new breed of ‘trekking Samaritans’ who plan to use the experience to raise money for various charities in Australia.

While the cause is alwayss noble, and the individual is often well intentioned, there is some irony in the fact that we seek to use a track in a third world country to raise funds for a cause in our ‘land of plenty’.

There is no doubt these new ‘trekking samaritans’ know little about the plight of our neighbours in Papua New Guinea before they land in the country. However it is difficult to understand how anybody can spend a couple of nights in Port Moresby, then trek across the rugged Owen Stanley Ranges, and not observe the subsistence needs of local people.

One can only wonder at their power of observation during their Kokoda experience. 

Did they drive around Port Moresby with their eyes closed? 

Did they not communicate with their PNG guides during their trek? 

Did they not observe the lack of basic health and education facilities in the villages they passed through? 

Did they not learn about the ravages of HIV/AIDS/Malaria in the country?

Did they not think it might be a good idea to share the benefits of their fundraising efforts with a similar charity in PNG?

Or do their own ‘feel-good’ needs blind them to the plight of our closest neighbour, wartime ally, former mandated territory and fellow Commonwealth member?

Others who trek with their eyes wide open realise that at least half of any funds they raise should remain in Papua New Guinea.

There is not shortage of desperate worthy causes in PNG.  Unfortunately it is not easy to ensure the money they raise will be directed towards the cause they nominate in Papua New Guinea. The Kokoda Track Authority, which was established to manage the track, does not have the capacity to facilitate the distribution and monitoring of funds received for local charitable purposes.

A lack of capacity and lack of governance within the Kokoda Track Authority is therefore denying needy villagers of the opportunity to benefit from trekkers who would be more than willing to provide ongoing assistance after they return to Australia.

If we are therefore dinkum in our desire to help our closest neighbour, former mandated territory, wartime ally and fellow Commonwealth member we should endeavour to ensure they get to share the benefits of any fundraising conducted in Australia. But before this can happen authorities in Papua New Guinea have a responsibility to ensure sufficient resources and procedures are put in place to facilitate the transfer of benefits to the intended cause.

Posted by Charlie Lynn

Papua New Guinea war historian, Maclaren Jude Hiari MBE, is currently researching and documenting the recollections of war experiences of native carriers, medical orderlies, policemen and soldiers during World War Two in Papua New Guinea, particularly the Kokoda Trial and the ‘Bloody’ Buna Campaigns. Using this research, he has also been making representations to both the Australian and the Papua New Guinea Governments to recognise and honour the sacrifices made by some of these “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels”.

In this article, he talks about the sufferings and sacrifices made by these ‘forgotten’ “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels” during the Kokoda Trail Battle which have been unheard of, and which are not recognized and recorded by Australians, and about the background history on the establishment of the Kokoda Living Memorial by the Australian Government in 1995. He also talks about the need for any overseas aid planned for 18,000 Kokoda people to be channelled to all of them, not just those Biage, and Koiari along the Kokoda Trail, and the few around Kokoda Town. (more…)

The Kokoda Trust is being formed to honour the legacy of the Australian and PNG soldiers, sailors, airmen, coastwatchers and carriers who served in PNG during the war in the Pacific 1942-1945. This will be achieved through the implementation of a number of programs designed to strengthen the relationship between Australia and PNG and provide on-going benefits in the fields of health, education and leadership. (more…)