We provided temporary work to 2,160 Koiari and Orokaiva guides and carriers who established a special relationship with the trekkers they supported during the trek.

In addition to this our trekkers donated almost 1400 new books to the Port Moresby Grammar School library.  We have also established a Kokoda Bursary Program at the school and provided them with an abundance of sporting gear and other items.  We also donated two computers to Tessie Soi’s PNG ‘Friends Foundation’ together with financial support for the wonderful work she does.  We have also provided some financial support to the Buk Bilong Pikannini program for children in the Tuberculosis Ward at the Port Moresby General Hospital.
Along the track our trekkers have donated approximately $50,000 in medical supplies to the Kokoda Memorial Hospital and more recently to the Sogeri Health Centre.  We also provide school books and sporting gear to villages along the track.

We are proud of our association with PNG and in particular the Koiari and Orokaiva people who live along the track.  They live within a subsistence economy but are always cheerful and ready to lend a hand to struggling trekkers.

We are in the process of establishing a special network to provide assistance in a more substantial way and would welcome any ideas or offers of support.  We will keep you advised of our progress.

In the meantime I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Lukim yu,
Charlie

p.s. Ovoru Indiki from Naduri is a wartime carrier.  He is a living symbol of the famous fuzzy-wuzzy angels.  Although the Australian Government has never issued him with a medal for his service as a Carrier (to our eternal shame) Australian trekkers have made up for it by presenting him with a wide range of medals, badges and ribbons.

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.

What we don’t yet have is a good understanding of how the villagers who live along the track see all of this, and what is happening to them in their daily lives. I suspect most of them do not even know of the existence of many arrangements put in place on their behalf. Many would not know about the proposed world heritage listing. Still fewer would understand what this might mean for their lives. Yet these same villagers are primary stakeholders in any enterprise which takes place on their territory. They hold the trump cards.

There is a potential, looming resource conflict here. The resource is the land of the people who inhabit the environs of the Kokoda Track. They use it for subsistence and their own cultural continuity. They have a background body of knowledge about it and how to manage it which has enabled them to survive. Then there is another group of people who want the use of that land to make money; the tour operators. Yet a third group is involved; the tourists themselves. They want a worthwhile experience, and this will depend upon good relations between the other stakeholders. Experience has taught us that anywhere conflicts of interest may arise, all the stakeholders must be involved in mapping out solutions. Gone are the days when villagers can be treated lightly as an exotic background for a tourist industry.

If we are to take the future of the track seriously, we must very seriously aim to engage the villagers along and close to the track in an ongoing, meaningful, sustainable management process.

So that this can happen, we need to show them ‘we are on their side’ as it were. Not to give handouts, but a leg up. Relationships in Papua New Guinea, even at a government level, are above all personal, rather than bureaucratic. They are based on building trust, which takes time to create; it is the outcome of mutual experience, of helping one another.

A project such as I have proposed will deliver trust, and a great deal more. Agriculture is something they understand, and in the context of tourism, can deliver a quick return. It will provide a gateway through which the villagers can interact on a more equal footing in the management of their own resources. It will substantially improve the opportunities for women and youth to gain lasting benefit from the tourist industry.

Latest reports indicate that food is indeed getting scarce along the track. There is no longer sufficient food to feed the porters on treks. In practical terms, this means extra porters have to be added to tour parties just to feed the porters.

The traditional gardening cycle requires heavy labour inputs from young men in June, July, August; all high tourist season months. But such labour is in short supply; most of the young men are out carrying for tourists, so fewer gardens are made, and less food is produced. This is not a good sign for the future, as it places considerable and growing stress on the track communities.

We must help villagers find ways which will allow people to provide a food surplus for themselves and trekkers, opportunities to bring cash into the village economy in ways which build the community (experience has shown increasing the income of women tends to do this), and the development of new systems of village governance which are dealing with the real issues brought about by change. When they trust us, they will tell us how to go.

Telling traditional farmers what to do has rarely worked. They have already a body of detailed knowledge which allows them to exploit their lands in a reasonably sustainable way. But they are prepared to try new things, and will adopt what they see as worthwhile.

We owe them our help. There is no precedent in their tradition for what is happening now: increasing local population; a large transient population trekking through their territory each year, at a time when much of their attention should be on their new gardens; a growing cash economy; issues of hygiene and new diseases. Adjustments can be dramatic and very painful. Let us try and make them less so, for the sake of those so willing to help us. There is a heritage to preserve.

Mining companies have learnt to their great cost that they treat villagers lightly at their peril. They all try to save money on “soft” issues like community development, and it backfires, (the extreme case being Bougainville). Here we still have a real chance to make things work for everyone’s benefit. We have fixed up the top level structures, let us now focus some attention on the villagers. We need someone to stay with them, work with them, and above all, listen to them.

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’.

Other wartime publications which refer to the track as the ‘Kokoda Trail’ include:

• The Official History of Australia in the War of 1939-1945 (Series 1 - Army,Vol 5, South-West Pacific Area - First Year, Kokoda to Wau by Dudley McCarthy) - pubished in 1959;
• Retreat From Kokoda - The Australian Campaign in New Guinea, 1942 by Raymond Paul (Heinemann, 1958, ISBN 0 85561 0492) - published in 1958;
• Khaki and Green (Halstead Press) published by The Australian War Memorial for the Austraian Military Forces in 1943
• Green Armour by Osmar White (Angus & Robertson - ISBN 0 04014706) pubished in 1945; and
• The Kokoda Trail - A History by Stuart Hawthorne (Central Queensland University Press, ISBN 876780 30 4) published in 2003.

It is clear that some new-age historians have an issue with the term ‘trail’ because of its American connotations - one can only imagine their reaction if Papua New Guineans declared that our Snowy River should be renamed ‘Snowy Creek’ because it now has less than one percent of its original flow since the dam was built!

For those who respect the right of an independent sovereign nation to proclaim its own geographical identities the correct (and official) terminology is ‘The Kokoda Trail’.

We should also respect the fact that the heroic 39th Battalion have ‘Kokoda Trail’ emblazoned on their battle honours.  The 39th was the first Australian unit to march across the track; they were first to engage the Japanese in battle on the track; and they earned their place in history with their heroic stand at Isurava.

It is time we accepted the official name and moved on to more important aspects of the debate which includes the need for Australian Military History to be included in our education system and for the Kokoda Trail and other Australian battlefields in the South-West Pacific to be identified, restored, honoured and properly protected.

For more information about the origins of The Kokoda Trail see  http://www.kokodatreks.com/history/thekokodatrail.cfm

Posted by Charlie Lynn

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.

The argument that we need more time to debate the issue doesn’t wash. The issue has not just appeared on the radar – it has been around for more than a decade. A couple of Senate inquiries were conducted on the issue as farmers cried out desperately for seasonal labour to harvest their produce. It was all to no avail.The issue of allowing guest workers from the Pacific access to seasonal work in rural areas is not only about helping our farmers. It is also about our relationship with our neighbours in our international area of responsibility.

Our refusal to allow PNG citizens’ access for seasonal work while our farmers have to turn their crops back into the ground creates a seething resentment at our ‘big brother’ attitude in the region. They are aware that we have agreements with 36 countries around the world for temporary work but not with PNG. A young PNG worker is allowed to travel to London and work for up to two years under a mutual holiday worker scheme. But they cannot come to Brisbane because we will not let them in.

Is it any wonder some of their leaders are exploring a ‘looking north’ policy so they can politely tell us where to place our fruit and vegetables that we won’t allow them to harvest? Our deep seated racial discrimination and our condescending political attitudes to issues such as this have not been designed to ‘win friends and influence people’ in the Pacific.

They will never forget the humiliation of their Grand Chief, Sir Michael Somare, by our security morons at Brisbane airport!The trial guest worker scheme can be a bridge for the rebuilding of our relationship with PNG. But to make it work there has to be some attitude change on both sides of Torres Strait.

PNG has to seriously address three major problems in their political, commercial and cultural environment. These are 1) governance; 2) governance; and 3) governance. Corruption has to be exorcised from their national DNA.

This will be an inter-generational process but someone, somewhere, somehow has to start the process. The Rudd government’s Pacific Partnership is a tentative first step.

An agreement on access to our seasonal labour markets provides an opportunity for some conditions and mutual responsibilities to be attached to the scheme.

Australians needs to understand our Pacific cousins much better. We need to build empathetic relationships through political, corporate and cultural exchange programs. We should upgrade our Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs to a Ministry for Melanesia. We should introduce Melanesian studies into our primary, secondary and tertiary education system.

Papua New Guinea needs to urgently address the issue of governance by granting some sort of amnesty for past wrongs and accepting assistance for agencies dealing with law enforcement and justice. The ‘Melanesian Way’ should no longer be accepted as an excuse for corruption, incompetence or inefficiency. Papua New Guinea should acknowledge that corruption is robbing them of the opportunity to tap into an abundant store of goodwill that ordinary Australians have for their people. Individuals, corporations and philanthropic organisations are willing to donate generously towards causes that will meet both short and long term objectives. They will not do this until Papua New Guineans can guarantee that the donations will not be siphoned off by corrupt middlemen.

The objections raised by both the Federal Opposition and the Trade Union movement are pathetic and should be dismissed. If they cannot acknowledge the responsibility we have for our Pacific cousins in our international area of responsibility they should be dealt out of the debate. Helen Keller once said ‘the only thing worse than being blind is to have sight but no vision.’The challenges facing our Melanesian neighbours in the ‘arc of instability’ to our near north are daunting. The solutions to the problems are complex and long term. International aid has failed Melanesians just as welfare has failed our own indigenous people.
A pilot program that allows Melanesian workers an opportunity to earn a cash income, learn new skills and develop empathetic relationships while helping our farmers get their produce to market has great merit. It should be supported by responsible leaders from across the political spectrum.

Posted by Charlie Lynn

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.

One of the responsibilities of our colonial administration was to provide educational opportunities for bright young New Guineans’ who were sent ’south’ to boarding schools and universities. They would be nurtured to someday run their country as an independent nation.

Over the years our young ‘kiaps’ gained a good understanding of the Melanesian mind while New Guinea students got to understand our ‘anglo-saxon’ ways. It was a good system as we got to walk in each others shoes. The system came to an end with the granting of independence to the new nation of Papua New Guinea in 1975.

Many ‘kiaps’ remained with their new families and took out PNG citizenship but no more were sent. The School of Pacific Administration was closed down. The flow of PNG students was reduced to a trickle as they established their own schools and university with our support. Australia adopted a ‘hands off’ approach and delegated political responsibility for the new nation to a bureaucratic aid agency.

A gap in our mutual understanding began to emerge. Over the years since independence our focus has shifted wider afield as we have sought to engage Asia, Europe and America. We have neglected our own ‘international area of responsiblity’ and adopted a ‘big brother’ stance in the region. London, Paris, Washington and Peking were obviously more attractive destinations than Port Moresby, Honiara and Suva for our Foreign Affairs officials.

Recent instability amongst our Melanesian neighbours and the threat of terrorism has caused us to refocus on the region.

Our ability to understand the deep seated problems facing these island nations is hampered with our lack of empathy with the local people speaking more than a thousand different languages in remote areas separated by formidable mountain ranges and scattered over hundreds of islands.

But the major obstacle in our relationship is our refusal to allow Melanesian workers access to our seasonal Labor markets. The fact that Australia has an agreement with 36 nations for seasonal work - but does not, and will not establish one with Papua New Guinea typifies our ‘big brother’ approach towards them. It is difficult for the layman to understand why we ignore our closest neighbour, fellow Commonwealth member, former colonial territory and wartime ally by refusing to allow them to come south for seasonal work in our rural areas.

The emerging interest in our wartime history in the Pacific may well be the catalyst to bring about a renewed understanding of our Melanesian neighbours. As Australians from all walks of life are following the footsteps of our diggers across the Kokoda track they are establishing relationships with the sons and daughters of the famous ‘fuzzy-wuzzy angels’. They are gaining an appreciation of their living conditions and the challenges they face on a daily basis in a subsistence economy.

But more importantly they want to help in some way and they want to learn more about Papua New Guinea.
Kokoda is therefore much more than a track - it is a small bridge across the political and cultural divide between our two countries. If we can make it work we can build more bridges at Milne Bay, Lae, Finchafen, Buna, Gona, Sananada, Shaggy Ridge, Nadzab, Wewak, Bougainville, Honiara, etc. etc.

Posted by Charlie Lynn

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.

Toward the top of the ridge we were confronted with some magnificent rock formations. Standing at least 20 storeys high they would have been a formidable obstacle to the advancing Japanese. The track around them was a challenge as we were forced to crawl on a number of occasions. We then discovered numerous weapon pits - undisturbed for 65 years - as the track turns to the west near the summit.

We eventually crossed the current track at Imita Gap - after what we had endured to get to the top via the original route the boys dubbed this the ‘tourist track’!

The wartime track continues to the west for a few hundred metres before swinging down another steep spur towards Imita Creek and the base of Ioribaiwa Ridge.

There is no trace of the ‘log stairs’ depicted in the wartime photo however it is easy to understand why General ‘Tubby’ Allen allowed Brigadier Eather to withdraw to the safety of the ridge to reconsolidate his Brigade before commencing the advanced to drive the Japanese back along the track.

Imita Ridge would have been an impenetrable obstacle for the Japanese - it would have been our Thermopalae. They would never have been able to breach the sheer rock face to the east and west of the gap. The location of the weapon pits indicate that the Australian soldiers dug in on the ridge would have been more than ready to repel them.

Adventure Kokoda treks will now be using the wartime track via the original ‘golden staircase’ - it’s a bit longer and a lot tougher but trekkers will have a much better appreciation of what our diggers had to endure when they reach the ‘gap’ at the top of Imita from now on.

Posted by Charlie Lynn

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.

VP Day is an important occasion for all Australians.   But it holds special meaning for those who endured the Second World War, particularly for our veterans, and for those whose loved ones did not return or who returned suffering grave physical and mental injury.  Today, as we reflect on the service and sacrifice of our veterans we should take a moment to consider what it was they fought for sixty-three years ago.
While the early years of World War II in Europe and the Middle East brought little change to daily life for most Australian families, the bombing of Pearl Harbour in December 1941 signalled the start of Japan’s rapid advance through the Pacific.  The day after crippling the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour, Japan landed its first troops in Malaya.  A powerful Japanese offensive ensued, and Australia hastily prepared for possible invasion.

With the majority of our 2nd AIF, naval and air forces already heavily committed in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Prime Minister John Curtin decided to withdraw most of them to meet the requirements of defending Australia.

In January 1942, the Japanese forces captured Rabaul, the capital of the Australian-controlled territory of New Guinea.  Within weeks, Australian and Dutch forces had surrendered the island of Ambon in the Netherlands East Indies.  When Singapore fell on the 15th of February 1942, 15,000 men of Australia’s 8th Division were taken captive which was the start of over three long years in captivity.   The loss of Singapore meant the “Malay Barrier” had been breached, and Australia was in potential danger.

The war arrived on Australia’s shores on the morning of 19 February 1942 with a devastating air raid on Darwin. Nearly 260 Japanese fighters and bombers attacked the port.  They targeted the shipping in the harbour twice during that day, killing 252 Allied service personnel and civilians.  In succeeding months air attacks were made on many towns in northern Australia including Wyndham, Port Hedland and Derby in Western Australia, Darwin and Katherine in the Northern Territory, Townsville and Mossman in Queensland, and Horn Island in the Torres Strait.

In May 1942, three Japanese midget submarines attacked Sydney Harbour, followed by several minor attacks on Australia’s southern coastline by conventional Japanese submarines.  This included the shelling of Newcastle.  In the following months, Japanese submarines sank six Allied merchant ships off the east coast of Australia. Several more merchant ships were hit in 1943 and, in May that year, 268 perished when the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur was sunk in Queensland waters.

These attacks, and the Japanese landings in Papua New Guinea in July led to most Australians feeling a great sense of peril.   While debate today questions whether the Japanese had really developed a coherent strategy to invade Australia, it would have been extremely difficult at that time not to imagine Australia being the next objective of the Japanese.  The first six months of 1942 were indeed a grim time for Australians, and its allies in the Pacific.

But in September of that year, Australian forces achieved something that no other allied force had yet achieved.  At Milne Bay, a combined force of Australian Army, Air Force and US forces defeated the Japanese for the first time. Victory here and a few weeks later the recapture of Ioribaiwa in New Guinea by the Australians on 28 September, marked a turning point, the seemingly “unstoppable” Japanese had been stopped.   This was an important psychological victory.

British Field-Marshal Sir William Slim, the brilliant commander of the XIV Army in Burma, later commented that:

Australian troops had, at Milne Bay, inflicted on the Japanese their first undoubted defeat on land. Some of us may forget that, of all the allies, it was the Australians who first broke the invincibility of the Japanese army.

Australian Brigadier John Field summed up Australian feelings more succinctly:

Our troops have proved the Jap is not a superman.

After the defeat of the Japanese at Kokoka and Milne Bay, Australian and American units between November 1942 and January 1943 fought the Japanese in northern Papua at Buna, Gona, Sanananda, Finshaffen and Wewak in a series of costly battles, where no quarter was shown or expected.  By early 1943, Allied forces had halted Japanese offensives in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea.

In 1945, Australian land, air and sea forces launched coordinated assaults against the Japanese at Tarakan, Labuan and Balikpapan. These were the biggest, most complex and the final Australian campaigns of World War II.  Preparations were then being made for what would have been an extraordinarily costly assault on Japan itself.  However, with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, the Emperor of Japan finally realised the futility of continuing the war and was persuaded to surrender unconditionally on 15 August.

On the home front, Australians wanted a return to normality as soon as possible.  Commonwealth wartime regulations were terminated.  And there was gradual end to rationing and manpower restrictions.   Women started returning to their homes, but many remained in the jobs to which they had won grudging admittance during the times of manpower shortages in the war.  But a priority for the government was the demobilisation of Australia’s largest ever military force.

Almost one million Australian men and women enlisted during the Second World War. It remains the largest commitment of Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen in our history.

During the early years of the war, over 22,000 Australian servicemen and almost forty nurses were captured by the Japanese. Most were captured early in 1942 when Japanese forces captured Malaya, Singapore, New Britain, and the Netherlands East Indies. Hundreds of Australian civilians were also interned.  Although it is difficult for us to understand what these brave Australians endured, the fact that one third of our POWs perished in captivity is some indication of the appalling conditions they suffered.   Most became victims of their captors’ indifference and brutality. Tragically, over a thousand died when Allied submarines torpedoed the unmarked ships carrying prisoners around Japan’s wartime empire.

For Australia, Victory in the Pacific Day ended 6 years of hardship, sacrifice and anguish.  It heralded the start of what many people hoped would be a new era of peace.  So in remembering the nearly one million Australian men and women who served, and the 40,000 who died fighting to protect the freedom we enjoy today, it is worth reflecting on the legacies of that great generation of Australians.

In the post-war period, Australia emerged as a more confident nation, one more open to the world.    The slogan populate or perish won widespread acceptance and prepared Australians for a massive immigration program that would double the population within a generation.
The immigration program required a great expansion of employment and this was achieved by building on the industrial base created by the war.  Steel-making had become a major industry turning sleepy seaside villages such as Wyalla into massive industrial complexes.  Places like this continued to expand in the post-war years.

One of other the great legacies of the war is that Australia had forged a close relationship with the United States throughout the Pacific Campaign.   It is a relationship that endures to this day, and is central to the economic health and security of our nation.
At the end of hostilities, Australia was able to forge a new relationship with Japan.  Their post-war democratisation resulted in stronger economic ties with Australia, and today Japan rates among our closest trading and dialogue partners. 
These are among the most important legacies of the many Australians who sacrificed so much in the lead up the Victory in the Pacific.  But there were other legacies as well.

We commemorate and treasure the spirit of service before self that these wonderful Australians showed.  They showed their firm belief that true democratic freedom must be nurtured and protected; and when threatened, is worth fighting and if necessary, dying for.  This legacy is one that subsequent generations of Australians must continue to nurture and cherish as we struggle against those who would subvert democracy and challenge the individual freedoms that are so very fundamental to our culture and society.

The war in the Pacific tested the character and commitment of the Australian people.  Whether they served in the sands of north Africa, the jungles of New Guinea, in the air over Europe on the high seas, or in the factories and farms of the home front, we remember today a generation of magnificent Australians who fought to protect our way of life; our democracy, our culture, our land. 

We appreciate that through their valour, our country emerged from the Second World War with a new sense of economic, political and social independence.   They inspire us with their example and our nation rightly owes them its deepest and most sincere gratitude.

Lest we forget.

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.

The school follows a variety of curricula to cater for varying needs of students.

In the Junior School the curriculum is drawn from the best features of the PNG, International Educational Academy and overseas programs. It has been developed specifically to meet the needs of PNG students.

In the Senior School, students follow an approved course of studies leading to the PNG School Certificate in Year 10 and the Higher School Certificate in Year 12. Successful grades in the the HSC will enable the student to apply for Tertiary Studies either in PNG or overseas.

Port Moresby Grammar students are also encouraged to sit for the University of Cambridge suite or EFL Examinations and Information Technology certificates.

The school has more than 60 professional teachers who have been recruited from within PNG and overseas. The teaching staff are supported by a large ancillary staff, both in and out of the classroom.

The campus is located on the old Port Moresby RSL Club site in Batavia Street, Boroko. It has a unique architectural design, built around a large courtyard and dominated by huge ‘Haus Tambaran’. The Junior School is in a linked but separate building also built around a courtyard. Facilities at the school are excellent. Students have access to over 200 computers in laboratories, internet cafes, the library and classrooms. There are specialist science, technology, music and audio visual rooms. Backup power means the school remains open during the frequent cuts which plague Port Moresby.

The school emphasises Information Technology, from its Prep students through to grade 12. It is the only school in Papua New Guinea authorised by the NSW Department of Education to offer Information Technology as a HSC examination subject.

This is where the future leaders of Papua New Guinea will come from - and we - yumi - can help make it happen!

We (yumi) can help at different levels. For some it might be taking out an Australian Geographic or Bulletin magazine subscription and having it delivered to the school. For others it might be participation in our ‘bring a book’ campaign. Others might wish to sponsor a student and have the bursary established in their own name while some might like to conduct a fundraising campaign to sponsor a memorial bursary named after a digger who fought in PNG.

The spirit of the support is as important as the value of the bursary. Keep in mind that little things make a big difference in PNG.

All funds donated to the Kokoda Bursary Program will be directed to Port Moresby Grammar School to support sponsored students.

The Kokoda Bursary Program  
 
 ”Yumi helpim pikinini lainum skul’

The Kokoda Bursary Program is an educational initiative aimed towards PNG students who have the aptitude for a formal education but neither the money nor the means to obtain one.

Papua New Guinea is our closest neighbout, former mandated territory, fellow Commonwealth member and wartime ally. During our hour of need in World War 11 they extended a hand to assist our diggers and led hundreds to safety.

Now the roles are reversed and they need a hand. The Kokoda Bursary Program is an opportunity for us - yumi - to make a difference by giving hope to a student who will surely be consigned to a subsistence existence without it.

It’s the least we - yumi - can do.
 
‘You and me can help PNG children to learn at school’

If ever you wanted to do something to help some of those bright-eyed young ”angels’ who sang for us along the track then think ‘education’ - it’s their only hope!

The odds against these kids are overwhelming. Half the PNG population is under 19 years of age and 80 per cent earn an average of A$10 a week. Only 20 per cent of parents can afford an education for their children and this year 40 per cent of these drop out at primary school level.

In Oro Province the 2001 enrolment rates for grades 1 to 6 were 72 per cent; grades 7 to 10 - 29 per cent; and grades 9 to 12 - 18 per cent.

Over the years we have tried to do our bit by sponsoring village students at Provincial Government High Schools and providing funds to assist community schools along the track. Unfortunately these initiatives require intensive supervision as village schools are closed and relocated; sponsored students are substituted; and monies are misappropriated.

Notwithstanding this we will continue to provide support with your help and will do our best to ‘audit’ the process via our trek leaders who are constantly on the track.

During our research for an educational institution with the curriculum and the governance to host a scholarship program we were introduced to the Port Moresby Grammar School. This school was initially regarded as a ’school for dropouts’ but has progressed to be a leading independent school with more than 60 teachers and 1300 students. The school is run by an independent Board of Directors and is now known as the ’school of opportunity’ because of its commitment to assisting bright young students who do not have the family or financial support to complete their education.

We have visited the school on a number of occasions and met with Directors and teaching staff to develop a scholarship or bursary program that will allow you to sponsor a student. Bursaries will be named after individual or company sponsors who be listed on an honour board at the school and on their website. They will be named:

‘The (your name) Kokoda Bursary’.

Memorial bursaries will also be established for families or battalion associations to name after veterans who fought in New Guinea, eg:

‘The (Veteran’s name) Memorial Bursary’.

The school will appoint a co-ordinator for the program and sponsors will receive reports on the progress of their students. Sponsors will receive a framed certificate with the name of their bursary as an acknowledgement of their generosity each year.

Last year 3 male and 2 female Koiari students and one male Orokaiva student had to be suspended because of a lack of funds for school fees. This year (2007) there are 15 female and 7 male Orokaiva students plus 4 female and 4 male Koiari students attending the school. In addition to this there are numerous other students from Provinces where our diggers fought who are in desperate need of financial help.

Our goal is to assist them to complete their education and give them a chance, or a second chance, to play a leading role in the future of their country.

Ples helpim ol,
Charlie

Posted by Charlie Lynn

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:

‘Hello Charlie,

‘Hope all is well down your way. Collected a good number of books the other evening with Chad & Ron Beattie’s Group! Our number of books and DVDs totals 1035. All brought forward in the past 12 months approx. A fabulous effort! This does not include pencils, pens and other drawing materials.

‘On the turn around side Port Moresby Grammar school has done the following:

‘. 6 cartons of reading books were delivered to Taurama Barracks Community School along with a heap of stationary;

‘. 7 cartons of books were presented to Bavaroko Community School (our next door neighbour);

‘. 1 carton was given to a small group called “We Care” in the Hohola settlement area. Mums teaching street kids to read; and

‘. 2 cartons were sent to Gaire community school on request.

‘ All of these are a result of culling as new books come into our library. Where there is a doubling up we give these away in the cartons. Some of your books we use as incentives and prizes to kids at Pom Grammar for good work. The culture of reading has been substantially enhanced since your program has started. Popular novels are being read throughout the school. The library staff are really doing a fine job.

‘ Friends Foundation gave us a wooden coin box and in the first fortnight we collected K250- for Tessie’s group.

‘ Our next quest is to build up the culling cartons again so that Sogeri Community school and Ioiari High school are provided with books.

‘ Nixon and the West Papuans are still at Gerehu. The six we have at Pom Grammar are still in school. Many of the other school kids have been “pushed out” or have simply given up – sorry to say. However, we will keep going with our little group. The West Papuan girls especially enjoy the hockey competition on a Sunday afternoon.

‘ Things are going very well at present and a big lot of thanks to you.

‘ We would like to see you at the school when you are next up this way – is that possible?

‘Regards,

‘Mike’

We are pleased to advise that Mike has kindly agreed to assist in the distribution of books and educational materials to schools along the Kokoda Trail. We appreciate his generous offer and look forward to extending the program to remote village schools along the track.

Our Adventure Kokoda trekkers were recently acknowleged in Hadibaia Hereva - the newsletter of the Port Moresby Grammar School:

‘Adventure Kokoda under the direction of Charlie Lynn has once again come to the fore with more books, DVDs, sports gear, pencils, pens and games (but mainly books). 398 items were presented to POM Grammar for the library [in July]. The students and staff are thoroughly enjoying the new and exciting reading opportunities. Thanks are extended to our special friends from ADVENTURE KOKODA and the Australian Trekkers.’

Small things make a big differenced in PNG - we will continue to seek out new partnerships in the areas of health and education.

Posted by Charlie Lynn

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.

The logistics necessary to support such a group of veterans were beyond their resources. We then enlisted the support of Senator Bill Heffernan who is well known as a bloke who ‘makes things happen’. At Senator Bill’s urging the Australian Government agreed to provide a RAAF Boeing 707 and a medical team to support the veterans. They also provided a RAAF Caribou to fly them from Port Moresby to Kokoda and positioned a Hercules C130 with another medical team at Popondetta in case of emergency. It was a very generous gesture and much appreciated by the veterans and their families.

When the advance party of veterans reached the site they confirmed it was the position they had fought their desperate battle on during 26 – 30 August 1942.

Peter Dorman captured the feeling of these men at ‘The Last Parade’ in his book ‘The Silent Men’:

“It is August 1998, Bomana War Cemetery, Port Moresby. Stan Bisset kneels beneath Butch’s headstone and places a wreath against it. He utters a silent prayer, then stands to attention. With his head still bowed, he clasps his right hand to his breast, then with moistened eyes searching out into space, he offers a last, crisp salute. A few rows away, Bruce Kingsbury’s sister Jean Pope is steadied by her son Dennis, a Vietnam Veteran, as they both bid their silent farewells. Across the beautifully maintained cemetery, veterans, sons, daughters, grandchildren and other kinfolk search for the last resting place of their brothers-in-arms or relative and acknowledge the loss.

“They are here because Stan picked up the baton from idea sparked by Brisbane psychologist Graham Scott, who had walked the trail. Along with two MPs, Charlie Lynn and Kerry Chikarovski, he has arranged and coordinated a final cathartic pilgrimage to Port Moresby and the Kokoda Track. Forty-six veterans, aged between 75 and 88, and 40 kinfolk and supporters, including me, fly into Moresby by ministerial jet, compliments of the Australian Government.

“We are met by police and Defence Force escorts at Jackson airfield, and given a welcoming party by the Australian High Commissioner, David Irvine. The veterans are overwhelmed by the welcome.

“Some apprehension and emotion is experienced as we board the Air Force Caribou and fly over the Owen Stanley’s towards Kokoda. Below, the jungle is compelling, triggering memories and misting eyes as repressed thoughts are confronted, forcing the years to roll back. From Kokoda, we are transported in a thrilling helicopter ride up into the mists of the ranges to land at Isurava. As the clouds part to allow us in, we are met by a colourful sight.

“The children and grandchildren of the Fuzzy-Wuzzy Angels have gathered at Isurava over the last two weeks. They have cleared the jungle to make a helipad and prepared a bivouac camp with shelter to accommodate the diggers. In a display of homage, respect and love, they perform a traditional New Guinea Sing-Sing, they sing welcome and farewell songs and perform native plays. The smells of a roast pig fill the air, and women are cooking taro and chicken. The young natives stand by the silver-haired veterans shielding them from the sun with colourful umbrellas and assisting them as their forefathers did a half century ago, maintaining the bond.

“The emotional ceremony proceeds as anthems, the Last Post and requiems from a lone piper pervade the jungle, However, a highlight for the men is the acknowledgement that the Australian Government is finally recognising the importance of the Isurava Battle. The Minister for Defence and Support, Bronwyn Bishop, who was flown in especially, formally reaffirmed the significance of the four-day battle. There are no dry eyes as the ceremony continues, the veterans trying to relate this peaceful, idyllic scene to the hell-hole of 1942 and its horrendous events.

“After the ceremony, while the veterans search for signs of their old positions, I walk alone into the jungle and look for 9 Platoon’s area. I find an area that fits the description I have been given. The dimness and silence call the ghosts out. I see 9 Platoon lined up: Teddy Bear leading the charge, his Bren gun spurting death. I see Bruce Kingsbury take over as Teddy is wounded, the Bren barking as it continues its killings. On his right, I see Alan Avery grit his teeth and move forward firing his Tommy gun, while Jarmbe follows, firing his .303 with deadly aim. I see the Professor, Hi-Ho Silver and the extending line of men blasting their way into history.

“No doubt, around the perimeter, the veterans are reliving their own personal battles and, with the advantages of time, and wisdom of age, hopefully they may finally come to terms with the killing, the sacrifices, the loss, the guilt, the heroism, the courage and the love experienced in this now sacred place. Hopefully they can put the ghosts behind them. They have saluted their mates and dedicated this mission to the memory.

“For Stan Bisset, the Last Parade has been a triumph. He has celebrated his 86th birthday during the week, and two of his children, daughter Holly Huon and son Jim, have been able to accompany him. Together they have paid their respects to Butch. Amid tears, Jim and Holly have been able to understand the veterans.

“For myself, ‘The Silent Men’ are silent no more. I understand now the reason for their perceived silence, for their reluctance to talk of the indescribable slaughter they have experienced, and the acts of nihilistic savagery they have witnessed. I understand now their comradeship and strong commitments to each other – an inbuilt support system that renders full credence and authority to the treasured Australian icon of mateship. Through these men, I have also come to know my father. I have come to appreciate the silent burden that war placed on his and their shoulders. In the process, I have also come to know myself more intimately, as I place myself beside him, scrambling and fighting over the stony hills of Lebanon, then stumbling through the mud and jungle of the Owen Stanley’s. I lie beside him in the putrid, stinking trenches and beaches of Gona, warding off disease as much as the enemy. Deep wells of grief and love flood me as I put my arms around him, as I would my children, and attempt to shield him from the surrounding horrors, the assist him to stagger out of the holocaust.

“As the men bid farewell to the brothers and mates who didn’t come home, I feel a stronger bonding with them. After years of pain, examination and conciliation, I pray this Last Parade can release these Silent Men. I will not forget their sacrifice.”

Lieutenant-Colonel Phil Rhoden OBE ED, 2/14th Battalion Commander at the battle of Isurava addressed the veterans:

“We have come here today as pilgrims to be reunited once again in spirit with our fallen comrades of 56 years ago. That is the essential ingredient of a pilgrimage. The journey into a sacred place has an act of spiritual devotion. For the true, the noble and the brave do die in body but their spirit dwells forever more in the habitations and the men they served and loved. Here in this lovely village of Isurava all is now quiet. But 56 years ago on this day the 26th August 1942, the 2/14th Battalion relieved the gallant 39TH Battalion to take on the Japanese who up until then had unrestrainedly pursued its conquest of South East Asia since that infamous day at Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941.

“The next four days at Isurava are best described by Bill Russell in his history of the 2/14th Battalion. He wrote: “mortar bombs and mountain gun shells burst in the tree tops showering the troops with shrapnel which crashed through to burst on the ground where the noise was de-doubled by the confined space of the jungle. Heavy machine guns cut their own lanes of fire as they chopped through small trees and ricocheted off large trees. Easily concealed snipers fired on our men as they desperately tried to scratch out shallow body holes with tin hats and bayonets. What the Japs had not reckoned with, as they swarmed up between the creek and the track, was the reaction they got.

‘In attack after attack they stormed out of the jungle to reel back before steady fire or violent steel. Those who survived the fire of Bren and rifle were met with tommy gun and grenade and those who came through were met with a bayonet”.

“The Australian newspaper in 1994 published a series of anniversary essays edited by Dr David Horner entitled “Battles that shaped Australia”. One of those essays covered the Kokoda Track battle. The essayist, James Morrison wrote: “on the 30th August General Horii, frustrated at the delay to his advance, threw his large reserve into the attack. The Australians began their fiercely fought withdrawal from Isurava to Ioribaiwa. The Australians had held Isurava for four days. They strained General Horii’s supply lines and they held up his advance to Port Moresby. This was the culminating point of the campaign. The advantage passed from the Japanese to the Australians.”

“From 31st August to 15th September the Australians including the 2/16th Battalion and joined by the 2/27th Battalion at Efogi on the 6th September, against vastly superior numbers fought, as Peter Brune describes in the book “Those Ragged Bloody Heroes”, “…a decisive military game of cat and mouse along the track. Company by company, platoon by platoon, section by section they defended until their comrades passed through their lines, broke off contact sometimes only 20 or 30 metres from the enemy and repeated the procedure again and again down the track. To withdraw too early was to allow the enemy too speedy an acquisition of ground. To withdraw too late meant outflanking, encirclement and annihilation”…

‘What enabled the 2/14th and 2/16th Battalions to turn defeat into victory? Outnumbered probably 6 to 1 and certainly out-gunned, the Battalions strained their undoubted professionalism and experienced to the limit. But there was something else, something that was almost intangible. Firstly, I believe it was the inter-dependence of the unit, one upon the other. Each had a job to do and all depending on the other. Secondly, it was the ability to hold on after all hope is dead, continuing to fight on until there was scarce breath left in the body. Lastly, it was the respect that we had for each other. Only a well trained and happy unit can survive in its hour of need. Nor should we discount Australia’s hour of peril, the troops did not, they were fully aware of Australia’s dependence upon them. Complete failure would have meant Japs at Port Moresby and then Australia itself.

“Perhaps paraphrasing the words of Stephen Spencer’s poem are apt: “The 2/14th are men who in their lives fought for life and left the vivid air signed with their honour.”

‘Now is the time for sober thoughts. The time for remembrance with gratitude the fuzzy-wuzzy angels, those sincere, tender and humane people who did so much for our wounded. A time to recall the sacrificial deeds of Kingsbury, Mc Callum and many others, bringing to mind the immortal words of Alan Avery, “I reckon they all should have got a gong” he said. A time to endorse the thought that the Owen Stanley campaign was a close run thing and that the battle of Isurava was perhaps in the annals of Australian Military History second only to Gallipoli.

‘Those of us now reaching the end of our time should, continue to see that our children and their children embrace the notion that the death of the brave is never in vain and, a good action never lost to the world while there is but one actor or observer left to preserve the record of the event. We, these pilgrims to Isurava, should always remember the future that in the words of Shakespeare in “All’s well that ends well” he wrote, “Such a man might be a copy to these younger times. His good remembrance sirs lies richer in your thoughts than on his tomb.”

Four years later, on the 60th Anniversary of the battle of Isurava the Prime Minister of Australia, The Hon John Howard, and the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, The Hon Sir Michael Somare, opened a magnificent new memorial on this site. The memorial is a simple structure based on four granite pillars that stand as sentinels overlooking the Yodda valley back towards Kokoda. Each pillar is engraved with a single word: ‘Courage – Mateship – Sacrifice – Endurance’

During the commemoration service at Isurava I was chatting with an old veteran who introduced himself as Albert Moore. He was the legendary Salvation Army officer on the track during the campaign who was captured on film by Damien Parer rendering assistance to our diggers. During the conversation I learned that I had grown up with him - he was the milkman and local Salvation Army officer in my home town of Orbost. We all knew him as a wonderful, kind and compassionate mane - but none of us knew what a hero he was.

The ‘Last Parade’ at Isurava was the first step in the proper recognition of the spirit of Kokoda. My chance encounter with Albert Moore was another reason why their stories should be enshrined in our arts and education systems.

Posted by Charlie Lynn