The Kokoda campaign, along with other campaigns in Melanesia, has been ignored by successive Australian governments since the end of the Pacific War.A proposal to mine part of the Kokoda Trail caused them to focus attention on...
Read MorePapua 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...
Read MoreOne of the most shameful omissions of successive Australian vernments since the end of the Pacific War has been their neglect to issue a civilian service medal to the New Guinea Carriers who were indentured to support Australian...
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OVERCOME by emotion Dr John de Courcy halts mid-sentence. Lying almost flat, his head propped against the thatched wall of a smoke-filled hut in the remote ranges of Papua New Guinea, he tries to describe those who have influenced his life. After a short pause, he continues without inhibition and his audience listens with empathy. It’s the kind of exchange that only a collective experience – bordering on near hell – is likely to deliver.
Read MoreDuring the period 2004 – 2008 Kokoda tourism was managed by an expatriate CEO, Warren Bartlett, with a part-time office assistant. Bartlett was a former Patrol Officer (Kiap). He had worked in PNG for 39 years – was a skilled Government administrator, was fluent in Tok Pisin, and had an empathetic understanding of the Melanesian Way.
The Kokoda Tourism Authority which was proclaimed in 2003 was required to be self-funded as neither the Australian nor PNG Governments were willing to provide any financial support.
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