Rosita Henry reviews Brad Underhill’s Preparing a Nation? The New Deal in the Villages of Papua New Guinea, (Canberra: ANU Press, 2024).
I find most policy histories rather dry reading, so was a little reluctant to review this book when approached, but I have no regrets! I found the book compelling to read and difficult to put down. Preparing a Nation? is a powerful story of a complex and troubled colonial relationship, focusing on Australian policy concerning the Territory of Papua New Guinea after WW2 over a period of 20 years (1945-1965). Historian Brad Underhill brings colonial policy to life by exploring the politics of its implementation on the ground, in rural communities of PNG.
As the title indicates, Underhill’s forensic historical focus is on what is referred to as the ‘New Deal’, Australia’s post-war policy aimed at preparing the Territory of Papua New Guinea for eventual independence as a nation. Given PNG’s upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations of independence, the book is certainly a timely one.
Based on extensive archival research, the first part of the book (four chapters) presents and analyses the New Deal as a bipartisan high-level policy that informed Australia’s post-war development strategies and practices in PNG for over 20 years, while the second part of the book presents four fascinating case studies (eight chapters) that consider the local response to, and impact of, these development programs and practices. The case studies cover four geographically different subdistricts of TPNG – Chimbu in the Eastern Highlands District, Milne Bay in the Eastern District, Maprik in the Sepik District, and New Hanover in the New Ireland District.
Given my own research interests in the gendered development work that colonial government officers, especially patrol officers (kiaps), did in the lead up to Papua New Guinea’s Independence, I found these case studies truly absorbing. With reference to patrol officer reports, ethnographic accounts by anthropologists, and other sources, Underhill skilfully presents a convincing argument about the contradictions and tensions between the government’s development practices at the village level, and the autonomous development practices of the villagers themselves.
In each case, Underhill brings the narrative to life by focusing on the actions of certain leaders, who were able to mobilise the population in their areas to engage in autonomous development projects and to manipulate government policy to suit themselves. Among these, for example, was Pita Simogun of Dagua Village in the Sepik, and Singerau of Baikeb Village in New Hanover.
In the case of Milne Bay, Underhill provides an astute analysis of how the New Deal policy of gradual and comprehensive universal development, by which the administration sought to encourage greater homogeneity across the future nation, was implemented in the face of the rise of an independently minded Mission-educated elite, led by Cecil Abel. Separately from the administration, graduates from the Kwato Mission were able to mobilise Milne Bay villagers to establish the Milne Bay Development Company, which fostered various enterprises, such as factories for furniture-making and prefabricated houses. Underhill argues that, while on the surface the administration appeared to be supportive of the socioeconomic initiatives of Papuans from Milne Bay, government officers stifled such local agency, prioritising ‘control and containment’ over the ‘rapid advancement of its colonised people’.
The Chimbu study demonstrates that the Australian policy decision to concentrate on agricultural development and cash cropping at the village level was not suitable for all districts. In the Chimbu area, where there was land shortage and high population density, a decision was made to allow the recruitment of labourers to work on coastal plantations – the Highland Labour Scheme. The historical issues and problems that arose from this scheme, as analysed by Underhill, could provide much food for thought for policymakers reviewing the current Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme.
A valuable contribution of this book is Underhill’s clear depiction and analytical application of the ‘Hasluck Development Pyramid’ to the case studies. This enables a cogent demonstration of the impact of Minister Paul Hasluck’s interpretation of the New Deal and his ideas about how development should proceed in the Territory of Papua New Guinea.
Of particular interest are the philosophical and ideological bases of Australian policy in practice at the time, as outlined in Chapter Four and drawn into discussion throughout the book. Underhill argues that under the New Deal, the development of an Indigenous elite was actively discouraged. The aim was to gradually bring everyone across the Territory to the same ‘stage’ of development, to even out the playing field. To achieve uniformity, the administration invested in universal primary school education but neglected secondary and tertiary education. Additionally, attention was mainly on community development and the intensification of agricultural initiatives directed at the village level. This inevitably meant that individual government agents on the ground – patrol officers (kiaps) and agricultural officers (didiman) became crucial players in the development game.
The New Deal, in and of itself, seemed like a good deal – based as it was on an egalitarian ideology of a fair go for all, and bringing with it the promotion of community cooperatives and an impetus to protect customary land from voracious settler capitalists. Yet, Underhill argues, in practice it supressed the agency and personal autonomy of Papuans and New Guineans in terms of forging ahead with their own independent socioeconomic development projects. In the final chapter, Underhill critically assesses the New Deal as a policy of deliberate control and containment and concludes that government tactics under this deal were more in the interests of the coloniser than the colonised.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) poses major policy challenges for Australia today. Whether one agrees or not with Underhill’s assessment of the New Deal, this book is a finely crafted history. It will, I am sure, prove to be a valuable resource for students and scholars of history, anthropology, political science, international relations, and anyone else seeking a clear understanding of the impact of the policies that have shaped and continue to shape the relationship between Australia and PNG.
