EX-KIAP NETWORK FORUM

I have been following this subject with interest and Chris you are doing a marvellous job. One other point may be helpful. In 1952 I spent 6 months doing National Service in the RAAF before I went to PNG in 1954 as a kiap. I spent my time at Williamtown RAAF base in NSW. For this I have now received two gongs. My 11 years as a kiap was far more arduous and at times risky. Surely kiaps deserve some form of recognition. I also remember that about 1955 there was some talk of kiaps having a uniform but this never got off the ground.

Thanks everyone for your support. A very brief summary of what happened at our meeting with Senator Faulkner's staff and the PM&C people last Tuesday.

The main issue is that we believe we (Kiaps) warrant medallic recognition with a post nominal especially when you look at some other varieties of recognition under the Honours system. In our meeting with Martin Bonsey, Senior Adviser to Senator Faulkner, Peter Rush, Assistant Secretary Awards and Culture Branch and Glenn Gore Phillips, Adviser, same Branch of PM&C on Tuesday (24/3/09), they advised that whist acknowledging that we do warrant recognition and should be recognised by Government, we did not fit into a category currently under the honours system ie there are Service Awards (National Medal, NPSM etc) and meritorious and bravery awards to individuals (eg APM with annual limits on numbers given out) but we wanted a meritorious award to each kiap as a group – it does not fit into the system. Martin suggested some form of individual certification of thanks from the Government which I said we appreciated but as he understood the work we did did he not think we deserved a more approprite form of recognition? He agreed that we did and went on to talk about some form of display at a museum etc which we agreed was a good idea as part of the recognition process. They have agreed to amend the eligibility for the National Medal to allow us to apply but could not reduce the time criterion (15 years) so it will certainly rule out any Kiaps recruited from 1960 onwards.

We will be urging consideration of a variation to a current award eg Public Service Medal with a distinguishing TPNG clasp or insertion of TPNG ribbon colours.

The Government has confirmed that they recognise that Kiaps were sworn, armed, Commissioned Officers of an Australian External Territorial Police Force, but can’t find any type of appropriate Police recognition. They will meet with us again in about six weeks to progress the matter after they and we have given the matter some more thought.

Thanks to Keith Jackson for his very effective support in this matter.

Great work! Keep it up. We may even get a gong before I go to that patrol post in the sky!

This geriatric ex WW2 infantry Sgt and post war Kiap salutes the work done by Chris Viner-Smith assisted by Kieth Jackson in pursuing the quest for hopefully a medallic recognition for our work in PNG, some of which put us in harms way from time to time. Whatever the final outcome of their endeavours we all owe them a debt of gratitude for the efforts they have made on our behalf.

Des Martin

Gentlemen,
How can we be unsuccessful with senior comrades such as Des Martin on board?
This morning I took two volumes out of the bookcase, dusted them off and was looking at "Territory of New Guinea, Report to General Assembly of the United Nations"
Report for 1966-67 still rubber-stamped "Kandep Patrol Post" and Report for 1968-69 still stamped "Baiyer River Patrol Post". I had the honour to serve as OIC of both Patrol Posts during those years under the leadership of T.W.Ellis, M.B.E., D.F.C., M.H.A. who appears in a group photograph of the Administrators Executive Council 1969.
After forty years I was struck the almost total lack of any reference to the work of the Kiaps in the official annual reports to the U.N. The emphasis was all on development, particularly political advancement and "Localisation".
For example, pages 17-20 inclusive of the 1968-69 Report devote three pages to the RPNGC in which we were mentioned thus " The Field Constabularly Branch-comprising officers of the Department of District Administration who carry out police duties only in those areas where no officer of the Regular Constabulary is stationed".
I was glad to read Chapter 2 (p.22) "Public Order" which detailed "There were no major instances of public disorder during the period under review" . (sic)
Under the heading "Tribal Fighting and Attacks on Patrols" (p.30) is the full report which reads "There were no attacks on patrols during the year" (sic)
Being a Savvyman I then consulted the appendices which detail the District and Local Courts and found that during the year ended 30 June 1967 no less than 5598 cases of Offences against Public Order, mostly the old favourite "Riotous Behavior", were heard on the New Guinea side with a conviction rate of 93%. The majority of these cases were heard in the Local Court with an even higher rate of convictions. This figure represents over 1% of the total adult male population of New Guinea at that time. (498,400 men) Nearly all of the men convicted were sent to gaol, sentenced to terms up to six months at hard labour, and the official statistics "Persons received into Corrective Institutions from the Courts during the year ended 30 June 1967" tend to corroborate this.
We were the Commissioned Officers of the Field Constabulary, we were the Local Court Magistrates and we were the Officers in Charge of the outstation network of Corrective Institutions.
To my certain knowledge, we were barely holding the fort in the Western Highlands District at that time, but with the benefit of hindsight, did extremely well because we worked hand in glove with the village people to progress their agenda which was Economic Development.
The Official Annual Reports to the U.N. by Australia deliberately understated the situation for reasons of political expediency, in my view.

I am not sure whether I should be flattered or suspicious of Bob Cruickshank's comments about having me on board in respect to recognition of our work as Kiaps. In any case all the credit goes to Chris Viner helped by Kieth Jackson who have worked so hard in pursuing the matter.
Bob addresses other matters in his post and having spent over fifteen years on outstations plus the three in the Dept. of the Administrator I can make a couple of obversations in support of Bob' post.
The fact was that no-one in HQ or Canberra had any idea of the extent of uncontrolled territory still remaining from year to year and as many will recall in some patrol post areas groups close to the station may be relatively controlled and a couple of days walk outside those groups there was still extensive tribal fighting with the possibility of attacks on patrols. Another problem known to savvy PO's but not recorded anywhere was that the first couple of contacts in new areas could go off quite peacefully particularly after handouts of twist tobacco and salt and maybe a bush knife or two. But you needed to be very careful with follow up contacts when the locals woke up to the fact that the patrol boxes were full of goodies and an attack on the patrol might win the lot instead of the occasional handout. There was a perception that just because patrols had visited an area a couple of times it meant that the area was now under control.
What used to happen was that a figure was plucked out of the air showing a reduction in the extent of uncontrolled territory and was included into the annual report to keep Canberra happy.
Another problem was that the Dept. of Territories was terrified that they would be criticised if they reported that a patrol(s) had fired on the native people. They were particularly scared that the Russians would monster Australia in the UN over such things. The funny part about this was that the Russians really understood and accepted the use of force and never queried any report that mentioned this. On the other hand they would really probe into comments like "The Governor-General in Council" wanting to know why the GG was somehow involved in PNG administration. However the shooting of a few people didn't concern them one bit.
The other fact thet many will appreciate and to which Bob alludes is that PO's on outstations tried to settle local matters. Thus tribal fighting could be dealth with as riotous behaviour and murder as assault. In this respect and as an example in the time I spent at Dreikikir c1950-53 if I wanted to charge someone with murder it meant a three day walk to Maprik to put the culprit(s) before the ADO-JP for a commital hearing. Then back to Dreikikir to await a Supreme Court visit to Wewak which might be months away and then back to Maprik with the prisoner(s) and then to Wewak for the hearing. If convicted the prisoners were sentenced and it was then back to the pretty basic Kalabus at Dreikikir. Far better all to deal with the matter locally. And this was pretty common practice probably up to the early 1960's and depending on the region. Later the Supreme Court would visit places like Maprik, Ambunti, Baniara and so on but earlier visits were confined the main centres.
One of the funniest Supreme Court cases I was involved in was at Esa'Ala in the late 50's when the then Judge Bignold arrived in a Catalina flying boat which kept the motors running while I took the prisoners commited for trial by me on murder charges on a canoe raft out to the Catalina. With the Catalina and the raft bobbing up and down the Judge asked if the prisoners pleaded guilty and as all did he said he had to sentence them to death but would as usual recommend the sentence be commuted. He then flew away into the sunset.
Can't help being long winded but those were the days.

Des Martin

In The National 29/4/09 it was reported that the Australian Government would mint a "Special Medal for Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels". And about time too, for they deserve recognition.
However, if the Australian Government can create a medal for them, what is so difficult about creating a special medal for Kiaps?
In regard to length of service, 15 years is generally for "Long Service and Good Conduct" in the Police, Public Service, etc. Ours was a special case. In my day, if we survived the two year cadetship (Liklik Kiap) and came back for a second term, we were promoted to Patrol Officer (Kiap). Perhaps 3 yrs should be the minimum term. In the PNG Honours and Awards system, 3 yrs is the minimum service to be elligible for the police, public service, defence, corrective institution, health, community service medals, and 5 years for the National Medal (LM).

I have been following this discussion for some time. Ray has correctly pointed out the PNG national medal is for 5 years of service. Maybe we should adopt same. That is, minimum requirement for recognition of Kiaps should be 5 to six years of service. This seems reasonable when one considers Kiaps appointed after July 1963, were contract officers, who had signed up for a 6 year stint.

Regarding Chris Viner-Smith’s inference here on Friday March 27 of a requirement of 15 years service (National Medal), I believe it relevant in our circumstances to point out that in contrast, the Australian Defence Medal requires service by Regular or Reserve personnel of only four years or such lesser time due to Defence policies of the time. For example, my wife Annette’s marriage to me in 1967 dictated that she as a female had to resign after having served only two years in the CMF (Reserves). Consequently, she was entitled to and upon application received the medal last year. As for Jack Humfrey’s reference to our contract term of six years, the Australian government’s policy from 1972 as we all well know was to accelerate self-government and Independence and early departure from the country was not obstructed thus allowing localization of positions to be sped up. The very first night of my initial posting in 1969 I was quizzed by our District Commissioner (acting) as to “why on earth had I come to the country when everyone else was trying their hardest to leave”, and the first few months at District Headquarters the chorus of the song “we’ve gotta get out of this place” rang from our neighbour’s house! In spite of that depressing introduction, the next four years on outstations and patrolling was an experience never to be forgotten, as recorded in my memoirs titled “It seemed Enough” (regrettably, it wasn’t enough – I had been hoping to be a kiap for many more years than those short four, but politics intervened!).

Spirit of service lacking in RPNGC
I REFER to the report “Dying force” (The National, May 29) in which Police Commissioner Gari Baki admitted to the dysfunctional state of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC). This is an indictment of the misguided priorities of the Government.Instead of putting money to sustain the most critical institutions of PNG, Sir Michael Somare and his Cabinet members must justify the purchase of a K170 million jet. Should PNG always have this mindset of waiting for foreign intervention to resolve the deep-seated institutional decay facing State institutions such as the RPNGC? Most of the problems that beset the RPNGC are not related to money or the elusive “resources”. The kiaps and district officers during pre-Independence years did not have the luxuries that many present-day public servants have, yet they performed admirably better than the present lot. It just needs the people to have a spirit of service and idealism about their constitutional responsibilities. National 3rd June 2009--

Nice to see that Kiaps are still recalled with honour in this article on the continuing debate on crime in PNG. But did you and I have ‘a spirit of service and idealism’ when you applied to become a Kiap?

I know I was at a spiritual low caused by my faltering attempt to educated farmers’ kids in Bruce Rock when I read the eye-catching DDA advert about our expected role in the Territory and the enticing benefits of a Patrol Officer’s healthy, outdoor and challenging job. It was enough to rescue me and collaterally saved the kids of the western wheat belt from a poor Pommie teacher too.
Yet after six days exciting driving from Bruce Rock to Sydney it would only be in ASOPA that I really started to understand what I had let myself in for. Up till then New Guinea was merely some sort of twin to Papua, which I only knew of from the lakatoi stamp that juvenile stamp albums always pictured on merely a single or even half page. The basic and most important policy statement I learnt from my lecturer Brian Jinks was that ‘New Guinea was on the road to self-government & eventual independence and that we new boys should help it achieve that goal. Further we should strive to get its inhabitants into a decision-making role. Even advised us that sometimes such decisions would sometimes fail.’
That gave a hint of the dilemmas soon to be faced as I eventually set off for my first (and only government post) as Local Govt. Adviser to the Lavongai Council. I had been a theoretical socialist since my mid-teens and was lucky to have a wife with a then similar leftist outlook. We both felt that the Kiap job was the most worthwhile I could have undertaken and so I hit the red-mud roads running of my soon to be adopted island home for the next 30 years. Yes I did try to serve what became ‘my people’ and with an idealism that lasted for almost all that time too.
I liked Jink’s last sentence in his soon to be published book (1971) which he gave us at Mosman in mid-1970 ‘New Guinea Government: An Introduction’:
“Much now rests upon the people themselves and their willingness to assume control of their own affairs” That too reflects the idealism of the closing days of the Australian mandate for the nascent PNG.
It was great to be even a tiny part of the continuing process.
Fraternally
Arthur

I noted the recent update on this subject in Keith Jackson's website "PNG Attitude" with the reference to the "National Medal" as possibly being extended to cover the aspirations of ex-Kiaps. This prompted me to have a look at the list of Australian Awards. One that stood out is the Australian Service Medal 1945-75 which can be awarded for recognition of military AND OTHER SERVICE in prescribed peacekeeping and non warlike operations. The medal when issued has a clasp denoting the area of service e.g. PNG

It so happens that I have this award for having been retained in New Guinea for some months after the war ended in August 1945 until I was finally discharged from the army in 1946.

In theory this award has to be approved by the Governor-General and I believe that past awards have been only for military service. However the reference to "AND OTHER SERVICE" suggests that with a bit of goodwill the government could extend the award to cover ex-Kiaps. Certainly the date covered by the award 1945-75 fits neatly from immediate post war to PNG independence.

Just a thought.

Des Martin

Someone should correct me if I am wrong but as I recall, from around 1959 to 1966 Australia was involved in “Confrontation” with Indonesia. That was a “war like situation” where there was shooting, with intent to kill, by Kompassas Units in Dutch New Guinea and into the western districts of both Papua and New Guinea. President Bung Karno boasted that he would kick the whites of Indonesia’s Rightful Empire. I recall hearing brief stories about Kiaps being the target at various times and there were certainly some spectacular headlines in Australian newspapers. The situation was a lot more concentrated in Singapore and Malaya, (later Malaysia) and there is still considerable tension between those former combatants, that we do not ever hear about in Australia. If you go and live on the west coast of Malaysia or in Singapore, it is a matter of daily note in the local papers.
Thus, if Our esteemed Government were of a mind to do any recognising, of anything, it could quiet easily hand out the National Medal to all Kiaps who served post WWII up to at least 1966. Because of the de facto boarder situation that continued until 1972, it could be argued that the cut should extend to at least the end of that year. If the East Timor conflict and the threat to PNG implicit in that is considered, it should be extended at least until 1975.
And I could always donate my old tractor for the cast iron in it as source of the metal for a special medal just for Kiaps. We just need the Feds to make a decision.
But then I was always an optimist, according to “she who must be obeyed”.

With respect Norm, maybe we're looking at the wrong end of the ananas. Rusty old 'kapa' isn't the base metal we should be looking at to make 'gutpela bilas'. Let's raise our sights mate. We need to aspire to something with slightly more class. Maybe a small ingot from Mt Kaindi in Wau or the Watut near Bulolo of perhaps from the mine at Lilhir could be a trifle more appropriate, given that our time in PNG could now be looked upon as a 'golden time'. Tasol, nogut mi mauswara liklik a?

I suggest that the most important aspect of Chris' initiative is to have the worthwhile benefits of what kiaps (and many others) achieved for PNG and Australia recognised initially rather than any individual merit being singled out. The journey starts with the first step.

Talking to Harry T. this morning, he suggested that it would be easy to imagine a future Australian PM lauding the work of former kiaps on the death of the last surviving one. A precedent for this happened recently when in Parliament the PM extolled the virtues of the last WW1 digger to die, even if that digger never got to leave Australia's shores.

Of course by then it's too late for anyone to ask, "What was it actually like then, grandpa?"

Thanks to Des Martin for the information that the Australian Service Medal 1945-75 may be awarded for Military "and other Service". Some of us could therefore style ourselves as "ASM (PNG) and Bar". I rather fancy the idea, or is it just the old pomposity kicking in?
Speaking of Bilas, I read the following ad in the "Coffs Harbour Advocate" last Saturday 4 July 2009.
"NSW MARITIME MEDAL", Nominations invited.
This award recognises outstanding and sustained contributions to the boating and maritime community in the categories of Safety, Environment and Community.
Nominations are now open. Closing date Friday 21 August 2009'
Perhaps some of you old Nambis and Solwara Kiaps may achieve closure by sporting such a Gong! For my part, I don't think that I qualify!
Let us not lose heart!
Bob.

Just saw this in Keith Jackson's page:
"The Federal Government has agreed to:

Extend to Kiaps eligibility for the National Medal for service to 30 November 1973

Accept that Kiaps were sworn commissioned officers of an Australian external territorial police force, that is, the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary"

I assume its because we were members of the RPNGC. I looked at the conditions for the National Medal and it says that they are awarded on the recommendation of the Chief Officer. Who is our Chief Officer now? Sounds like the old Catch 22!

Cheers

Ves