Australia in the Age of International Development, 1945–1975: Colonial and Foreign Aid Policy in Papua New Guinea and Southeast Asia (Security, Conflict and Cooperation in the Contemporary World)

This book examines Australian colonial and foreign aid policy towards Papua New Guinea and Southeast Asia in the age of international development (1945–1975). During this period, the academic and political understandings of development consolidated and informed Australian attempts to provide economic assistance to the poorer regions to its north. Development was central to the Australian colonial administration of PNG, as well as its Colombo Plan aid in Asia. In addition to examining Australia’s perception of international development, this book also demonstrates how these debates and policies informed Australia’s understanding of its own development. This manifested itself most clearly in Australia’s behavior at the 1964 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The book concludes with a discussion of development and Australian foreign aid in the decade leading up to Papua New Guinea’s independence, achieved in 1975. Acknowledgements 6 Contents 8 About the Author 10 Abbreviations 11 1 Introduction 13 The Age of International Development 18 Australia in the Age of International Development 22 Australian Aid in the Age of International Development—The Colombo Plan and Papua New Guinea 28 2 “Stone Age to the Twentieth Century”: Trusteeship and the New Deal for Papua New Guinea, 1945–1949 33 Development at the End of the Second World War 35 Trusteeship and Colonial Development 40 ‘Primitive’ Papua New Guinea 43 Ward’s New Deal for Papua New Guinea 45 Contests Over Development: Within the Bureaucracy 46 Indentured Labour and the Expatriate Community 48 Agriculture as the Basis for Development 52 The New Deal: Australia’s First ‘Aid’ Program 55 3 “By Every Means in Our Power”: The Establishment of the Colombo Plan, 1949–1957 59 Developmental Theory and the Shift from Relief to Development 61 Aid Becomes Foreign Policy 66 The Colombo Plan 70 The Colombo Plan’s International Dimensions 75 Developmental Debates: External Affairs and Treasury 77 The Early Years of the Colombo Plan 80 The Colombo Plan: More Than Just Engagement 86 4 “New Codes and a New Order”: Papua New Guinean Development in the Hasluck Era, 1951–1963 88 Modernisation Theory 91 Australian Perceptions of PNG 95 Paul Hasluck and Development 98 Development: A Prerequisite for Self-Government 104 Colonial Development Policy: Education and Agriculture 106 Port Moresby Versus Canberra 112 PNG and Australian Developmentalism 116 5 “Developed, Developing or Midway?” Australia at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 1964 119 Dependency Theory: A Challenge to the Orthodoxy 123 The Establishment of UNCTAD 127 The Middle Zone 130 Bureaucratic Debate Over the Middle Zone: Trade and Industry vs. External Affairs 134 UNCTAD 138 UNCTAD and PNG 142 The Middle Zone: Doomed to Fail? 145 6 “We Should Be Doing More Than We Are”: The Colombo Plan, Papua New Guinea and the Australian External Aid Review, 1957–1965 149 Stagnant Aid Policy 152 Paul Hasluck and the Australian External Aid Policy Review 156 Inter-Departmental Debates 159 Australia’s Place in the International Foreign Aid System 160 Australian Assistance to PNG as Foreign Aid 164 Australia as a ‘Developing’ Country 168 Policy Recommendations and the Consequences of the Aid Review 172 7 Taking Up the “Latest Fashions”: International Development in Flux and the Australian Response, 1965–1975 177 Developmental Debates: New Ideas Challenge the Orthodoxy 179 Papua New Guinea: Development and Independence 184 Self-Reliance and the Faber Report 187 The Establishment of the Australian Council for Overseas Aid 192 ACFOA and ‘Basic Needs’ 195 Creating a Stand-Alone Australian Aid Agency: The Establishment of the ADAA 198 The ADAA and the Clash Between Developmental and Political Imperatives 204 Australian Aid at the End of the Age of International Development 206 8 Conclusion 207 Bibliography 212 Index 233 Front Matter ....Pages i-xii Introduction (Nicholas Ferns)....Pages 1-20 “Stone Age to the Twentieth Century”: Trusteeship and the New Deal for Papua New Guinea, 1945–1949 (Nicholas Ferns)....Pages 21-46 “By Every Means in Our Power”: The Establishment of the Colombo Plan, 1949–1957 (Nicholas Ferns)....Pages 47-75 “New Codes and a New Order”: Papua New Guinean Development in the Hasluck Era, 1951–1963 (Nicholas Ferns)....Pages 77-107 “Developed, Developing or Midway?” Australia at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 1964 (Nicholas Ferns)....Pages 109-138 “We Should Be Doing More Than We Are”: The Colombo Plan, Papua New Guinea and the Australian External Aid Review, 1957–1965 (Nicholas Ferns)....Pages 139-166 Taking Up the “Latest Fashions”: International Development in Flux and the Australian Response, 1965–1975 (Nicholas Ferns)....Pages 167-196 Conclusion (Nicholas Ferns)....Pages 197-201 Back Matter ....Pages 203-231