Copra plantations in New Guinea

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section relies largely or entirely upon a single source.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources.

The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.(March 2008)
Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

Villagers toil in the copra plantations of Australia's Trust Territory of Papua New Guinea, 1948. National Archives of Australia

Copra Plantations in New Guinea have been cultivated since the late 1800's. Originally established by German colonialists, they were superseded by Australian interests following World War 2.

[edit] Early colonialists

In 1884, German settlers arrived in eastern New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea), and planted Coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) for the production of copra, the dried flesh of the coconut. They established the colony of German New Guinea in the north eastern quarter of the island and numerous coconut plantations around coastal areas. They were afraid of venturing too far inland.^[1] To counter the growing German presence in the region, the Australian state of Queensland established the Territory of Papua as a de factor possession covering approximately the south east third of the island.^[1] Both the Queensland and German plantations thrived, providing opulent living conditions for the expatriates. Grand mansions were built on the plantations, complete with luxury furnishings.^[1] Much of the labour was performed by New Guinea natives.^[2] The towns of Port Moresby and Rabaul were founded as a result of the economic activity surrounding the plantations.^[1]

In 1914, Australia sent a small military force to capture the towns of Kokopo and Rabaul. Two Germans were killed in the process, while the remaining German plantation owners were initially sent back to work on their plantations.^[1] The 1919 Treaty of Versailles saw Germany lose all its overseas colonies, including German New Guinea.^[2] It became the Territory of New Guinea, a League of Nations Mandate Territory under Australian administration.

[edit] Australian production

Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes established an Expropriation Board to dispossess the Germans of their land, and hand all 268 plantations to Australians.^[1] A scheme was devised to allow Australian ex-servicemen to purchase New Guinea plantations under extermely generous terms, as a reward for their services during World War I. Ex-servicemen were required to pay 5% of the purchase price at the time of tender. A further 10% was paid three months later. The remainder of the money could be paid over a 20 year period at an interest rate of 5% per annum.^[3]

Between 1926 and 1927, 40,000 hectares of plantations were put on sale.^[2] German consortiums also placed bids in an attempt to reclaim some of their lost plantations, but the Australian government deemed those bids ineligible under the Treaty of Peace to own lands in New Guinea.^[3]

On 31 March, 1926, the Australian firm Burns Philp & Company Limited placed an advertisement in a Melbourne newspaper, offering financial assistance for Australian ex-servicemen who wished to purchase New Guinea plantations. In return, Burns Philp asked would-be tenders to sign a Trading Agreement which assigned the company the right to sell all copra produced on the plantations. Another Australian trading company, W. R. Carpenter and Co Ltd, entered into similar agreements. Ex-servicemen who took part in the deal were known as copra dummies, as they were acting as a front for the trading companies.^[3]

41 ex-servicemen were allocated plantations on 1 June, 1926.^[2] The dummies were paid an annual fee, while the trading companies operated the plantations at a profit.^[3] It would have been possible for the trading companies to bid for the plantations in their own name, but they would then have to pay twice the deposit (10% instead of 5%), and pay off the remainder in half the time. The trading companies thus opted to use the dummies as a cheaper means of acquiring use of the land. However, it thwarted the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes stated aim to offer "New Guinea for the returned serviceman".^[2]

The practice of dummying was considered a scandal, in Canberra, Senator John Chapman declared:

"Statements regarding dummying are so widely current, so persistent and so serious that I consider the Government should authorise an inquiry into them immediately."^[2]

According to Sir John Middleton, the son of the late New Guinea planter Bill Middleton who successfully bid for the plantation known as Kulili, "There were politicians involved back home. He threatened that if he didn't get Kulili he was going to blow the lid on the whole thing."^[2]