Identity area
Reference code
AU PMB DOC 546
Title
Date(s)
- September 1946 - September 1950 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
55 digitised newsletters
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
In March 1946, the School became a civil institution, named The Australian School of Pacific Administration, and was transferred to Georges Heights, Mosman, NSW, and later to Middle Head. ASOPA was given statuatory recognition under the Papua New Guinea Act in 1949 and continued to function as a responsibility of the Minister for External Territories till 1 December 1973, when the International Training Institute (ITI) came into existence as a result of the Australian Government’s decision to integrate ASOPA into the structure of the Australian Development Assistance Agency (later AIDAB), under the Minister of Foreign Affairs. ITI closed in 1997.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Carl Franke served in New Guinea with an engineers' unit, the 15th Australian field company, during World War II. At the end of the war, in July 1947, Franke returned to New Guinea after accepting a cadetship with the Australian Department of Agriculture. The majority of his work was in surveying and reporting on the potential of viable crop production to assist in post war development. His first project was at Bumana vegetable research station on the Laloki River, approximately 30 miles north of Port Moresby. He then moved to a government rubber plantation at Kokoda. From that post, Franke moved to Kiaruku on the south west coast of Papua to begin the Meko Rice project. Franke then undertook a 25 day patrol through the Goila Sub District to ascertain which vegetable crops could be introduced to better vary the local diet and to determine the possibility of growing cash crops. He also spent time at the Agricultural Research Station in Kerevat near Rabaul where they were looking at coffee and cacao, before moving onto Buka at Bougainville to start an agricultural station that would distribute pigs to the community. Unfortunately many of the first consignment of pigs died due to erysipelas, after being sunburnt on the trip over.
In November 1949, Franke went on leave to get married, returning in January 1950 to Buin for another rice project. His wife Betty, who was completing her midwifery certificate, was to follow and also work in New Guinea, but Franke's father died in May 1950 and he returned to Australia where he was required to assist in the family business. Carl Franke died in May of 2020.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This collection consists of newsletters of the Australian School of Pacific Administration (ASOPA) from September 1946 - September 1950. The 'Monthly Notes' newsletter ran from September 1946 (Vol.1, No.1) - August 1947 (Vol.1, No.12). There is also a Monthly Notes Index. In September 1947, the newsletter name changed to 'South Pacific', which ran until 1959. This set of newsletters was collected by ASOPA student Carl Franke, who served as a cadet agriculturalist in the Territory of Papua-New Guinea in 1947-1948 (see PMB MS 1445). This collection also includes miscellaneous Territory of Papua reports collected by Franke.
This collection includes:
- 'Monthly Notes', Vol.1 - Vol.1, No.12; September 1946 - August 1947
- 'Monthly Notes Index', September 1946 - August 1947
- 'South Pacific', Vol.2 - Vol.4, No.9; September 1947 - August/September 1950. Incomplete: Vol.4, No.7;June 1950 was not available for digitisation.
- 'South Pacific Law Review (Supplement to South Pacific), Vol.1, No.1 - Vol.1, No.8; July 1948-June 1950
- Territory of Papua. Lands, Surveys and Forestry. (ID 1609/27)
- Territory of Papua. Economic Geology and Mining. (ID 1610/27)
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Chronological
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Available for reference
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
See individual items
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Institution: Pacific Manuscripts Bureau
Address: HC Coombs Building, Australian National University, Canberra
Country: Australia
Existence and location of copies
Access this title at PMB Member Libraries or by purchasing it directly from the Bureau: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/pambu/accessing.php
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- The Australian School of Pacific Administration (Subject)
- Franke, Carl (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
doc546
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Digital object metadata
Filename
Digital_reference_image.pdf
Latitude
Longitude
Media type
Text
Mime-type
application/pdf