Canberra, 17 June
Pacific Manuscripts Bureau – 40th Anniversary
Introduction
Thank you Professor Chubb [Vice-Chancellor ANU] for your introduction and the opportunity to make this address to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau.
The role of well-documented history in preserving cultural heritage and helping build prosperous communities should be neither under valued nor under estimated.
Well-documented history provides a narrative of the past – but it also lays the foundations for today and tomorrow. As the French historian, Lamartine, said: ‘history teaches us everything – including the future’
Since its establishment in 1968, the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau – Pambu – has delivered on the vision of its founders – that is, to increase and enrich knowledge of the Pacific islands region.
Since its beginnings, Pambu has produced nearly 3800 rolls of microfilm material relating to the Pacific. This means essential historical and cultural records have been preserved for the benefit of future generations of Pacific Islanders.
In addition, Pambu’s work has protected and enriched the resources available to scholars both in the region and throughout the world.
This is a great achievement. I would like to congratulate Pambu and applaud Professor Lal and his team for their work
I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of early supporters of Pambu, including Jim Davidson, Harry Maude and Robert Langdon.
Stories of the work of Pambu archivists make for fascinating reading.
The exploits of Bob Langdon – dubbed the Indiana Jones of archivists - travelling in the late 1960s to remote locations in Vanuatu, paint a picture far removed from the clichéd image of a bespectacled archivist diligently working away in a dusty, basement room.
The combination of tropical storms, camera malfunctions, generator failures, dangerous roads and dodgy aircraft demonstrate the commitment and courage required to preserve what are rightly regarded as historical treasures.
And not so much has changed. Ewan Maidment – Pambu’s current executive officer – has microfilmed from a mouldy shipping container land records in Niue that survived the aftermath of a cyclone –and he has been caught up in civil unrest in the Solomon Islands during the course of his work.
I would also acknowledge the support provided by the Australian National University and the Bureau’s nine sponsoring institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
Pambu’s early mandate was to locate archives, manuscripts and rare publications relating to the Pacific and copy them to microfilm. The goal was to stop the loss of older, at-risk records.
The Bureau has remained committed to its early priority of preserving at-risk documents. However, it has also moved to capture new types of documents, likely to be of value to future Pacific scholars and historians.
Over the years Pambu has worked with hundreds of individuals to identify, organise and preserve the papers, audio recordings and photographs relating to the Pacific Islands.
As a result, an enormous wealth of information has been gathered through the Pambu project.
Pambu has drawn from this vast database of indexes and to answer thousands of reference inquiries from all over the world. The Bureau now has a web presence and an on-line searchable catalogue of its microfilm services.
One issue I am interested in is whether there are opportunities for Pambu to continue to extend it’s record-keeping to the collation and preservation of oral histories – in their original recorded state.
Oral histories make up an important part of the knowledge base in the Pacific region and ensuring they are preserved is a worthy goal. This is of course something Australia needs to pay close attention to within it its own Indigenous oral histories.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Pambu project speaks to Australia’s long-standing relationship with and interest in the Pacific region.
Pambu’s founders long recognised the value and importance of getting to know more about the Pacific.
This desire to better understand the Pacific and to learn more about it informs the new course the Rudd Government is charting in our relations with the Pacific.
We are committed to engaging more effectively and working to realise shared aspirations, particularly when it comes to development and capacity building.
To do this – and personally led by the Prime Minister – we have undertaken an intense program of high-level contact with our near neighbours in the Pacific, including Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Kiribati and Tonga.
These visits and those by Pacific leaders to Canberra reflect the priority we are placing on our mutual relationships.
Our Government’s approach focuses on Australia working alongside our Pacific neighbours to help them unlock their potential.
Our new Pacific policy framework was set out by the Prime Minister in his Port Moresby Declaration, during his visit to PNG in March.
The cornerstone of our new approach is Pacific Partnerships for Development – bilateral understandings with Pacific nations that will specify how we will work together on issues and priorities identified as important by both sides.
We anticipate that PPDs will be pursued in the context of making stronger progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.
The Port Moresby Declaration envisages the partnerships will identify ways to pursue jointly common goals in areas such as economic infrastructure, employment, private sector development, microfinance, health and governance.
Underpinning the partnerships is a move away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach to Pacific island countries. It is a clear move to tailor programs to individual countries’ requirements.
We want Pacific Partnerships to be flexible enough to reflect the cultural, historical and political circumstances of individual Pacific states.
In short – it is a move away from short-term, prescriptive fixes, to a longer-term, more systemic view that allows the region to act on its aspirations.
A guiding principle of the Partnerships concept is our respect for the sovereignty, leadership and ultimate responsibility of our neighbours for their own development.
It is early days in the Pacific Partnerships process. We have started talking separately with PNG and Samoa about what they envisage partnerships can look like, and where their concerns and priorities lie. It is a process that is building goodwill and moving towards concrete goals.
One particular area where I’m hoping the Pacific Partnerships for Development will make a real difference is in education.
As a former Dean of the Law School at the University of Papua New Guinea, I take a close interest in higher education issues in the region, particularly teaching standards and research.
I know that Pambu also takes a close interest in this area and is facilitating closer relations between Australian archives, libraries and universities and those institutions in the Pacific Islands.
I am also encouraged by the efforts of the ANU and its scholars to develop and continue undergraduate and graduate level Pacific studies programs.
In conclusion,
The Rudd Government is confident that our new approach to the Pacific is paying dividends with closer relations between Australia and our neighbours in the region.
And the more we understand each other, the better this is going to work for all of us.
And this is why Pambu’s work is of such importance.
Pambu’s past work has ensured that the rich history and cultural heritage of our Pacific neighbours – and the history of Australia’s relations with the region – have been more effectively preserved.
Pambu will continue documenting history in the Pacific – including as the Government develops its new policies towards the Pacific.
I applaud your efforts and your contribution to increasing our knowledge about and understanding of the Pacific region.
Congratulations on the achievements of the past 40 years – we look forward to doing our part to provide you with much more material in the many years to come.
Thank you
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