I’ve just heard from Andy Connelly after three years. Back then he was asking about ASOPA and related matters and I steered him to Ex-Kiap.net and the PNGAA, whereupon he got in touch with Chips Mackellar and Paul Oates, who he says have been very helpful in completing his MA at California State University. Andy's master's thesis, Counting Coconuts: Patrol Reports from the Trobriand Islands, 1907-34  is online here.

Now Andy has been accepted into the PhD program in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at ANU, where he will start in October, working under Chris Ballard. He’ll be writing a doctoral paper on the Australian administration of the Trobriands, starting with an analysis of colonial history and ending with an exploration of contemporary structures of power and economy in the islands. This will include looking at how the Trobrianders remember the colonial period and how they have represented and refashioned these recollections to suit their lives.

According to Andy, the online communities of PNGAA, ASOPA and Ex-Kiap.net will be pivotal in this pursuit. Andy also says one of his goals is to have more involvement with the PNGAA and we certainly look forward to the prospect of that – particularly through the Association’s newly former History & Scholarship sub-committee, chaired by Riley Warren AM.