KEITH JACKSON

THE Papua New Guinea Association of Australia is pressing for a splendid project that would transmute the former Australian School of Pacific Administration (ASOPA) buildings at Middle Head in Sydney into a Community Centre for Pacific Nations.

To introduce the idea to the community and take it forward, the PNGAA will hold an open day at the site next Sunday 22 May between 10am and 2pm and it’s looking for support.

“The project aims to engage our community of Australians and Papua New Guineans with a suitable living, interactive, tribute in the form of a Papua New Guinea-Australia centre - a focal point for the PNG-Australia relationship,” says Andrea Williams, PNGAA president.

“ASOPA had a foundational linkage of military and civil engagement in securing, planning for and developing Papua New Guinea for nationhood and its direct successors became the dominant institutional presence in the precinct for 51 years until the AusAID Centre for Pacific Development and Training was abolished in 1998.”

KEITH JACKSON

PNG ATTITUDE PAYS TRIBUTE to the former Australian School of Pacific Administration (ASOPA) in various ways, including the retention of the name in our internet address.

A little remembered aspect of ASOPA, which ended its illustrious life in 1973, was that it morphed into another great learning institution, the International Training Institute (ITI).

But whereas ASOPA had trained and orientated young Australian professionals to work in the former Territory of Papua New Guinea, when it transitioned into ITI it made a 180 degree turn.

Instead of being a colonial training establishment, ITI brought together middle managers from countries in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific to improve their management skills and give them a leg up.

It flourished for 15 years until 1987 until being cruelly put down by what is now AusAID for reasons that remain obscure.

ITI was a great idea that has never been adequately replaced in Australia.

Now a Facebook page has been developed by Ingrid (Hallein) Jackson (pictured) who lectured in human resources management at ITI from 1981-86.

Ingrid would like to hear from any people who participated in the wonderful ITI project as staff or fellows (students). You can go to the Facebook page or email her here.

“ITI was primarily a centre for sharing knowledge and apply knowledge to real problems,” Ingrid said.

“It did not base its programs on the premise that its staff of specialists knew all the answers.

“Its development philosophy stemmed from the belief that if experienced and well-motivated people from a variety of backgrounds worked together in a systematic way then, collectively, they could develop successful approaches to even the most formidable problems.”