Further Resources

This section provides background sources and acknowledges the many people and institutions that helped bring the Bully Beef Club story to life. The project draws on decades of research, oral history, and archival collaboration between Papua New Guinean and Australian partners. Our thanks go to the historians, families, and custodians of memory who have shared their materials and their trust to ensure this story is told with depth and integrity.

Books and References

The Bully Beef Club project builds on a rich body of scholarship and firsthand accounts documenting Papua New Guinea’s path to independence.
Key sources include:

• Michael Somare, Sana: An Autobiography of Michael Somare (Port Moresby: Niugini Press, 1975)
• Albert Māori Kiki, Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime (Melbourne: Cheshire, 1968)
• Hank Nelson, Taim Bilong Masta: The Australian Involvement with Papua New Guinea (Canberra: ANU Press, 1982)
• Donald Denoon, A Trial Separation: Australia and the Decolonisation of Papua New Guinea (Canberra: Pandanus Books, 2005)
• Jonathan Ritchie, Ebia Olewale: A Life of Service (Port Moresby: UPNG Press, 2012)
• Rachel Cleland, Papua New Guinea: Pathways to Independence – Official and Family Life, 1951–1975 (Perth: Artlook, 1983)
• Australians in Papua New Guinea 1942–1975 Oral History Project, National Library of Australia
• Papua New Guinea National Archives (PNGNA) – including Administrative College and Department of District Administration records
• PNG Speaks and PNG Voices from the War, Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery
• Pacific Manuscripts Bureau Photo Collections, Australian National University
• ABC Archives and Hindsight Series, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Project Team

Dr Bradley Underhill

Brad Underhill is a historian of Papua New Guinea and the Pacific. His PhD on Australia’s postwar ‘New Deal’ in PNG was published as Preparing a Nation: The New Deal in the Villages of Papua New Guinea, which won the Hank Nelson Prize. He has published widely on PNG’s colonial development and Australia–PNG relations in leading academic journals, and was co-editor of the Australian Historical Studies special issue Wan Solwara:
Remembering Papua New Guinea and Australia. He is also co-editor of Debating the Nation: Speeches from the House of Assembly, 1972–1975.

Dr Jonathan Ritchie

Dr Ritchie is a historian at Deakin University’s Centre for Contemporary Histories. Born in Papua New Guinea before independence, he has devoted his career to documenting the relationship between the two nations. His publications include Ebia Olewale: A Life of Service, and he has led major oral-history projects such as PNG Voices from the War and PNG Speaks.

Lahui Ako

Lahui Ako is an educator, diplomat, and adviser who has worked closely with the project to ensure Papua New Guinean perspectives remain central. A former ambassador and senior public servant, he has contributed reflections on leadership, national identity, and the enduring legacy of the Bully Beef Club.

Keimelo Gima

Keimelo Gima is an academic at the UPNG’s School of Humanities and Social Science. He has taught courses on PNG’s labour history, colonization and nation building, PNG History, Development in the Global Economy and PNG in the International Economy. He is also involved in writing and marking the country’s national grade 12 history exams for the last 15 years. He  has collaborated on various projects with Deakin University including Voices from the War, Solomon Islands Oral History and the digitization of PNG House of Assembly records. 

Acknowledgements

The project team gratefully acknowledges the generous support and contributions of:

• Papua New Guinea National Archives (PNGNA) – for access to colonial administration files and historical documentation.
• Max Uechtritz – for sharing personal photographs and archival materials.
• Edward Edawi – for facilitating image access and permissions through the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery.
• Kari James – for assistance with the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau image collection.
• Steven Pythas for helping with the webpage.
• ABC Archives, National Library of Australia, PNG Speaks – for permission to
  reproduce archival footage and interviews.
• The Somare family, Olewale family, and others who provided images, recollections, and guidance.
• Aaron O’Shannessy and the Australia Awards Program (managed by Tetra Tech on behalf of the Australian Government) – for their financial and institutional support of this project.
• ArTech PNG – for website design and digital development.

Contact and Collaboration

For more information about the Bully Beef Club project or to contribute materials, please contact the research team at Deakin University and the Somare Institute of Leadership and Governance (SILAG).
We welcome new stories, photographs, and recollections that help preserve Papua New Guinea’s journey toward independence.

Contact: Dr Brad Underhill

Developed by ArTech PNG with support from the Australia Awards (managed by Tetra Tech on behalf of the Australian Government).