Facts and Figures

1828 Irian Jaya or West Papua was colonized by Dutch and became known as Dutch New Guinea.
1884 New Guinea colonized by Germany became known as German New Guinea.
1884 Papua annexed by the colony of Queensland.
1888 Authority over Papua was transferred to Britain and it became known as British New Guinea.
1901 Six colonies (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia united to be founding states of the Federation of Australia.
1905 [16th November] British New Guinea joined Australia to be technically the seventh state as the Australian Territory of Papua under the Papua Act no 09 of 1905.
1911 Northern Territory became technically the 8th State of Australia.
1914 German New Guinea was captured by the Australian military and administrated as a military administration separate from the Australian Territory of Papua under ANGAU (Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit.)
1921 New Guinea administrative authority transferred from Australian military to League of Nations.
1945 League of Nations becomes United Nations. New Guinea became United Nations Trust Territory.
1948 The Nationality and Citizenship Act no 83 of 1948 introduced.
1958 The Migration Act no 62 of 1958 introduced.
1973 Self Government introduced.
1975 [16th September] the Australian Territory of Papua and the United Nations Trust Territory of New Guinea united and became Papua New Guinea.

1. The Papua Act no 09 of 1905. (That made the Australian Territory of Papua, Australia)
2. The Nationality and Citizenship Act no 83 of 1948. (That made Papuans, Australian Citizens)
3. The Migration Act no 62 of 1958. (That shows the emigrational boundary of Australia, that includes the Australian Territory of Papua)

THEREAS by Letters Patent of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria bearing date the eight day of June, One thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, the Territories and Islands therein and described were, as and when the same should become part of Her Majesty's Dominions, constituted and erected into a separate Possession and Government by the name of British New Guinea; that is to say, the southern and south-eastern shores of New Guinea from the one hundred and forty-first meridian of east longitude eastward as far as East Cape, and thence north-westward as far as the eighth parallel of south latitude in the neighbourhood of Mitre Rock, together with the territory lying south of a line from Mitre Rock, proceeding along the said eighth parallel to one hundred and forty-seventh degree of east longitude, then in a straight line in a north-westerly direction to the point of intersection of the sixth parallel of south latitude and of the one hundred and forty-fourth degree of east longitude and continuing in a west-north-westerly direction to the point of intersection of the fifth parallel of south latitude and of the one hundred and forty-first degree of east longitude, together with the Trobriand, Woodlark, D'Entrecasteaur, and Louisiade Groups of Islands and all other Islands lying between the eighth and the twelfth parallels of south latitude and between the one hundred and forty-first and the hundred and fifty-fifth degrees east longitude and not forming part of the Colony of Queensland, and furthermore including all Islands Reef lying in the Gulf of Papua to the northward of the eighth parallel of south latitude:

And whereas on or about the fourth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, the said territory and islands became part of Her Majesty's Dominions:

And whereas by an Order of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria in Council, bearing date the seventeenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, made under the provisions of the British Settlements Act 1887, it was provided that an appeal should lie from any court of the Possession of British New Guinea to the Supreme Court of Queensland at Brisbane in the matters and in the manner therein set out:

And whereas by a further Order of Her late Majesty in Council bearing date the twenty-fourth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, made under the provisions of the British Settlements Act 1887, it was provided that in all Admiralty matters an appeal should lie from the Colonial Court of Admiralty of the possession of British New Guinea to the Supreme Court of Queensland at Brisbane:

And whereas by a further Order of Her late Majesty in Council bearing date the eight date of February, One thousand eight hundred and ninety-six, made under the British Settlements Act 1887 in pursuance of a convention made between Her Majesty and Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands and signed at the Hague on the sixteenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred and ninety-five, it provided that the western boundary of the Possession of British New Guinea should be a line starting from the southern coast of the Island of New Guinea at the middle of the mouth of the Bensbach River, situated at about one hundred and forty-one degrees one minute forty-seven and nine-tenths seconds of east longitude, thence proceeding to the north, following the meridian which passes through the said mouth up to the point where that meridian meets the Fly River, thence along the waterway ("Thalweg") of the Fly River up to the one hundred and forty-first degree of east longitude, thence along the one hundred and forty-first degree of east longitude up to the point intersection of the boundaries of British, Netherland, and German possessions, and that the laws of the Possession of British New Guinea should extend to and be in force to that boundary:

And whereas by Letters Patent of His Majesty the King bearing date the eighteenth day of March, One thousand nine hundred and two, the Possession was placed under the authority of the Commonwealth, and it was thereby provided that the Governor-General should, so soon as the Parliament signifying and declaring that the Parliament has made laws for the government of the Possession and that from and after the date of such Proclamation (thereinafter referred to as the appointed day) the said Letters Patent of the eighty day June, One thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, and any instructions which might from time to time have been given to any officer administrating the government of British New Guinea with respect to the execution of any things that belong to the said office of Administrator should cease to have effect and should be revoked without prejudice to anything lawfully done thereunder; and it was thereby further provided that the powers and authorities conferred by the said Letter Pa tent of the eight day of June, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight, and any instructions as aforesaid should, until the appointed day, be read and constructed as though and powers authorities and duties thereby conferred or imposed upon the Governor of Queensland were conferred and imposed upon the Governor-General , and that the said Letters Patent and Instructions should be construed and take effect with the substitution of the Governor-General for the Governor of Queensland; and it was thereby further provided that the now recited Letters Patent should come into force forthwith:

And whereas by an Order of His Majesty in Council bearing date the sixth day of March, One thousand nine hundred and two, it was provided that the Governor-General, so soon as the Parliament had made laws providing for the hearing of appeals from the courts of the Possession of British New Guinea, should issue a Proclamation signifying and declaring that the Parliament had made such laws accordingly, and that thereupon the aforesaid Orders in Council of the seventeenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred an ninety-one, should be revoked and should cease to have effect without prejudice to anything lawfully done thereunder, provided that any appeals from any court of the said Possession to the Supreme Court of Queensland at Brisbane in the same manner and in all respects as though the said Orders in Council which should be pending at the date of such Proclamation should be heard and determined by the Supreme Court of Queensland at Brisbane in the same manner and in all respects as though the said Orders in Council had not been revoked.

Be it therefore enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:-

The Papua Act No 9 of 1905:

Section 21:

Subsection (5.) The adult white people shall for the purposes of this section be deemed to be the people of the Territory or Division, as the case requires.

Subsection (9.)(c) "Native" means any person in the Territory not of European descent.

The Australian Territory of Papua is technically the seventh state of Australia under the;

1. (1) The Papua Act no 09 of 1905 - (a) Section 4 - In this Act unless the contrary intentions appear; "The Territory" means the Territory of Papua. (b) Section 5 - The possession of British New Guinea is hereby declared to be accepted by the Commonwealth as a Territory under the authority of the Commonwealth, by the name of Territory of Papua.
2. (2) The Nationality and Citizenship Act no 83 of 1948 - (a) Section 5(1) - In this Act unless the contrary intentions appears;

   "Australia" includes Norfolk Island and Territory of Papua.

   "New Guinea" means Territory of New Guinea.

   "Territory" means a Territory under the authority of the Commonwealth.

   "Trust territory" means a territory administered by the government of any part of His Majesty's dominions under the trusteeship system of the United Nations.

3. (3) The Migration Act no 62 of 1948 -

   (a) Section 5 (1) - In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears;

   "Territory" means a Territory of the Commonwealth being part of the Commonwealth.

   (b) Section 5 (3) - For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be deemed to have left Australia if he has gone outside the territorial limits of Australia.

Contrary to popular belief or knowledge, Papua was not a colony of Australia, but was a territory of Australia and technically to intents and purposes the seventh state of Australia and was Australia - Northern Territory being technically the eighth.

The six colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia to form the Federation of Commonwealth in 1901and are the founding states of Australia. British New Guinea joined in 1905 to be the seventh and became the Territory of Papua. Northern Territory joined in 1911, six years after Papua and was the eighth.

To be colonized means that the colonial power, in this case British would have declared the land is uninhabited, the legal term "Terra Nullos". The British did this in mainland Australia without considering the indigenous Aborigine who are basically nomads.

In the case of Papua, we were pacified, which means that there was negotiate with the indigenous people to buy and settle on land. So Papua was never a colony of Australia - the correct term is that Papua was under Australian administration. Papua had a administration in place to have a say in our union with Australia.

New Guinea was technically a colony of Australia because the decision was done by the United Nations, which New Guinea was under it trusteeship, to come under the administrative mandate of Australia as separate entity from Papua which was part of Australia and was Australia.

The entity to administer this United Nations mandate was ANGAU. ANGAU means Australia New Guinea Administrative Unit. Note there is no mention of Papua, because Papua was Australia and New Guinea was separate entity. To this day many people still refer to Papua New Guinea as just New Guinea, because Papua had always been Australia.

Section 10(1) "Subject to the section, a person born in Australia after the commencement of this Act shall be an Australian citizen by birth"

A British subject is a person who was born in Australia (including Papua) before 1948 and before the commencement of the Nationality and Citizenship Act no 83 of 1948 became Australian citizen by virtue of: Section 24 "In this Part 'British subject' includes a person who was immediately prior to date of commencement of this Act, entitled in Australia or a Territory to all political and other rights, powers and privileges to which a natural-born British subject was then entitled" and;

Section 25(1) "A person who was a British subject immediately prior to the date of commencement of this Act shall, on that date, become a Australian citizen if - (a) he was born in Australia and would have been a Australian citizen if section ten of this Act had been in force at the time of his birth".

And under the Migration Act no 62 of 1958;

Section 5 (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears-

"alien" means a person, who is not (a) a British subject (b) an Irish citizen, or (c) a protected person intended to enter

"immigrant" includes a person intending to enter, or who has entered, Australia for a temporary stay only, where he would be an immigrant if he intended to enter, or had entered Australia for the purposes of staying permanently.

"protected person" has the same meaning as in the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948-1958.

New Guineans were United Nations & Australian Protected Persons under Section 11 of the Nationality and Citizenship Act no 83 of 1948.

There are basically six types of citizenships:

1. Citizenship by Subject: (when the Papuans were under Britain, they were British citizens by subject, the New Guineans were German citizens by subject and the West Papuans were Dutch citizens by subjects)
2. Citizens by Registrations: (e.g. Australian citizens living in New Guinea before 1975, who had children born there, had to register their children as Australian citizens or if a German couple had a child born here in Papua New Guinea, the child would be an Papua New Guinea by birth. They have to go to the German Embassy and register their child as a German citizens and the child becomes a German citizen by registration).
3. Citizenship by Adoption: (where the adopted parent is of another country e.g. some of our children were adopted by missionaries and taken away from their birth parents who are Papua New Guineans).
4. Citizenship by Nationalization or Grant: (where the original birth citizen is of another country and the person renounce his birth citizenship and declares loyalty to his new citizenship).
5. Citizenship by Descent: (where one of the parent is of another country or citizenship, the child can gain his citizenship by right of that parent, e.g. the half castes or mix races).
6. Citizenship by Birth: (the legal term "jus soli" - where you are born or what you are born is what you are. You cannot change where or what you were born).

Of all these types of citizenships, Governments, Politicians, proclamations, provisions, regulations or legislation can change except the citizenship by birth, which cannot be changed. The only way a citizenship by birth can be lost is by you with your full knowledge; choice and consent, renouncing it and declaring loyalty to the new country or citizenship you are gaining.

You cannot be forced to renounce your birthright or a time frame set, forcing you to renounce it or be unilaterally stripped of your birth citizenship. It is must be your personally choice and decision.

In a citizenship, there are different types of rights; a right to vote, a right to stand in elections, a right to travel within the country of your citizenship without restrictions, but the fundamental right, which makes a citizenship, is the "right of residence". Without the "right of residence", the citizenship is not a citizenship.

An Australia citizen had right of residence under the Nationality and Citizenship Act no 83 of 1948;

Section 5(3) "For the purposes of this Act-

(e) a person shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident in a country if-

(i) he has his home in that country; or
(ii) that country is the country of his permanent abode notwithstanding that he is temporarily absent therefore -

but he shall be deemed not so resident if he resides in that country for a special or temporary purpose only".

Prior to 1975, there was an official Australian Government Policy known as the WHITE AUSTRALIA POLICY and the well known effects of this policy in MAINLAND Australia was the "Stolen Generation", the "Citizens without Rights" issue and the "Mabo Land Rights" case.

In the Australian Territory of Papua there was also effects of this discriminatory policy - examples; Indigenous or Natives as they were known in those days weren't allowed out after 8pm at night on the main roads without a pass or were not allowed into hotels or pubs without a pass.

Indigenous men were not allowed look at or talk to white women under the "White Women's Protection Ordinance of 1926 -1934" without getting arrested. Section 3. "Any person who commits or attempts to commit the crime of rape upon any European woman or girl shall be guilty of a crime and being convicted thereof shall be liable to the punishment of death". Steven Stevens of Misima Island was hanged for having a relationship with a white woman.

Even though Indigenous Papuans were legally Australian citizens and Papua was legally Australia, Indigenous Papuans had to be issued a "Permit to Enter" to travel to MAINLAND Australia. These passes were discriminatory and illegally because Papuans were Australia and the Australian Territory of Papua was Australia and Papuans were traveling within Australia. Nobody had ever challenged the legality of these passes.

Even though Papuans had to get passes to enter mainland Australia; when Papuans traveled out of Australia they were issued Australian Passport which had "British subject and Australian Citizen" in their passports. New Guineans had "Australian Protected Persons" on their Passports.

A classic example of discrimination as a result of the "White Australia Policy" is recorded in an Essay - "Miss Tessie Lavau's Request" by Historian Donald Denoon - who traced the consequences of a Papuan woman's application to travel to mainland Australia in 1958.

This is quoted from that essay:

Since Miss Lavau's request violated at least two stereotypes, the astonished authorities referred it up through all ranks until it rested on the desk of the Administrator. Sir Donald Cleland mulled it over and decided that:

"The girl is a mature type who adopted European dress and living standards and has saved sufficient money to pay her fare both ways … I am satisfied that the application to visit Australia is genuinely for the purpose stated and that the interest of [the sponsors] in offering to provide accommodation is based on personal friendship … I can see no objection to granting permission for a native person to leave the Territory in these circumstances, provided that the bona fides of the applicant stand up to close examation and that each application is dealt with on its individual merits following close investigation into the character, background and motives of those concerned with it and to the relationship between the applicant and the persons in Australia who are to be visited … It is not expected that the number of applications would be extensive as there are few native people in a position to finance such a trip, or with close personal friends in Australia to provide accommodation….".

Miss Lavau's application succeeded because her character- and the reputation of her sponsors- survived scrutiny, but also because it resonated with the Administrator's view of seemly race relations. Sir. Donald earnestly desired that 'individual native people build up personal contact with individual Australian citizens- under the watchful eye of the authorities, who would vet the circumstances of every visit and assess characters and motives. A District Commissioner would investigate every applicant, authorities in Australia would conduct random checks on tourists and their hosts, and the visit was limited to three months.

A decision of this significance required the support of the Minister for Territories. Sir Paul Husluck endorsed Cleland's advise and referred the matter to his colleague Sir Alexander Downer, Minister for Immigration. Two governments, two Commonwealth departments, two cabinet ministers and innumerable police and inspectors studied the case. This might seem absurd for a three month's visit to a police inspector's family by a law-abiding and well-liked tourist who had bought her own return ticket, but the entry of any non-European to Australia was problematic. Miss Lavau was not only testing the racial conventions of the Territory: she was picking at the seams of White Australia. In response to backbencher's question, the Minister for Immigration investigated the law on the subject, and unearthed this anomaly:

"The Migration Act permits the exclusion from Australia of any 'immigrant'. For the legal meaning of this term, we have to rely on decision given and observations made in the High Court. From these, it is evident that any person may be regarded as an immigrant who is not a constituent member of the Australian community- whatever his national status maybe".

"On this basis, legal power exists to prevent the entry to Australia of either natives of Papua, whose national status is that of Australian citizens, or natives of the Trust Territory of New Guinea, who are Australian protected persons" (Nationality and Citizenship Act and Citizenship Regulations).

It did not need to be spelt out that 'constituent members of the Australian community' were white. It was not nationality but color that separated Miss Lavau from her Australian friends, and the Commonwealth from the Territory.

I refer to "Native Emigration Restriction Ordinance, 1935 No. 6 of 1935" An Ordinance to Restrict the Emigration of Aboriginal Natives, as one Ordinance that was discriminatory.

This was example of the "White Australia Policy" that had discriminated against the Indigenous of MAINLAND Australia, the Torres Straits and the Australian Territory of Papua then and is still excluding and discriminating the Papuans to this day and has never been challenged as being illegal and discrimination policy.