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Recent pictures 

Taken by Emeritus Professor Clive Moore in the Solomon Islands.

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Solomon Islands Consul-General visits UQ  

On Friday 19^th February Solomon Islands Consul-General, Mr Kereta Sanga came to UQ to meet with members of UQSIP and tell us about the work of the Consulate. This meeting also offered the opportunity to inform the Consul-General about our members’ research on Solomon Islands.

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Clive Moore, Making Mala: Malaita in Solomon Islands, 1870s-1930s is now available through ANU Press

Emeritus Professor Clive Moore, FAHA, Cross of Solomon Islands  has just published his new book, ‘Making Mala: Malaita in Solomon Islands, 1870s-1930s’ with ANU Press’s Pacific Series. There is a free digital down load, or paper copies cost $68. Its long, over 500 pages, with many photos and maps, and a substantial index:  http://press.anu.edu.au/publications/series/pacific-series/making-mala

Malaita is one of the major islands in the Solomons Archipelago and has the largest population in the Solomon Islands nation. Its people have an undeserved reputation for conservatism and aggression. Making Mala argues that in essence Malaitans are no different from other Solomon Islanders, and that their dominance, both in numbers and their place in the modern nation, can be explained through their recent history.

A grounding theme of the book is its argument that, far than being conservative, Malaitan religions and cultures have always been adaptable and have proved remarkably flexible in accommodating change. This has been the secret of Malaitan success.

Malaitans rocked the foundations of the British protectorate during the protonationalist Maasina Rule movement in the 1940s and the early 1950s, have heavily engaged in internal migration, particularly to urban areas, and were central to the ‘Tension Years’ between 1998 and 2003. Making Mala reassesses Malaita’s history, demolishes undeserved tropes and uses historical and cultural analyses to explain Malaitans’ place in the Solomon Islands nation today.

ISBN (print): 9781760460976

ISBN (online): 9781760460983

Publication date: April 2017

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22459/MM.04.2017

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UQ’s Longstanding Links with Solomon Islands

The University of Queensland's links with the Solomon Islands go back to the early 20^th century. As described in this edited extract from ‘Tulagi: Pacific Outpost of British Empire’ by Professor Clive Moore:

The last prewar incumbent of the post of Judicial Commissioner (later Chief Magistrate) was Ragnar Hyne, former Chief Justice of Tonga (1936), who supposedly arrived in 1938. However, in a 1930 letter, Tulagi resident Jessica Wilson notes that Hyne was in Tulagi as Judicial Commissioner. He may have held an earlier temporary appointment and returned in 1938. Born in 1893, Hyne had a University of Queensland Arts degree and was called to the Queensland bar in 1924.. Hyne later became chief justice and chief judicial officer for the Western Pacific, followed by terms as acting chief justice and later senior puisne judge of Cyprus (1953-58). Knighted, he died in 1966 (SMH 6 Oct 1966).

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UQSIP Members help to preserve Solomon Islands biodiversity

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Kenilorea, Peter Kau`ona Keninaraiso`ona
Born Kenirorea Kau`ona Keninaraiso`ona in on 19 May 1943 in `Are`are district on Malaita, he is known as Peter Kenilorea. His father, Ezra Toi`mae Arahaimou, son of Mairaro and Isiha`a, from the To`oroni tribe, was a South Sea Evangelical Mission pastor. His mother was Esther Hoirao, the first-born daughter of Pastor Jeremiah Akoiasi from Maanawai village, of the Wauruha tribe of east `Are`are.

Peter Kenilorea was chosen, almost at random, to attend King George VI School (q.v.) at Auki on Malaita (1956–1963), and by the end of Form IV the once-illiterate teenager came to hold a Cambridge School Certificate. In 1964, he received a Commonwealth Colombo Plan Scholarship, which enabled him to attend Wesley College in 1963, Wanganui Boys College in 1965 and Ardmore Teachers’ College south of Auckland, all in New Zealand. He graduated from Ardmore with a diploma in 1966 and returned to Honiara in 1968 to teach at King George VI School, at that time the only government high school in the islands. In 1971, he moved to the public service as part of the localization process, and became an Assistant Secretary and then Secretary in the Department of Finance, and finally District Officer on Isabel Island. He requested a transfer to the South Malaita District in late 1972, but was sent instead to North Malaita, which probably cost him election to the Legislative Council. During 1973–1974 he was based in Honiara as an Urban Senior Lands Officer responsible for all urban land in the country. He then transferred to the position of Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet and Secretary to the Chief Minister, and in 1975 he was appointed District Commissioner for the Eastern District.

While still a schoolteacher, Kenilorea began to develop political interests and became President of the Civil Servants’ Association, an organization that provided the basis for the later Solomon Islands United Party, which he helped found. He also made an important submission to the Osifelo Constitutional Review Committee in 1974–1975. He made his first venture into national politics when he ran unsuccessfully for the Honiara seat in 1970, and in 1973 he failed to gain the `Are`are seat, his home electorate. Three years later, unopposed, he won the East `Are`are seat, which he retained until his resignation in 1991.

In 1976, Kenilorea became the second Chief Minister of the Solomon Islands and, at independence on 7 July 1978, the first Prime Minister. He was Prime Minister until August 1980 and then again from October 1984 until he resigned in December 1986 after he lost the confidence of his Cabinet due to his handling of French relief funds. He continued as Deputy Prime Minister from 1987 to 1989, and he also served as Foreign Minister for seven years. In 1991, he resigned from Parliament to take up a three-year appointment as Director of the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency, a regional diplomatic position based in Honiara. He then took a year off before becoming Ombudsman for five years from 1996, and onwards from 2000 he was intimately involved in negotiating the peace process during the political crisis years (1998–2003). He became Speaker of the National Parliament in 2000 and served a second parliamentary term until September 2010.

Kenilorea was awarded the Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977, conferred a member of the Privy Council in 1979 and knighted in 1982. He received the Solomon Islands Independence Medal in 1978. In 1984, the State of Hawai`i awarded him a Certificate for an International Leader of Distinction, and in 1985 he received the highest decoration that the Republic of China awards to non-citizens, ‘The Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon’. In 1988 he was awarded the 10th Solomon Islands Independence Anniversary Medal, and in 1994 the World War II 50th Anniversary Medal in his capacity as a resident diplomat. In 2015 he was awarded the Star of Solomon Islands, the highest award in the nation and usually reserved for foreign dignitaries and heads of state.

Intensely Christian, Sir Peter was a lay preacher in the South Sea Evangelical Church. He was a keen sportsman in his youth. He married Margaret Siunari`i Kwanairara in 1971 and they had eight children, the youngest of whom drowned in 2001. Sir Peter Kenilorea was the great survivor of Solomon Islands politics and the nation’s elder statesman. He was an old-school national leader who subsisted only on his salary, rare in modern Solomon Islands politics. He said that he was an unwilling politician and entered politics out of a sense of duty as a member of the new educated elite, and that, given the size of his family, most of whom were educated in New Zealand, he always had trouble surviving on the salary.

Sir Peter Kenilorea was constant in holding the nation to the letter of the National Constitution and mounted many important private court cases against the government when it abused its authority under it. In his retirement he lived in Honiara. He published his autobiography, Tell It as It Is (2008) as part of the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of independence. He died in Honiara on Thursday 25th February 2016.  He was a great son of Solomon Islands, always a gentleman, a good husband and father and a true Christian. He received a State Funeral on Tuesday 1st March 2016.

Clive Moore

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UQ-SINU Workshop for Developing Research Capacity

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The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit the Solomon Islands

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204325/Duchess-Cambridge-crowned-Island-Princess-decorative-headpiece-given-wishers-village-visit-South-Pacific.html

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UQ Media Release

Solomon Times online: http://www.solomontimes.com/news/uq-leads-study-on-environmental-impacts-of-mining/759

Thursday, 4 April 2013 8:34 AM

UQ Leads Study on Environmental Impacts of Mining

BY HONIARA

The University of Queensland has joined industry partners in a program designed to help ensure a major mining project takes account of the needs of Solomon Islands communities and the environment.

The partnership between UQ's School of Civil Engineering, international consulting firm Golder Associates Pty Ltd and global group Sumitomo Metal Mining will undertake an environmental and social impact assessment of a proposed large-scale nickel mine in the Solomon Islands.

Lead researcher and School of Civil Engineering academic Dr Simon Albert said the mining project had the potential to provide significant benefits to the economy of the Solomon Islands, but it was essential that diverse social and environmental values were maintained. “Given the local communities rely on marine and terrestrial resources for food, transport, medicine and shelter, it is critical to minimise the impact of the project on the local environment through the implementation of sustainable practices,” Dr Albert said. He said the Solomon Islands had limited development opportunities to support the government in providing essential services to the mostly rural communities.

“The few resource extraction activities that do exist often come at a high environmental cost due to limited environmental regulations and small companies with limited experience,” Dr Albert said. The Sumitomo Solomon Islands Nickel Project brings together Sumitomo's 400-year history in mining, Golder's global experience in environmental and social impact assessments and UQ's world-class research capacity. Dr Albert said this would ensure the project was well placed to minimise environmental impacts through the implementation of sustainable practices. The UQ research team consists of Dr Albert, Dr Alistair Grinham and Dr Badin Gibbes, who have expertise in research on the environment, water resources and hydrology.

Dr Grinham said it was essential that marine water quality was monitored throughout the process to ensure international guidelines were met. "This project provides a rare chance to collect high-precision data from the top of the catchment, freshwater streams, estuaries, coral reef lagoons, and down to deep sea that we can use to guide numerical models,” Dr Grinham said. School of Civil Engineering head Professor José Torero said the project recognised the School's reputation in producing high-quality research.

“This phase of the project is worth approximately $1 million, providing significant research experience to the School and the University,” Professor Torero said. “These types of partnerships raise the School's profile in the water and mining industry, which can lead to further opportunities within these sectors. “Initial scoping of the study has been completed, and the first round of field monitoring and research is scheduled to begin this month.”