New Guina's Gallant

Women Melbourne Association Reports on Busy Year

OUT of the grim greyness of Melbourne comes the annual report of the New Guinea Women’s Association—prob ably the warmest thing that comes out of that Deep South. These evacuees from the Territories, who found them selves transported without the option in 1941, and who came to rest in latitudes far removed from those in which they usually lived, have adjusted themselves to circumstances and have carried on with few of the complaints heard from

mainland Australians who have been touched only lightly by the war.

Many of these Melbourne women—like their sister Territorians in other States— have not heard of their menfolk since their own evacuation, and to them the future is a blank wall through which nothing can be seen. But mothers have shouldered the full responsibility of bring ing up their families, and other women without small children have gone to work at some war job.

Once a month they meet to exchange Territories’ news, and by various func tions and entertainments they endeavour to raise funds which go towards worthy patriotic causes, to providing comforts for New Guinea servicemen and women, or to giving a helping hand to those amongst them who are in need of it. rE following extracts are from the re port submitted by the secretary, Mrs.

Olga Bliss, at the third annual general meeting of members, held in Mel bourne on November 18: We have come to the end of another year, and it is most satisfactory to find that our bank balance stands at £2BB/1/2 —our receipts for the year being £725/3/3, and our disbursements £437/2/1. This excellent state of affairs is largely due to two parties—one on July 3, which netted us £167/10/6, and the other on November 4, which made us a profit of £137/7/7. We would like to record our thanks to Mrs.

Fenton Bowen and Mrs. Stanley Best for allowing us the use of their homes for these parties.

We would like also to thank Mrs. J. C.

Thomson, who as ticket secretary worked hard and long, gathering scattered New Guinea people together for the July party, which was in the nature of a re union of past and present ex-residents; and Mrs. Roy Smith, Mrs. E. H. Britten and Miss Dorothy Stewart for their super vision of the supper arrangements for both parties.

In the past twelve months the Associa tion has made the following donations: Red Cross Prisoner of War Fund, £100; Mission to Seamen, £2O; “Centaur”

Memorial Nurses Fund, £2O; and £lO/10/to the guardian of two Chinese girls, formerly of Rabaul.

During the year, 313 parcels and 291 bundles of newspapers were despatched to our servicemen and women. For this we must thank Miss D. Stewart.

Mrs. J. C. Thomson, in response to a request received from her husband for “smoke papers” for the natives, had a small paragraph inserted in the daily papers, and as a result received hundreds of old papers from the public. She then packed and despatched these, 482 bundles in all, and we have heard that they were all received with great appreciation.

During the year our Association became affiliated with the Pacific Territories Association, and the greater part of our members joined the latter. Mr. Adelskold, while in Melbourne in May for the Red Cross conference, came to one of our meetings, and we were most interested in what he had to tell us about his Associa tion’s efforts to keep New Guinea affairs and residents in the minds of an un willing and apparently indifferent Govern ment. We wish the Pacific Territories Association every success in its uphill struggle.

POW and Civilian Internees

rIS year we wish to make a special effort for POW funds, and have set £5OO as the target. To this end the Association is conducting an opportunity shop on December 1.

The matter of POW and civilian in ternees is of supreme importance to our members, and we were pleased therefore when Mrs. Cooper and I were invited to a Red Cross conference on prisoners of war, which was held in Melbourne in May last. However, nothing much was accom plished by the conference in regard to our particular interest namely, the prisoners of Japan. As a result of this general disappointment, a Council was formed comprising all organisations in terested in POW and civilian internees in Japanese hands to co-ordinate action in matters relating to them and to pool accumulated information. The immediate matter in hand was to arrange for short wave broadcasts. Mrs. Cooper, our presi dent, has been appointed honorary secretary of the Council, which is known as the Co-ordinating Council of Associa tions for Prisoners of Japan. Subse quently, Mrs. G. W. Spensley (represent ing next-of-kin, New Guinea Women’s Association (Melbourne)), and Mrs. A. P.

Derham, of the AIF Women’s Association, went to Sydney, and later to Canberra, and there interviewed Dr. Evatt and others in high places in the Govern ment.

We feel satisfied with this trip to Sydney, where a great number of vital matters were discussed with Dr. Evatt personally, and we have grounds to hope that the unsatisfactory mail position is now under review, and that the heart breaking delays for both relative and prisoner will be lessened.

I think we can justly say that the Government is now a little more POW conscious. At the time of writing this report we hear that the Red Cross is interesting itself in the activities of the Council, and we feel that if the latter can go forward under the aegis of the Red Cross, then we are sure that its efforts will have a greater chance of being successful.

Office-bearers, 1944-45

President: Mrs. R. W. Cooper; vice president: Mrs. E. H. Britten; treasurer: Mrs. S. Best; secretary: Mrs. G. Bliss.

Mr. E. E. Jenkins, Attorney-General of Fiji, has been appointed Chief Justice of Nyasaland. He came to Fiji from North ern Rhodesia in 1938.