BACK TO THE BUSH

The Melanesians have been growing bananas and cutting sugarcane near Nambour in Queensland’s hinterland Sunshine Coast Australia for more than a century. They were both men and women, mostly young and ready to remake Australia.

Cutting sugarcane in the Sunshine Coast Australia 1870

There were thousands upon thousands in every State in the country that according to certain narratives, over 20 000 island natives had been brought back to Queensland in two hundred twenty-two voyages, and the islanders were so familiar with the methods of the recruiters that their vessels had become known as ‘snatch-snatch’ ships. 

In my opinion, I think our friends don’t like the word ‘snatch-snatch’. So, I shall call it ‘finger-smith.’ They were professional finger-smiths, since they were fitted up precisely like an African slaver (minus the irons), and hundreds upon hundreds of natives on board may possibly be knocked up for a lot of pigs – no banks or partitions, not even a mat to lie upon, and yet, the vessels were inspected by government officers at Queensland! Including the ‘Daphne’, this, eventually, of course brought natives, like “Hal”, to Australia. 

Rescued slaves crowd the deck of HMS Daphne 1868

Now, ‘Hal’ sounds like one of those white fella names ‘slave niggers’ (apologies) who finished up within Queensland, it isn’t. ‘Hal’ was in Queensland and stolen, along with his younger brother. They were put under Mackay mission for health once-over in January 1870. When ‘Hal’ moved into Queensland to work in the plantations, Captain George Palmer of HMS Rosario, in his journal, recounts this episode “black birding”. 

Palmer, Hal’s mentor, nicknamed him “MAL” blackbird. Why? My Aussy Little blackbird! Palmer joked darkly one day. ‘Hal’ has been ‘Mal’ ever since to everybody but his mentor. And why should you know all this? So that when you read about the Solomon Islands Seasonal Workforce, you can put them into context with a man who is self made, hard working, and wholly savvy of white society, particularly in the uncompromising environment of rural Australia. 

In June 1870, for example, his grace Bishop Patteson (God bless his gracious soul) did not advocate an attempt to suppress the black birding trade altogether: in his opinion this would be ineffective and might make matters worse by driving the whole business further underground; besides he was not opposed to Melanesians being employed on plantations provided conditions of recruitment and employment were properly regulated. 

One wonders, however, what Patteson’s reactions would be if he could see Melanesia today. He would, I suppose, be surprised and disappointed at the extent to which Melanesians still rely on expatriate help!

It is after all over a hundred years since, and I suppose, no, I am certain that Patteson might be saddened, too, at the extent to which European ways have invaded the Melanesian scene. He could not possibly foresee, of course, the impact of the Chinese or the complex conditions of the present day, the difficulties there would be to face corruption, perhaps, as those of the black birders of his own time, corrupted as much as possible by extraneous influences on islanders’ way of life, resources, and energy. 

John Coleridge Patteson

At the top end, you can understand why some highly intelligent, articulate, well educated native men, and women, with university degrees, have been upset, incited, or frustrated into now coming out and having a go at the local labor mob. So you see what it’s all about, don’t you? I mean, the bottom line is that in today’s Melanesia the only native man or woman treated as “neo-slaves” are people who allow themselves to be treated like that. 

It’s a plantation mentality. They just expected us to work and do manual labor! 

But, I think it’s just a demonstration of why local natives personally find it so difficult to get local support, employment opportunities, or accept the sky is falling. It is not a paper of fickle habit, for instance, all the seasonal workforce now agrees their labor indeed helped develop their homes, buy them new cars, clothing, and education for their children. That might mean something or it might mean nothing (who knows). They’ve kept the secret to themselves. That’s the way things were. 

And, while the local natives are going to Australia, in thousands upon thousands, the Chinese are going back to the bush. This is not Chinese land. It is important to remember this, but the Chinese were the ones who had asked the local natives to go back to the bush, and do the work! The difference between the Chinese and the local natives was that the Chinese was somewhat grander (with the help of the CPC – Communist Party of China government, of course), fairly prosperous, who have nice houses and large yards full of sheds filled with implements and machinery. The local natives have their land, resources, and energy (and a weakling government, of course). 

No offense, the Chinese are very nice cunning people who can be quite white with excitement if the local natives told them about their land, resources, or energy. They would ponder upon the possibilities of Onogou/Ramos Island, for example, in which a china man would kept his voice very soft and casual when discussing tales of bech-de-mer on that island. 

So it rollicks along – erudite, eloquent and, at times, wonderfully bitchy. It embraces all the significant musings in the Solomon, such as, gold in Turarana, silver in Sikuni, petroleum in Taliu, bauxite in Mungihenua, phosphate in Ngotokanaba, nickel in San Jorge, diamond in Alsaa, copra in Sevev, the Indispensable reef Ngotoakau, cocoa in the land of the Kakamora, big Makira bananas! And, some insignificant ones, too, spanning the rise of the Chinese leadership as the new Big White Bwana! 

Solomon Islands and China sealed their diplomatic relations 
at a meeting in Beijing, 2019

That is what the going back to the bush is all about – the biggest stockpile of resources in the Pacific we’ve ever had. And, it’s going to be between our weakling government and the fire of the red dragon in a year’s time. Nobody else wants it. Not at the price our local natives, I don’t know, overseas buyers have quit buying, or maybe they’re all harangued. They’ve been dropping out of the market for more than a year, nice work communists (or half cast capitalists), who cares, so long you have the greens, right. 

Now, one of the greatest benefits of going back to the bush will be the end of the old folksy voodoo and blatant scaremongering narrative of local native kastoms that wasn’t working for the china man, who eventually cut down all the sacred forest of our land, who dug up the graves of our ancestors and have them exported, and who seemingly harvested the marine resources of Lord Howe, and the indispensable reef so long the Ministry of fishery beckon towards ‘his’ apatite. 

But, not today, nowadays sees an end and a new beginning. Local natives feel they are only expedient to the old folksy voodoo in a time of seeming crisis. They have, they say, been too long on the National’s menu. In Malaíta, for example, the china man is held responsible for the debauched system of public and political life which, when open up to the light, was too much for all but the blindest of blind faithful. Nobody said out loud the word corruption! Well, God speed to whoever wins. 

I mean, the militants know exactly what’s up, those combative radicals and activist (the TRC diehards!) are anxiously expecting the sky to fall, too. 

We too kept waiting to see, and hear some word of apology from the State to the people of Rennell and Bellona, since they used, and abused, for so long something. We got nothing. Nothing, except a bitter harangue, since the national government, without a doubt, understands his act, and should be ashamed of itself. 

It was the ultimate hypocrisy.