‘The Moat of Oblivion’: Australia and the Forgetting of Papua New Guinea

From the decolonisation of Papua New Guinea in 1975, Australian historiography has focused on the continent and Tasmania, excluding the former territories/y north of the Torres Strait and denying their constitutional place in the nation's past. The forgetting of Papua New Guinea in Australia is the result of the continental consciousness of Australians, enhanced by the new nationalism of the last fifty years. Other sources of forgetting include the small numbers of Papua New Guineans now resident in Australia, and the cleaving of Papua New Guinea from Australian history, which was then assigned to Pacific history. Papua New Guineans, by contrast, remember Australian rule and debate Australia's role in the history of their nation. Less a plea for remembering, this article is focused on the 'moat of oblivion' that creates the conditions for the national forgetting of Papua New Guinea.