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Register of the H. K. (Hal) Colebatch Papers
MSS 40
MSS 40
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Title: H. K. (Hal) Colebatch Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 40
Contributing Institution:
Mandeville Special Collections Library
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
6.2 Linear feet
(16 archives boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1967 - 1976
Abstract: Papers of Hal Colebatch, an Australian political scientist who taught in Papua New Guinea in the late 1960s and 1970s and
became involved in the independence and development of that country. The materials consist largely of subject files and unpublished
writings by others. Included in the subject files are materials relating to the Rural Improvement Program in Papua New Guinea
-- a program studied by Colebatch in the mid-1970s. Also included in the collection are Colebatch's diaries of 1968; and diaries
of candidates in the 1968 provincial elections in Papua New Guinea, collected by Colebatch's wife Peta.
Creator:
Colebatch, H. K., (Hal K.)
Scope and Content of Collection
Accession Processed in 1988
The H. K. Colebatch Papers consist largely of subject files and unpublished writings of others. Most of the materials date
from the 1970s and concern Colebatch's activities in Papua New Guinea, with especial emphasis on the Rural Improvement Program.
The papers provide documentation on many aspects of Papua New Guinea's transition from territorial status to independent statehood.
The collection is organized into six series: 1) SUBJECT FILES, 2) TEACHING MATERIALS, 3) CLIPPINGS AND REPRINTS, 4) DIARIES
OF HAL COLEBATCH, 5) PETA COLEBATCH MATERIALS, and 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS.
The SUBJECT FILES include notes by Colebatch, original writings on a given subject, and writings by others. The largest group
of files are those relating to the Rural Improvement Program. The TEACHING MATERIALS relate largely to Colebatch's work at
the Administrative College of Papua New Guinea.
The collection includes many files relating to the 1968 elections for the Papua New Guinea representative assembly. The essays
of high school students, within the TEACHING MATERIALS series, were collected by Colebatch as evidence of the perceptions
toward representative government in the elections. The DIARIES, written in 1968, concern Colebatch's involvement in studying
the election process in the Western Highlands. Also related to the elections are the PETA COLEBATCH MATERIALS, which include
diaries kept by candidates and collected by Mrs. Colebatch.
The WRITINGS OF OTHERS cover a wide variety of topics, but most concern political and social issues in Papua New Guinea. More
detailed citations for these writings can be found in the Accession List of Unpublished Materials, University of California,
San Diego, Melanesian Studies Resource Center (shelved in Special Collections Ref. I, Pacific/Voyages). These citations are
listed alphabetically by author in the Accessions List.
Dr. Hal K. Colebatch, Australian political scientist, has been actively involved with the independence and development of
Papua New Guinea, especially during the 1970s. Colebatch received his education in Australia and Britain. He graduated with
honors from the University of Melbourne and earned a master's degree from La Trobe University. He received his Ph.D. from
the University of Sussex, England, in 1974.
In 1968, while serving as a Senior Tutor in Politics at La Trobe University, Colebatch became involved in the process of independence
taking place in Papua New Guinea (PNG). He moved to PNG the following year and took a position as Lecturer in External Studies
at the Administrative College of Papua New Guinea in Waigami. During his two-year appointment at the College, Colebatch and
his wife Peta took an active interest in the 1968 elections for the PNG House of Assembly. Their research focused on the area
of the Western Highlands, and they summarized their studies in a chapter written jointly with Marie Reay and A.J. Strathern.
In 1971 Colebatch received a United Kingdom Postgraduate Scholarship to study at the University of Sussex. There he took an
interest in the problems of development in the Third World, with a special focus on Kenya. His dissertation was titled "Local
Services and Governmental Process in Kenya," and he was awarded a Ph.D. from Sussex in 1974. That year Colebatch returned
to the Administrative College of Papua New Guinea, where he became a Senior Lecturer in Administrative Studies. In February
of 1975 he served as a consultant to the Royal Commission on Australian Government Administration. From 1976 to 1978 he held
the post of Senior Research Fellow at the Papua New Guinea Institute of Applied Social and Economic Research. Much of Colebatch's
research and teaching at this time was focused on the Rural Improvement Program of Papua New Guinea, and he discussed in numerous
articles the problems and accomplishments of the program.
Colebatch returned to Australia in 1978. In May of that year he became a Senior Lecturer in Politics at Kuring-gai College
of Advanced Education, and the following year he took the additional post of Head of the Department of Administrative, Social
and Political Studies. He continues in these positions at present.
H. K. (Hal) Colebatch Papers, MSS 40. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.
Not Available
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Colebatch, Peta
Papua New Guinea. House of Assembly.
Diaries--20th century.
Oceania
Papua New Guinea -- History -- Autonomy and independence movements
Papua New Guinea -- Politics and government -- To 1975
Papua New Guinea -- Social conditions
Rural development -- Papua New Guinea