Iambakey Palma Okuk (5 May 1945 – 14 November 1986) was an independence leader in Papua New Guinea and served as Deputy Prime Minister, the nation's first Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, and repeatedly in the capacity of Minister of Transport, Minister of Primary Industries and Leader of the Opposition. He is known as Papua New Guinea's "most colourful and controversial politician".Niugini Nius 1986, vol. 8, no. 46, p. 1 Okuk first led protests against unfair labor practices, and then once elected to office, worked to reserve sectors of the economy for citizens as a method of returning a complex economic role to Papua New Guineans. In the post-independence decade, Okuk built a coalition of minority political factions which forced a successful change of government, in which he became Deputy Prime Minister.
Early life, education, and labour protest
Okuk was born in Simbu Province in the Central Highlands of the Territory of New Guinea in 1945. He spent eighteen years in the area around Hagen, learned the local language and went to school. His firsthand experience of racism began with the deference and privilege demanded by Europeans. The ideals that he had learned were not realized, and his achievements could not overcome the constraints of racial discrimination. Although he was being prepared for higher education in Australia, he opted to take up an apprenticeship program to become a mechanic. This program allowed him to learn a trade of great symbolic significance, the control of European technology, which could be used in the Highlands (not just urban centres) while allowing him to stay and participate in local political developments.
He rejected opportunities for education in Australia as years spent abroad would take him away from the political developments and his political constituency. His participation in sports and the Papua New Guinea Volunteer Rifles gained him respect and gave him experience in leadership which found expression in his later political activities. In sports especially, he found a ground on which to compete on an equal footing with his European counterparts, and as captain of his football team, he was recognized for his leadership by both his European as well as his Papua New Guinean peers.
Labour organizing and protest
While in Port Moresby doing his apprenticeship program with the Commonwealth Department of Works, he attended meetings of a discussion group made up mostly of students from the Administration College who called themselves the Bully Beef Club; this group later grew into the Pangu (Papua and New Guinea Union) party.
He organized a labour protest against discriminatory pay practices in 1966. As with other sectors of the public service, Australians who came to New Guinea were often not qualified for equivalent programs or positions in Australia. Duties and privileges, as well as wages, were fixed by race, regardless of qualifications.
Okuk was a grassroots organizer. He did not enter politics from the top, but first implemented administration policy through the public service and then moved to elected office. He was among a group of educated young people who came to be regarded as 'radicals', not because of any unifying ideology, but simply because they dared to criticize the administration and demand change. The young Papuans and New Guineans found they were not the only ones that were critical of the administration. For example, many Europeans in the apprenticeship program were new migrants to Australia, who also could not speak English well. They did not blend as easily with the Australians in the program and found that they also were victims of discrimination, although not as severely as the indigenous population.
Organizing the apprentices took many months of discussions and planning because they were dispersed all over the territory. Okuk's charismatic quality led to him becoming the spokesman for the Papua New Guinean apprentices in their protest. His style was in keeping with what has come to be known as the Melanesian Way. Consensus is achieved only after intensive discussion within the group, when all parties are satisfied that their position has been heard and understood, even if they maintain diverging opinions and undertake different actions.
There were limited gains, but what was especially important as what they had learned from their efforts. They were encouraged by the effect that their protest had on the pay scale beyond their department. Every small gain caused the general pay scale to be adjusted.
First political campaign in Wabag
Okuk's reputation grew due to his aggressive posture, as well as his organizational ability. By 1968 or 1969, he was participating in many types of political activism. When he was finishing his apprenticeship in Wabag, he became formally involved in politics by standing for election in 1968 there.
Because of the educational requirements for the Regional seat, the candidates were divided among older, established and extremely conservative European businessmen and a few of the newly educated indigenous candidates. The young educated indigenous candidates were not well established, having lived away from their communities while being educated. They had not yet had many business opportunities.
This campaign was subjected to intense study by Colebatch et al., who concluded that "Iambakey's campaigning affected both the course of the election and the political climate of the period."Colebatch, H.K. and Peta, M. Reay and A.J. Strathern (1971) "Free Elections in a Guided Democracy." In: Politics of Dependence: Papua New Guinea 1968. A.L. Epstein, R.S. Parker, M Reay, eds. pp.218-274. (P. 235) Canberra: ANU. Okuk came in fourth, behind three European planters and businessmen, but he was first among the indigenous candidates. During the campaign, his clan brother, Joseph Nombri, came to Wabag to assist him. Nombri's strong identification with Pangu (which was labeled as radical) contributed to Okuk's loss.
The authors of "Free Elections in a Guided Democracy" made several observations about Okuk during the course of the campaign: Iambakey had talked of representation at the UN and of overseas trade. An indigenous man who concerned himself with other than strictly parochial matters without cutting himself off from the uneducated populace was dangerous because he betrayed a sophistication that put him outside expatriate control. The influence of the European candidates within the community was based on their long residence and successful businesses in the area. Although known to the community when he was a child growing up in the western highlands, his business and leadership skills had not yet been proven in these communities.Colebatch, et al. (1971) "Free Elections in a Guided Democracy", P.272
Colebatch et al. (1971) were obviously impressed by his command of local as well as national issues: "Iambakey alone was aware of uneducated Highlanders' dependence upon Europeans and their susceptibility to European propaganda and he was the only indigenous candidate who had pondered the implications of the size of the electorate."Colebatch, et al. (1971) "Free Elections in a Guided Democracy", P.228 His pluck and tenacity won him begrudging respect from even those he opposed. "There was no 'Yessir' in Okuk's political vocabulary: he was prepared to argue with the European candidates and stand up to cross-examination."Colebatch, et al. (1971) "Free Elections in a Guided Democracy", P.272
Coffee-buying business
After completing his apprenticeship, Okuk moved to his home province of Simbu to start a coffee buying business and he stood in the 1970 by-election for the Simbu Regional seat. Sachiko Hatanaka attributes Okuk's election loss to Father Nilles, due to his lack of campaign funding.Hatanaka, Sachiko (1970) Elections and political consciousness in Chimbu district. Journal of Papua New Guinea Society 4(2): 37-51. It was significant to the outcome of the election, however, that Father Nilles had worked in the community since before Okuk was born, and that Okuk's status in the community was unproven since he was just returning after a long absence.
In 1972, two brothers-in-law, one European (Jim Collins) and one Papua New Guinean, helped Okuk break into the coffee buying business. His secondary education over-qualified him to be a mechanic but served him well in the coffee business. Again he was in direct competition with Europeans. Standish states that Okuk used his employment as an opportunity to campaign.New man for an old society. The Chimbu Regional Campaign. In: Prelude to Self-Government. Canberra: Research School of Pacific Studies, ANU.
Once he had acquired some business capital, he expanded his business, organizing other buyers. Finally, he built the first indigenous-owned coffee factory, named Tokma after the fertile limestone mountain which had sustained his village's gardens. He bridged traditional and modern forms of political organization, participating in cooperatives as well as the traditional gift exchange. Part of the profit from the coffee business went into buying vehicles and assisting other businessmen in getting their start. In this way, helping others to establish businesses, he established himself politically in his home constituency. After developing his business, he stood against Father Nilles again and defeated him in 1972, and became the Simbu Regional Member in the Third House of Assembly.
Early political career
Papua New Guinea achieved independence during Okuk's first term of office, concluding a decade of political development. Once elected to office, he sought legislative means of securing an economic role for Papua New Guineans. During the preceding ten years, coffee production had come to be dominated by Highlanders. Although the percentage of indigenous production of coffee was well ahead of that in other primary industries, the marketing and processing were all handled by expatriates. As yet, Papua New Guineans were little more than agricultural labourers.
Okuk considered his most significant contribution to the independence process getting elected to the House to assure the needed majority, and helping to persuade others, especially Highlands, parliamentarians to vote for self-government. He became the first Minister of Agriculture, where he initiated legislation nationalizing the primary industries, starting with the coffee industry, thus working to reverse the colonial dynamic. His strategy was to reserve a segment of the industry for citizens through legislation; later this strategy was also applied to vegetable marketing and public transportation. When he became Minister for Transport, he nationalized the airlines, Air Niugini, by first initiating the purchase of shares from Ansett, Trans Australia Airlines (TAA), and Qantas, and then moving to localize the management. He started programs to train citizens for the technical and skilled positions then held by expatriates; he felt the program which was the most symbolic of self-reliance and self-determination was his pilot training program. Because of his aggressive localization efforts, Okuk was shuffled three times within one term of office and finally resigned from the administration he had served under when Papua New Guinea gained its independence.
Chimbu regional campaign of 1972