Capital Punishment and Clemency in Papua New Guinea, 1954 to 1965

Abstract

"What factors affected the decision by the Australian Government to grant clemency to offenders condemned to death in Papua and New Guinea between 1954 and 1965 and by what process did Australian officials make their decision?" This thesis provides a close examination of an archive of files that advised the Executive on Nuiginians found guilty of capital offences in PNG between 1954 and 1965. Intended to inform the Commonwealth Executive, these files provide insight into conceptions held by officials at different stages of the justice process into justice, savagery and civilisation, and colonialism and Australia's role in the world. Interrogated as a sequence, this thesis shows three main domains of discussion between interests and highlights change over time in the ideas and relations between the levels of the process. First, there were different ideas about what punishments would be appropriate to the particular context of the crime to be just and to maintain and extend Australian colonial control. Second officials debated whether justice was best achieved by policies that accommodated cultural differences, or policies that adhered strictly to the Australian rule of law. Third, decisions were affected by the changing demands of protecting Australia's hold on PNG by representing Australian colonialism as benevolent, effective and temporary. In explaining the impact of these factors, the particular combination of idealism and self-interest, liberalism and paternalism, and justice and authoritarianism axiomatic to Australian colonialism becomes apparent and enables insight and analysis of Australia's administration of PNG in the lead up the acceptance of independence as an immediate policy goal. In answer to the second part of the question, the archive of clemency submissions reveals three elements of the process by which Australian officials and politicians enacted clemency. First, clemency was a discretionary, political process common to English-based jurisdictions and involved officials gathering information, evaluating it, and making political and administrative calculations in coming to a decision. Second, officials and politicians took into account information gained from both the official advisors and informal networks. Finally, as the colonial administration changed with changes in personnel, the files show Australia gathering the authority to grant mercy into the hands of the Commonwealth and then devolving it back to the territories. In these transitions, the lens of the capital case review shows the trajectory of Australian colonialism during a period when it was unsure of the duration and nature of its future relationship with PNG. Show more