Report of Committee appointed to survey the possibility of establishing a combined administration of the Territories of Papua and New Guinea, and to make a recommendation as to a capital site

(1) for the combined administration of that is favoured, or (2) for the Territory of New Guinea if the retention of separate administrations is recommended. August, 1939. Presented by Command, 12th September, 1939; ordered to be printed, 22nd September, 1939. At head of title: 1937-38-39. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. Canberra : Printed and published for the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by L. F. Johnston, Government Printer, 1939. Foolscap folio (330 mm), stapled, pp 63; first page with a small perforation near top edge and old wet stamp of the Australian Museum Library; a clean copy.

The report is illuminating in that it allows us to see how the Committee worked through the pros and cons of numerous potential sites, ultimately recommending Lae as the most appropriate site for a capital of a combined administration of Papua and New Guinea. However, the Committee’s report was submitted just before the outbreak of World War Two, and was consequently “shelved”.