Papers documenting Gerard Ward's research.

The papers cover John Ballard’s political research in the Pacific Islands of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Micronesia and Fiji. The majority of the collection is focused on Papua New Guinea where John Ballard was involved with the development of the political system leading up to and following independence in 1975. The papers also concern the Public Service administration courses John Ballard taught at the University of Papua New Guinea. There are a number of government related papers for the Pacific Islands.

Documents relating to McGrath's work as a land consultant, particularly regarding regions in Micronesia.

Press clippings from Hawaiian and other US press on the Pacific Islands, articles and reports. The files are arranged by the following subjects: American Samoa, American Polynesia, Anglo-American Rivalry for Pacific Islands, Arno Atoll (Marshall Islands), the Bounty and genetics, Canton Island and Enderbury Island, Caroline Island, Christmas Island, Clipperton Island, Easter Island, Falcon Island, Fanning Island, Fiji, French Polynesia (Tahiti, Marquesas, Tuamotus, Australs), Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Guam, Hawaii, Hoorn Islands, Howland Island, Hull Island, Japanese Mandate Islands, Jarvis, Howland and Baker Islands, Johnston Island, Kapingamarangi Atoll, Kingman Reef, Lord Howe Island, Mangareva, Mariannas Island, Marquesas Islands, Marshall Islands (Kwajalein Island), Michener and the Pacific, Micronesia, Midway Island, Nauru and Ocean Island, New Caledonia, New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), New Zealand, Palau, Palmyra Island, Papua New Guinea, Pearl and Hermes Reef, Pitcairn Island, Ponape, Rose Island, Saipan and Tinian, Solomon Islands, Swains Island, Tonga, Torres Strait, US Trust Territory, Vostok Island, Wake Island, Washington Island, Western Samoa, World War II. Also loose press cuttings on Micronesia Independence, nuclear testing and strategic policy.

Research papers and essays on the Western Pacific, particularly Tonga and Fiji; correspondence, course, conference and teaching files, project and survey files, reports, Foreign Office confidential prints 1888-1890, British legislation concerning the Pacific Islands 1872-1953, archives administration files, WPHC shelf lists, inventories and calendars, publications and photographs.

The collection consists of disaster and research reports, disaster preparedness workshop training manuals, seminar papers, consultancy management files, newspaper clippings, small publications and ephemera, a large number of SOPAC (Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission) and United Nations reports, and documents created when Joe Barr was engaged as a consultant in relation to disaster management in the Pacific Islands. Of particular significance are the photographs and slides taken immediately following disasters in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Cambodia, Turkey, Afghanistan, India and Indonesia.

Contains files relating to publications and films the Division of Pacific and Asian History were involved with, theses and monograph series, correspondence, bibliographies, newspaper clippings, and material relating to the film Angels of War.

Contains research papers, census and statistical reports, correspondence, published and unpublished reports relating to population studies in the Pacific Islands. Includes material on American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Northern Mariana Islands, Pitcairn Islands, Tokelau, Palau, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Samoa.

Printed material and copies of historical publications on the South Pacific, Micronesia, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Hawaii, Samoan Islands, Philippine Islands; copies of correspondence, photocopies of ship logs, maps, thesis material, administrative papers relating to the management of the Department of Pacific and South East Asian records room, and sound reel tapes of interviews relating to the Rorovana Land Crisis, Bougainville Island, 1969.

Pacific research papers on human geography including research materials on population, agriculture and natural resources in the Pacific Islands. Includes census data and government reports for Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu and Niue; newspaper articles, government and academic papers relating to Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Tuvalu, Western Samoa, Micronesia, Tonga, including topics on nuclear testing, colonialism/postcolonialism and economic development.
Also contains records documenting of aspects of Diana Howlett's education and research.

Almost half of this record group is concerned with PNG. These papers were gathered when Ward was Lecturer in History at the University of Papua New Guinea and adviser to the Land Evaluation and Demarcation Project Study (LEAD). The collection includes correspondence, notes, articles and papers, draft legislation and press cuttings.

A small portion of these papers relate to politics and land matters in Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Africa, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Banaba, French Polynesia and Guadeloupe.

The remainder of the documents are mainly concerned with New Caledonia between 1947 and 1990 and were assembled by Ward at La Trobe University, Melbourne, through the 1980s, particularly during the years of political uncertainty in the French Territory from 1984 to 1990