Launch 6th May Brisbane

Brian Atkin was MC,  

Speaker Joe Tooma, CEO of the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation for 14 years

and Margaret Atkin

These are excerpts from the second session, 4 to 5pm. There was an earlier session which Gill Lycette, Margaret’s mother attended with 15 others which ran from 2.30 to 3.30pm.

Both John Atkin and George Atkin sent their best wishes for the launch.

Brian as MC

Brian began by saying:

He had watched his mother keeping diaries, newspapers and letters in various sheds for thirty years and always wondered what she would do with them.

Brian was hoping that when his mother retired she would slow down, but instead she began editing her father (R R Lycette’s) novels, Fragrant Harbour was subsequently published by Sid Harta  and copies Red Dragon in a Green Circle printed. Margaret then went on to write her own memoir, Frigate Birds after discovering her father Ray had kept all her letters from the Solomons.

When Brian asked why she was spending so much time on this work Margaret replied that both she and her father had important stories to share. She was following in the footsteps of her grandfather Ernest Lycette who wrote a memoir about his time as a solider and officer in the First World War,

I am now extremely grateful Mum wrote this book, Brian said. It will pass down to my children and their children.

I have travelled with mum to the village in the Solomons many times. She is happiest and most home there, speaking pidgin.

I helped mum get Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine to the Solomons.

It was a remarkable achievement and will continue to be life saving for many people.

Joe will speak further about this.

So thank you Mum for your passion, your love for the Solomons and your great resilience.

Margaret listening

Joe than spoke

“Welcome to the launch of Margaret Atkin’s fascinating book, Frigate Birds.

For me Frigate Birds is a remarkable, raw, engaging and honest story of a very important period in the development of the Solomons and in Margaret’s personal and generous life’s journey. It gives us a real bird’s eye view, a Frigate Bird’s view of Australia’s strategically important neighbour.  I will briefly comment on the issues Margaret engaged so strongly with, exploitation of people and resources, a fledgling democracy, and the battle to beat cervical cancer.

Exploitation of people and resources

As with many indigenous peoples who came into contact with empire building nations, the Solomons was exploited, beginning with blackbirding when men and boys were taken on a one -way journey to be forced indentured workers or as good as slaves.

There are still nations corporations and unscrupulous individuals taking advantage of the fisheries, minerals, wealth and native timber, so depriving the community of their heritage. It causes misery, poverty, division, distrust and discontent.

Margaret describes the disaster that was logging in her part of paradise, destroying the environment, breaching logging conditions, logging on private land they had no rights to log, and polluting local rivers and water supplies. She also writes about the villager’s real fears that the foreign logging workers might bring AIDS with them, because of their exploitation of young locals.

Complaints to the police and authorities by landowners and villagers were ignored because of the influence the loggers wielded over authorities and politicians. Margaret did something about it, giving the locals hope and belief they too could be heard and respected.

A fledgling democracy.

The Solomons is a young democracy and there have been teething problems. This can be expected in a nation built for countless generations around ethnicities, village groups and ‘wontok.’

As well as being a nurse and a midwife, Margaret trained as a journalist and wrote stories of community concern and interest and for a time ran the newspaper, the Solomon Toktok. Her work made sure the community became aware of and were educated about important issues like politics, crime, government budges and finances and she was outspoken about women’s issues and domestic violence. Most importantly the newspaper was valuable to her community because it was independent, trusted and unbiased news.

The battle to beat cervical cancer

Proudly I can speak personally about Margaret’s remarkable work in fighting cervical cancer because this is how I came to meet her.

It took something like seven years of constant meetings in the Solomons, talking and gently pushing almost anyone we could find, before we achieved the dream of finally having a national cervical cancer vaccination program for Solomon Island schoolgirls. This was nearly ten years after the Australian schoolgirls vaccination program had begun.

Without Margaret and her son Brian Atkin driving the project and earning the respect and cooperation of so many people this remarkable outcome would not have happened.

Why does it matter?

Cervical cancer is the biggest cancer killer of women in many developing countries and the Solomons is no exception. Yet with vaccination and screening it is almost entirely preventable as we have shown in Australia in the last 20 years. I can confidently say after my experience of programs in several developing countries that cervical cancer rates are likely to be between ten and twenty times Australia’s rates.

We all hoped after the Pacific Leader’s Forum in Port Moresby in 2015 when their official communique recognised cervical cancer as a serious problem that needed resources and expert technical assistance that the situation would change. But so far there has been more talk than action.

There would be a huge benefit if a Pacific Coalition, supported by Australia and NZ, was formed to eliminate cervical cancer. It would only need a few million dollars (insignificant in Australia’s budget) to establish this coalition so that it becomes a rare cancer.

I want to leave you with a short quote from ‘Frigate Birds’ which captures Margaret’s passion. Speaking of her village she says

“In that place I realise who I am and what I have become. I understand what really matters and what doesn’t.

Margaret thank you for your passion, your kindness and your brave determination. Your wonderful book is a joyful, life-affirming ‘must read’.  

Joe and Oti, President, Solomon Islands Brisbane Community

Margaret Excerpts from my speech.

Over forty years I have witnessed a lot of change, much of it detrimental and avoidable. This included unregulated logging, over fishing and over population. From my sources I could identify the moment when the wrong decision was made, or no action taken. This applies especially to logging and the birth rate, which in the seventies and eighties was one of the highest in the world.

The change of life style and the cash economy is now causing an epidemic of chronic disease which includes diabetes, heart disease and stroke. After the tensions (1998 to 2003), social breakdown and the increased use of marihuana and other drugs, there was a rapid rise in mental illness.  During my visit in October last year to Makira and Tawatana I could see the effect these changes were having at the village level.

However the status of women is improving, as better educated women provide leadership and services. There is finally an increase in the use of contraception, with younger women, including those in rural areas, preferring smaller families.

Corruption has plagued the Solomons since pre-independence, and it continues to sap the country. Visiting Honiara last year, the Chinese presence was very evident. They own much of the land and many of the buildings. However new Chinese arrivals seem less interested in the provinces, where life is tougher.

Despite the problems, some of the happiest days of my life have been spent in the Solomons, especially in Tawatana. Returning to Tawatana last year I was again called Margie, or Auntie by many people. The wonderful nurse at the clinic tried to persuade me to retire there. She said she had heard people talking about me while they waited on the veranda. 

I told her it was impossible. The village environment is tough, and growing tougher, especially for a 69 year old European.

There are no fish, with overpopulation the land is overused, less fertile and the gardens further away. The water supply is inadequate and intermittent. It is unrelentingly hot, there is no refrigeration, no air conditioning, poor internet connection, and a poor selection of food, mainly tins, flour, white rice, sugar and soft drinks in the village shops. I wondered too, what my family would say about such a decision. But part of my heart will always be there, and I know it is the same with Brian.

Martin Hadlow then spoke. He was a journalist at the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) in the early eighties, while Margaret was working as a journalist and then editor of the Toktok.

The Solomons Toktok was a very important weekly during its time. I admired the courage of George and Margaret Atkin who ran the paper.

Honiara was a very small place, with a small commercial base and most of the advertising went to the SIBC which had national coverage.

They also had competition from the Solomon Star which was founded after the government newssheet the Solomon Drum was sold to John Lamani for one dollar. He left the SIBC taking the best journalists with him. There really wasn’t room for two newspapers in the Solomons.

I hope to read about the famous courtcase when you were charged with prejudging a case. I want you to know that all the expatriates were on your side and at the G Club we urged the Chief Justice to be gentle with you. He was, just giving you a slap on the wrist.

Margaret replied. This is the first time I have ever been thanked for my work as a journalist there. It is very moving.

Solomon Island’s group. Clive Moore Prof of History UQ, Aka, treasurer SIBC, Margaret, Brian, Oti President of SIBC and her son, Lawrence, Malcolm and Logan.