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Rockefeller
& the Demise of
Ibu Pertiwi
Published in Australia by Sid Harta Publishers Pty Ltd,
ABN: 46 119 415 842
23 Stirling Crescent, Glen Waverley, Victoria 3150, Australia
email: [email protected]
Phone: +61 3 9650 9920
Fax: +61 3 9545 1742
First Published: September 2017
This edition published 2017
Copyright: Kerry B. Collison
Design, Typesetting, Graphics: WorkingType Studio
Cover Design: Luke Harris, Working Type Studio
Illustrations: Pawel Nowacki
© This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any person without the written permission of the copyright owner.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Creator: Collison, Kerry B., author.
Title: Rockefeller and the demise of Ibu Pertiwi : West Papua / Kerry B. Collison.
ISBN: 9781925282832 (eBook)
Subjects: Rockefeller, Michael C. (Michael Clark), 1938-1961--Fiction.
Political fiction.
Papua New Guinea--Fiction.
Indonesia--Fiction.
Australia--Fiction.
Digital distribution by Ebook Alchemy
www.ebookalchemy.com eBook Created by Warren Broom
Rockefeller
& the Demise of
Ibu Pertiwi
Kerry B. Collison
Also by Kerry Collison
Non Fiction
The Happy Warrior — an anthology of Australian Military Poetry
Co-edited by: Kerry B. Collison & Warrant Officer Paul Barrett
In Search of Recognition — the Leo Stach Story
(Biographical)
Fact-based Fiction
Crescent Moon Rising
The Fifth Season
Indonesian Gold
The Asian Trilogy
consisting of:
Jakarta
Merdeka Square (Freedom Square)
(book of the month, Singapore)
The Timor Man
(book of the month, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia)
Kerry B. Collison followed a distinguished period of service in Indonesia as a member of the Australian military and government intelligence services during the turbulent period known as ‘The Years of Living Dangerously’. This was followed by a successful business career spanning thirty years throughout Asia.
Recognized for his chilling predictions in relation to Asia’s evolving political and economic climate through his books, he brings unique qualifications to his historically-based vignettes and intriguing accounts of power-politics and the shadowy world of governments’ clandestine activities.
Further information is available on the website: www.sidharta.com.au
Photo: Courtesy of Dominion Newspapers, N.Z.
For my grandchildren
Zara Angelina, Oscar Boyd & Maxwell Ray Collison
1961 - 1962
Michael Rockefeller clung precariously with one hand to the overturned catamaran, wiped salt-stung eyes, and then craned his neck towards Western New Guinea’s blurred shore. The 23-year old adventurer sensed that the current was dragging him further away from land. In that moment he became fearfully conscious that these waters were populated with both sharks and crocodiles. Could he swim the five miles to shore as the two native guides had attempted or should he remain with the useless hull being tossed around in the roiling sea?
With his free hand, Rockefeller tested the ropes tied to the two empty gasoline cans he had managed to salvage before being thrown into the Arafura Sea. He turned his attention to Rene Wassink, the Dutch anthropologist, who had accompanied him on the expedition on behalf of the Rockefeller Museum. The intention had been to collect artefacts from the Stone-Age peoples of the Asmat tribe who occupied the southern coast of the world’s second largest island.
‘I’m going to try to make it to shore,’ Michael shouted to Wassink.
Unable to swim, the Dutchman appealed to the younger man. ‘You will never make it. The current is far too strong! Stay here with me. Someone is certain to come along and take us to safety.’
Michael was not to be dissuaded. ‘I’ll come back for you,’ he promised.
Stripped down to underwear and with his glasses clenched between his teeth, Michael released his grip and struck out through the challenging waters, paddling towards the mangrove-covered shoreline.
Wassink watched in dismay and offered a silent prayer as Rockefeller quickly disappeared amidst the turbulent seas. It had been at the Dutchman’s urging that Rockefeller had acquiesced and agreed to purchase the motorised catamaran, despite being advised that the vessel was unsuitable for the open ocean.
The anthropologist was aware that he would be held responsible for permitting the scion of one of the most prominent families of industrialists and philanthropists to perish, on his watch.
* * * *
Irian Barat
(West Papua)
The Reluctant Colony
June 1969
Umar Suharjo raised the Soviet SVD high-powered sniper rifle and nestled the weapon against his cheek. The assassin peered through the PSO-1 scope at the scene unravelling below, where an advance patrol of KOPASSUS Special Forces paratroopers had occupied the isolated highland village. His eyes traversed the scene and then narrowed when his attention focused on a group of high-spirited soldiers gathered around something on the ground. Closer scrutiny revealed the object of their undivided attention to be a woman. A sneer curled Suharjo’s upper lip when it became apparent that the victim was white.
He concluded that she was most likely a foreign missionary and was aware of their scattered numbers and often isolated presence, throughout Indonesia’s eastern frontier.
Suharjo remained unobserved; a camouflaged backdrop high in the forest canopy, three hundred metres from where the paratroopers jostled for turns to rape their victim. He waited patiently in a dispassionate mood as he saw a child kick and flail at the attackers, only to be punched and then thrown