It's a real treat to have the OG of Australian journalists with a penchant for foreign affairs named Hamish McDonald, Hamish McDonald on the pod to discuss his fascinating new book Melanesia: Travels in Black Oceania.

This is a brilliant mix of travelogue, history and political analysis of a under analysed and misunderstood region. The books journeys from Fiji through Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and finally Papua New Guinea, where this chat mostly focuses.

Hamish helps us delve through the milestones, landmarks and checkpoints of the Australia-PNG relationship that help explain how we've arrived at place where Rugby League tops the agenda when our two Prime Ministers meet. From the early European explorers to the World Wars, independence, and all the way to the impending inclusion of a PNG team into the NRL in 2028.

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