Ivan Francis Champion (9 March 1904 – 12 August 1989) was an Australian public servant in Papua New Guinea. He served as a member of the Legislative Council between 1951 and 1963.

Biography

Champion was born in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

in 1904, the eldest son of Herbert William and Florence Louise May Mary Chester Champion (née Foran).Champion, Ivan Francis (1904–1989)
Australian Dictionary of Biography His father served as Government Secretary of the

Territory of Papua The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government refused to ratify the a ...

from 1913 to 1942. He attended Port Moresby European School from 1911 to 1914, Manly Public School in Sydney in 1915, and then

the Southport School , motto_translation = Let him who deserves the palm of victory bear it. , established = , type = Independent early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Anglican , headmaster = Andrew Hawkins , fou ...

in Queensland from 1916 to 1922. Unable to fulfil his ambition to join the navy due to poor eyesight and discouraged from becoming a

patrol officer A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as law enforcement officers, military personnel, or security personnel, that are assigned to monitor or secure a specific geographic area. Etymology From French ''patrouiller'', from Old Fren ...

in Papua by his father, who was concerned about accusations of nepotism,Champion, Herbert William (1880–1972)
Australian Dictionary of Biography he began working for Union Bank in Sydney. However, he was able to join the Papuan civil service following a 1923 meeting with Papua's Lieutenant-Governor

Hubert Murray Sir John Hubert Plunkett Murray (29 December 1861 – 27 February 1940) was a judge and Lieutenant-Governor of Papua from 1908 until his death at Samarai. Early life Murray was born in Sydney, the son of Irish-born Terence Aubrey Murray ( ...

, becoming a cadet clerk the following May. He was initially posted to

Kerema Kerema is the capital of Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea. It is located on the coast of Gulf of Papua. The Gulf region is aptly named for its concave coastline with large deltas. The Gulf area is a riparian region where many rivers from the south ...

, before being transferred to Kambisi to help run a new police post the following year. After impressing his superior Charles Karius, he was chosen as Karius' assistant for an attempt to cross New Guinea across the Central Range in 1926–27. Although the first attempt ended in failure, a second attempt in 1927–28 was successful. Following the expeditions, he served in Kambisi,

Ioma IOMA is a fad evidence-based skincare brand from France. It was founded in 2008 and it is now present in around 300 stores in France and in several other countries including the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), ...

Misima Island Misima (formerly called St. Aignan) is a volcanic island in the northwest of Louisiade Archipelago within Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. History Misima Island was inhabited by Austronesians since about 1500 BC. The island was sig ...

, Rigo and the

Trobriand Islands The Trobriand Islands are a archipelago of coral atolls off the east coast of New Guinea. They are part of the nation of Papua New Guinea and are in Milne Bay Province. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main isla ...

. In September 1929 he married Elsie May Sutherland Ross in Port Moresby. He subsequently published a book about the patrols, ''Across New Guinea from the Fly to the Sepik'', in 1932.Obituary: Ivan the Champion
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', October 1989, p53 In 1936 he led a mission to establish a patrol post at

Lake Kutubu Lake Kutubu is the second-largest lake in Papua New Guinea,Lake Kutubu
at Ramsar site after Kikori Kikori is a small town in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea. Kikori lies in the delta of the Kikori River at the head of the Gulf of Papua. This area is particularly biologically rich with a diversity of ecosystems and densely forested, wit ...

, before being transferred to Misima later in the year. In 1941 he was transferred to Rigo and then back to Misima. Following the Japanese invasion in January 1942, Champion joined the militia in February, before being appointed a sub-lieutenant in the

Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve (RANVR) was a reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy. Formation In late 1920, the Navy Board proposed the creation of an Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve scheme, with approaches made to yac ...

. He became commanding officer of HMAS ''Laurabada'' and helped evacuate soldiers from

Jacquinot Bay Jacquinot Bay is a bay in East New Britain Province, south-eastern New Britain, Papua New Guinea, at . It is near the mountain where twenty-eight people died when a Royal Australian Air Force plane crashed in November 1945. To its west is the Gas ...

in April 1942, earning a promotion to lieutenant in June. He then became commander of HMAS ''Paluma'', surveying the north-eastern coast of Papua and dropping off

coastwatchers The Coastwatchers, also known as the Coast Watch Organisation, Combined Field Intelligence Service or Section C, Allied Intelligence Bureau, were Allied military intelligence operatives stationed on remote Pacific islands during World War II ...

at their stations. He was demobilised in October 1945 and rejoined the civil service as a district officer in Western District. In 1946 Champion was appointed assistant director of the Department of District Services and Native Affairs, before serving as acting director from 1949. In 1951 he was in charge of the relief operations following a volcanic eruption at Mount Lamington. Later the same year he was appointed to the Legislative Council alongside his brother Claude. He became chief commissioner of the Native Land Commission in 1952, and was awarded an OBE in 1953. After becoming senior commissioner of the Land Titles Commission in 1963, he retired the following year. He then became commander of the ''Laurabada'' again, now a civil ship, and took up contracts surveying the coasts of Australia and Bangladesh. He moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Banora Point and then Canberra, where he died in Woden Valley Hospital in August 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, Ivan 1904 births People from the National Capital District (Papua New Guinea) People educated at the Southport School Territory of Papua people Australian public servants Papua New Guinean civil servants Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II Members of the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire 1989 deaths Royal Australian Navy officers Australian expatriates in Papua New Guinea