In explaining why she has taken on the greatest challenge of her career at an age when her contemporaries are using their golden years to kick back, Catherine Harris points to the Kokoda Trail during World War II.
Harris, the eponymous founder of grocery chain Harris Farm Markets, was recently appointed chair of the Papua New Guinea Chiefs, ahead of their entry to the NRL in 2028. It’s a bold venture full of logistical and political potholes, even for one of Australia’s most accomplished businesswomen.
So why take on the gig? What is there left to prove for a trailblazer whose achievements include her booming family business, becoming the first woman to graduate from UNSW with a bachelor of commerce in marketing in 1971, a plethora of board roles and considerable rugby league service already as an inaugural Australian Rugby League Commissioner? What is the appeal of PNG?
“I grew up as a post-war baby and our parents never talked very much about the war,” Harris explains.
“But the one thing Dad used to talk about was when he was in New Guinea. He used to always talk about the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels [Papuans who served in WWII]. [How] they were fabulous and, ‘They saved my life.’
“So we always had this sort of knowledge about New Guinea, because we used to talk about it a lot, with great affection … Apparently he was on the Kokoda Track and something happened.
“He never really went into any great detail, but he always just used to say, ‘Those Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, they saved me.’
“I think they sort of gathered him up and looked after him and took him back to the troops or whatever, I’m not sure.”
Harris isn’t the only successful businesswoman behind the fledgling franchise. Lorna McPherson has left her own mark while living and working in PNG over the past 16 years; as a senior executive at mobile phone company Digicel, as a director of the PNGRFL and a key player in the development of men’s and women’s rugby league pathways in the Pacific nation.
She has fallen in love with the country and considers it home, but knew little about it before she made the move.
“It was really funny when I got the interview for the [Digicel] job, and they said to me, ‘You’re going to New Guinea’. I was like, ‘Oh?’ and I thought it was in Africa!” McPherson says.
“I didn’t realise it was Papua New Guinea and the South Pacific … But it’s been the most fantastic experience. Rugby league has become part of my life every weekend for the last 16 years.”
Other key Chiefs positions have recently been filled. Respected former Herald journalist Michael Chammas is the general manager of football, while Willie Peters has just been announced as the coach.
But it is Harris and McPherson who will set the strategic direction for a project that aims to unite a country whose 1000 cultural tribes and 840 distinct languages are brought together by their love of rugby league.
“I was actually having a discussion with Michael Chammas about this,” Harris says. “He came up to our house when he got the job. He said, ‘This is something with real purpose … this is helping a nation’.
“That’s a pretty big thing to get an opportunity at the end of your career to do. So I hope I can do it.”
It hasn’t stopped the naysayers. While forging ties with our nearest neighbours was a motivation for the Australian government to outlay $600 million towards the venture, so too was thwarting China’s ambitions in the Pacific. Then there is the perception of PNG capital Port Moresby as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, outside of active war zones.
And from a football perspective, there is scepticism about whether the offer of tax-free salaries will be enough to convince the game’s best players to join the Chiefs.
“I think it will be a terrific opportunity … something that will be life changing for a lot of people and for their families.”
PNG Chief chair Catherine Harris
“There’s always going to be sceptics whatever happens,” Harris says. “Part of it’s driven by politics, part of it’s driven [because they are] probably rugby union fans and think [funding] should be going to rugby union. I’m not too worried about them.
“I think it will be a terrific opportunity, an exciting opportunity and something that will be life changing for a lot of people and for their families.”
McPherson is uniquely qualified to provide a perspective on life in PNG. She splits her time between the capital and her house in a remote village a five-hour drive away, which is home to her partner’s family.
“I’ve lived in Papua New Guinea for 16 years. I drive my car by myself,” McPherson says. “I’m comfortable, I don’t feel uncomfortable in the country in any way, shape or form. I’m a female who drives around by myself quite happily.
“There’s a lot of challenges, a lot of opportunities, but there’s a lot of misconceptions out there about what Papua New Guinea is actually really like.
“Let’s hit the nail on the head – security has always been raised as being an issue. My kids went to school in Papua New Guinea. It’s something that I think has been really blown out of proportion. I’ve never felt uncomfortable there, but I do see the fact that there are issues there.
“What we tried to do with that is we’ve said, ‘Look, we will make sure that you’re in a secure environment’, but not in a secure environment in the way that people are going to come and hurt you.
“It’s more about the fact that everybody’s going to love you because of the passion of the fans … We’ll make sure that everybody is taken care of and make sure they’ve got a fantastic environment to live in, which we have with the Airways Village.”
NRL entry is still almost two years away, but already Harris and McPherson are witnessing the benefits of NRL inclusion. The latter points to the increased attendance rates at school, a prerequisite for students wanting to play league in local competitions.
The pair believe NRL stars have now been given a unique platform to leave their legacy.
“Come for the opportunity, stay for the purpose,” McPherson says. “That’s what I believe is there for everybody.
“How often in your life are you ever going to get a chance to be able to build history? You’re building something that’s going to change a nation.
“I’m going to say this again, it’s not just joining a club. We’re building an institution and something that’s going to last for a country that needs it. There’s the pride it’s going to bring to a country.
“Any player who’s coming is going to get tax benefits, so like it or not the tax is definitely a sell for the players and a huge incentive for the players.
“If you think about it, you really are leaving a legacy as well … their names are going to be written in history books because of the fact they were there at the start.”
