 In a speech at the Berlin Geographical Society in 1919 , Detzner claimed that the natives of New Guinea had opposed Australian domination and resisted a military recruitment that amounted to slavery , that even the English plantation holders wished to remain independent of Australia , and that the natives were collecting money to build a war memorial for the Germans . The report on Detzner 's speech , transmitted from a news agency in London , caused a small flutter in Australian government circles , but generally was dismissed ; an earlier report by the Australian judiciary had absolved the Australian force of improper recruiting or treatment of the New Guineans . An angry letter to the editor from another Australian source , who claimed to have been in service in Morobe from 1914 – 1915 , received little attention . 
