Who is Joe Harman from A Town Like Alice and what is their importance?

Joe Harman is an Australian POW, who drives trucks for the Japanese occupation force. His aquaintance with the women and children who are a forced march around the peninsula, leads to true friendship. He assists them in every possible way, even at the risk of losing his own life. Over the course of the novel, Jean and Joe fall in love and marry. The couple had two children and made their home in Midhurst.