Celebrating PNG’s 50th Anniversary of Independence

BRISBANE

PNGAA Annual Lunch: Saturday, 9 August 2025

Golden Jubilee celebrations of 50 years of Papua New Guinea’s independence will be held in the Function Room of the Ship Inn, South Bank.

The event program will include artist, Grim Jordan (below), who was commissioned to design an artwork logo on the K50 note marking the 50th Anniversary of the Bank of Papua New Guinea.

 Apart from the usual camaraderie, you will certainly want to hear how his name came about! This occasion promises opportunities to mingle with friends old and new. You won’t want to miss it.

Time: Registration starts at 11.30 am. Lunch 12 midday–3 pm

Venue: Level One, Ship Inn, South Bank.

Payment: $57 per person for a two-course sit-down lunch required at the time of booking. Drinks on consumption.

RSVP: Monday, 21 July ESSENTIAL. Please note any dietary requirements when booking.

Please book your attendance via the PNGAA website Events page by completing the online form with your details, including prepayment. For enquiries, phone Belinda Macartney on 0411 037 377.

SYDNEY

Nicholas Hoare: Reporting PNG’s Independence

State Library of NSW

Online Event—11 am to 12 pm—Tuesday, 2 September 2025

Free—Registrations required

Stuart Inder had a legendary reputation in the Pacific as editor and publisher of Pacific Islands Monthly.  He was a well-known PNGAA member, regularly attending events and assisting with Una Voce (former name of PNGAA’s quarterly journal) over many years to 2013.  Stuart was the editor of Tales of Papua New Guinea, the book published by the ROAPNG prior to the association’s name change to Papua New Guinea Association of Australia.

Dr Nicholas Hoare takes us back to 16 September 1975, the day Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia. In this talk, Nicholas captures the feeling of the day and its significance 50 years on through the eyes of Stuart Inder, who was reporting from Port Moresby that day, and his papers, now held in the Library, offer a unique window on Australia’s Pacific history.

Dr Nicholas Hoare is a lecturer and Pacific History Research Fellow at the Australian National University. In addition to working on a history of the Pacific Islands Monthly magazine, he is collaborating with colleagues in revitalising the Papua New Guinea Dictionary of Biography. He was the Library’s David Scott Mitchell Memorial Fellow in 2024.

Register your attendance at: https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/nicholas-hoare-reporting-papua-new-guineas-independence

CAIRNS

AHC Exhibition, Cairns Regional Council’s Mulgrave Gallery,

September 2025

The Australian High Commission Papua New Guinea is celebrating with several cultural activities, and is collaborating with Cairns Regional Council’s Mulgrave Gallery to bring together PNG and Australian artists for a special exhibition, The Invisible Line: Stories, Legends and Connections, celebrating the deep ties between our people, which will open in Cairns in September 2025.

Four PNG-based artists and four Australia-based artists will meet in Port Moresby for a series of workshops and art camps in preparation for the exhibition, which will highlight the ancestral and continued connections between PNG and Australia though art and stories.

For more information: Mulgrave Gallery, 51 Esplanade,

Telephone: 07 4032 6660

E: mulgravegallery@cairns.qld.gov.au

 

The South Pacific Memories Group

The South Pacific Memories Group was formed in Brisbane in early 2007 by Jim and Joan Burton. Jim thought it would be a great idea for expatriates to come together, to share memories of time spent in the Pacific Islands.

The first meeting was held at Mt Ommaney Library with 12 attendees. In January 2009 monthly meetings chaired by Jim were moved to the Toowong Library before ill health intervened and Ian Lockley took the helm. Over the years attendees have enjoyed guest speakers sharing their memories and experiences of times in PNG, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu.

The group, which is all about friendships, fun and keeping in contact, now meets every second month on the first Friday of that month at Toowong Library. We normally have up to 24 attendees. The next meeting is scheduled for Friday, 1 August 2025.

If you are interested in joining our group please contact Mrs Keitha Brown:
E: keithab105@bigpond.com