Australia’s 69-year administration in Papua New Guinea ended at midnight on 15 September 1975. Earlier that day the Australian flag, first raised on Papua New Guinean soil in 1906, was lowered ceremonially for the last time.

About 10,000 people watched the main ceremony at Port Moresby’s Sir Hubert Murray Stadium. Sir John Guise, Sir John Kerr, HRH Prince Charles, the PNG Prime Minister, Mr Somare, and the Australian Prime Minister, Mr Whitlam, watched with leaders of more than 20 other nations as the Australian flag, floating in a gentle breeze, was lowered by 1 Battalion Pacific Islands Regiment. The flag was folded and presented to Sir John Guise, who then presented it to the Australian Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, and said:

We are lowering the flag—not tearing it down.

This moment and the past years of transition from Australian rule to independence have been happy and peaceful years. They have been so because of the foresight of both the Australian and our own leaders.

We are able to lower the flag of Australia, with Australians, and friends from many other parts of the world beside us. Independence does not mean a new isolation. Rather, independence means we join with the other free peoples of the world to choose our nation’s future and to play a part, even though it may only be a small part, in choosing a future for the children of this planet.