Nearest of Neighbours & Closest of Friends
Australia’s national day was on 26 January. It’s a day where we take the opportunity to understand where we’ve been so that we can shape where we want to go. On Australia Day, we...
Author: Roy
Together, Let Us Move Forward
HON. Michael Somare MP, 1975 First Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Michael Somare was Chief Minister from 1972, and led the country to self-government up to the point Independence was proclaimed. He became...
STOP PRESS!! Event full – PNGAA’s 50th Anniversary of Independence Luncheon Brisbane – 9 August 2025
!!STOP PRESS!! Tuesday 15 July Due to an enthusiastic response to the PNGAA Brisbane lunch, Sat 9 August, the venue capacity has been reached and bookings have closed. Apologies if you have missed securing...
MEMORIAL NEWS
Australian War Memorial, Canberra—1 July 2025 The Last Post Ceremony at the AWM will commemorate George Christopher Harrington NX191465 and the 83rd anniversary of the sinking of the Montevideo Maru. All are welcome to...
VALES & TRIBUTES
COLLIS | KAUAGE | VICKERS | ALPERS | MARCHMENT | LEPANI COLLIS, Norma 23 January 2025 Norma married Ted Collis in 1954 in Forbes, NSW, while Ted was enjoying six months’ leave from...
PNG IN THE NEWS
National Identity Cards In January 2025, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape directed that all PNG citizens be registered with a PNG National Identity (NID) by 16 September 2025 to coincide with the...
Letters & Reviews
Help Wanted Does anyone have knowledge of or the contact details for Mr Denholm, who was headmaster at Goroka Primary in the mid-seventies? If so, please contact Dave Lornie at email postbuka@gmail.com and/or Andrea...
EVENTS CALENDAR
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...
PNGAA Report
A Note from the President We are privileged to have this wonderful Association filled with energy 74 years after it was founded. The AGM on Sunday, 27 April 2025 highlighted the unique connections, the...
Vale Pope Francis: The Bishop of Rome
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 17 December 1936, Pope Francis was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2013. Inspired to join the...
Planting Memories: A Settler’s Life on the Sogeri Plateau
Anthea Matley—part two Returning to Port Moresby in 2018 During dinner that evening in Port Moresby, the hotel manager, an Australian, approached us. Average height, with grey curly hair and wearing a grey uniform...
A New Guinea Christmas
Paul Oates During a police investigation in 1974, in the Sialum Patrol Post station office, I asked the village ‘komiti’ for his Village Book. This is the grey-blue book presented to each village on...
Surviving the Tari Gap, Papua New Guinea
Part One of the story of one pilot’s miraculous escape from a crash in an infamous jungle Richard Broomhead Between 1965 and 1996, there were 685 accidents (as opposed to incidents) involving aircraft in...
A Dragon Nightmare
Chris Warrillow It was on an Air Niugini flight in 1981 when I recalled events of more than 20 years before. I was reading the inflight magazine Paradise (No. 30, July 1981), and an...
Omie: The Other Oro Tapa
Joan Winter, International Partner Omie Tapa Art PNG The moment I stepped off the plane at Jacksons Airport in 1972 I fell in love with Papua New Guinea. I collected my first Oro tapa...
