Latest Issue of our Journal

1883: HM Chester, Queensland Government Agent on Thursday Island, raised the Union Jack near present-day Port Moresby and annexed, on behalf of Queen Victoria, that part of New Guinea and adjacent islands lying between...

As Papua New Guinea approaches 2025, the year marking 50 years of independence, Prime Minister Hon. James Marape issued a heartfelt message to the nation, urging every citizen to unite and work together for...

Part ONE • Paul Munro AM In July 1961 I became one of the last ‘permanent’ officers appointed to the PNG Administration—as Legal Officer. At 85, I am among the last survivors of the...

Garrett Roche Independence Day in Mt Hagen, 1975 I remember Independence Day 1975 in Mt Hagen. I had been in the country since 1970, based in the Western Highlands and I had some grasp...

Trevor Freestone I was an education officer in Papua New Guinea from 1964 to 1975. My postings included Ambunti in the East Sepik District, Pagei in the Sandaun (West Sepik) Province and Bena Bena...

Part ONE • BAKA BINA This story is my take on listening to my father talk about self-government with other men in the village and his play on the words sel gavaman/sel kambang and...

Michael Kabuni PhD Candidate at the Australian National University (ANU) At the 2024 PNG Update, the PNG Prime Minister James Marape went to great lengths to argue that political stability is a prerequisite for...

Colin Pain It is well known that some mountains in the Papua New Guinea Highlands are extinct volcanoes, most having retained their original shape to some extent. These volcanoes have an important impact on...

Sandy Miller Rod and I were going to be visiting PNG in April 2024, attending the ANZAC Day Dawn Service and Montevideo Maru Memorial Service in Rabaul. After a lot of thinking and internet...

Peter Skinner The chance discovery by Derek Baldwin of a small black and white school photograph in an old suitcase makes one wonder what other historic Papua New Guinea images are buried in family...

Dr David Tierney Recognising sacrifices made during the WWII Bougainville Conflict, Papua New Guinea The image, from page 15 in the Sydney Sun, 19 August 1945, with the caption ‘He was my mate’, shows...

Chips Mackellar Tom Leahy was a scion of that famous pioneering dynasty of PNG. Like his equally famous family contemporaries, Mick and Danny Leahy, Tom was widely respected and much loved by expats and...

Gregory J Ivey & Russell Wade This article outlines the pre-independence evolution of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF), although readers may be aware that the first indigenous battalion was formed by the...

Peter Worsley I spent about 18 months as Officer In Charge at Kalalo Patrol Post on the north coast of the Morobe District, 2,500 feet above sea level. My nearest airstrip was at Wasu...

Part Three - Peter Stace & JW (Bill) Gornall The Gateway for new rural development officers (didiman) to the PNG islands: Personal Experiences in 1967 Parts One and Two of this article focused on...

Professor Craig Alan Volker In this monthly discussion we will answer one question about language in PNG and beyond. This month we are looking at how Tok Pisin started, just who started it, and...

Capt. Garry Honour, Retd A Tribute to Aviators in PNG Here are a few tales put together remembering some legendary Papua New Guinea aviators whom we all respect. Captain GA (Dick) Glassey The following...

Gregory Leech & Kylee Andersen, WA On a bright sunny morning, a memorial service took place in the spacious West Chapel at Fremantle Cemetery, Western Australia, for a truly pioneering scientist and compassionate humanitarian,...

Vision for an Australian-Pacific Cultural and Community Centre It is crucial for Australians to learn about Pacific people and cultures. Acknowledging Australia’s taking PNG to a peaceful independence is very much a significant part...

Chatswood Catch-Up 18 November 2024 Attending the latest PNGAA Catch-Up were Warren Martin, Wendy Smith, Greg Corner,  Ros & John Godlee, Steven Gagau, Peter & Lucille Stace and Roy Ranney. It’s an informal social gathering at the Chatswood Bowling...

BOOK REVIEW Ashurst in PNG: A short history of the law firm Ashurst and its predecessors in Papua New Guinea MICHAEL CHALLINGER This excellent new book, Ashurst in PNG, traces the history of a...

American Historical Expert Promotes Historical Literacy for PNG Tourism Dr Brent Glass, former Director of the National Museum of American History and senior advisor to the Smithsonian Institute, made a special visit to the...

HOWCROFT | DENOON | HARDY | LOCKLEY | RIDDELL | WEARNE | THURSTON HOWCROFT, Neville OBE 2 November 2024 Queensland-born Neville Howcroft joined the Queensland Forestry Department as a trainee in forestry survey and...

Established in 2009 to represent the interests of the families of the soldiers and civilians captured in Rabaul and the New Guinea Islands after the Japanese invasion in January 1942, and the sinking of...