A pension for a hero
p. 29 · Read in the full issue
33 years late!
Gaiya Hamara has waited 33 years for official recognition of injuries he received while fighting beside Australian troops in Papua New Guinea during World War 11.
Following a campaign conducted by the PNG Branch of the RSL, Mr Hamara is now believed to be the first Papua New Guinean to receive a full disability pension from the Australian Government.
The RSL has been campaigning for 15 years for greater recognition of Papua New Guinean ex-servicemen.
Mr Hamara, 55, from Butibum Village, near Lae, received a broken neck and leg injuries during the Bougainville action towards the end of the war. • Picture shows him being congratulated in Lae by Mr N' Osborn, president of the PNG Branch of the RSL. Mr Osborn said an increasing number of Papua New Guineans were now receiving war service pensions, but Mr Hamara was believed to be the first receiving a pension for full
disability.