People
pp. 64-69 · Read in the full issue
A French Catholic nun has been awarded the second high est honour which France can make in recognition of her medical and leaching services in Papua New Guinea. Sister Marie-Paul, who is in her 71st year, was invested with the National Cross of Merit by the French Charge d’Affaires in PNG, Jean-Paul Robert. The investiture was made at the Yule Island Mission west of Port Moresby. Sister Marie- Paul has lived and worked on the island for 43 years.
A visitor to Australia recently was the Prime Minister of Tonga, Prince Fatafehi Tu’i pelihake, who spent two nights in Sydney before flying to Papua New Guinea for the South Pacific Festival of Arts.
The Prime Minister, who is a brother of King Tupou IV of Tonga, met members of the Sydney Tongan community during his visit.
Travelling with the Prime Minister were 50 Tongan singers and dancers on their way to the festival. They gave a well-received performance in Sydney before flying on to
Png.
Lady Rachel Cleland, who re cently retired to Perth in West ern Australia after 25' years of public service in Papua New Guinea, was made a Dame of
the Order of the British Em pire in the PNG list for the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
She is the widow of a former Administrator of PNG before independence. Sir Donald Cleland, and has played a prominent part in community, charity and women’s affairs in PNG during and after her time at Government House, Port Moresby. She already held the award of CBE.
There were five knighthoods in the PNG and Fiji lists. The new PNG knights are the prominent and influential com munity leader Wamp Wan of Mount Hagen, and one of the first Papua New Guineans ever ordained as a Roman Catholic priest, the Most Reverend Louis Vangeke who became Bishop of Bereina.
Awards of Knight of the Order of the British Empire on the Fiji list were made for community and public service to John Maynard Hedstrom, Ratu Jone Latianara and Sethi Narain.
Other awards from the PNG and Fiji lists were:
Papua New Guinea.
CMG Paulius Matane, head of the PNG mission to United Nations. CBE John Natera, agriculture; Robert Henry Seeto, community; The Hon.
Oscar Tammur, MR, politics and government.OßE Co lonel Duncan Mackenzie Michael Francis, (Royal Aust ralian Engineers), chief of staff, Papua New Guinea De fence Force; Pama Anio, com munity; Herbert Stewart Craig, agriculture and the commun ity; Edwin George Hicks, pub lic service; Nambuga Mara, local and provincial govern ment; Edward Hasu Moava, community; Jacob Talis, com munity; llinome Frank Tarua, public service. MBE War rant Officer Roger Kipo, PNG Defence Force; Mrs Kila Amini, for services to YWCA and to women; George Oswald Thomas Blacker, banking; Inu Dai, banking and the com munity; Tegi Ebei’al, com munity; Ronald Allan Hiatt, public service; Rev Brother Peter Hilary Keaga, education; John Thomas Keating, golf; Sabumei Kofikai, community; Noglai Kora, local and provin cial government; Theesia Nia wesew Paliau, community; Momei Pangial, community;
Antony Howard Marlow Reed, scouting; Asi Mase Rei, com munity services; Chief Superin tendent John Dalton Revill, the Royal Papua New Guinea Con stabulary; James Edward Seeto, community; Mateura Tamarua, education. IM
Perial Service Order
William George, assistant secretary, Department of Com merce. Central Provincial Government; David John Stewart, general manager, Copra Marketing Board of Papua New Guinea; Wainetti Anagogo, public health; Sergeant Warbongoi Peter Tukar, Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary.
FIJI. CBE Ratu Josua Brown Toganivalu, Fiji High Commissioner to New Zealand. OBE Kishor Nand Govino, community; Harold Picton-Smith, law; Ratu Henry Barkeley Vakaruru Gasevaka tini, medical public service; Captain (temporary Lieutenant Colonel) James Norman Sanday, commanding officer, Ist Battalion Fiji Infantry Regiment with UNIFIL.
In the wake of a number of disturbances in Fiji gaols, the Fiji Controller of Prisons Wally Smith has announced his resig nation ‘for personal reasons’.
He has been with the country’s prison service for 29 years and has been controller for the past two years. Mr Smith has earned high praise for his ap proach to gaol administration as a rehabilitation rather than a punishment operation. A number of mass gaol breaks
over the past 12 months how ever has involved the prisons service in political controversy.
John P. Condon, United States ambassador to Fiji, Tonga and Tuvalu, left Suva in July after completing his two-year assign ment. President Carter has nominated William P. Bodde Jr to succeed him.
Mr Condon was the first resident US ambassador to' Fiji. He had previously served in Tunis, Algiers, Saigon,, Beirut and Paris.
Mr Bodde has been director' for Pacific Island Affairs at the Stale Department since 1978.
Rejoined the foreign service ini 1962, and has since served ini Vienna, Stockholm and at the: department in Washington.
New Zealander Reg Ollard will I retire in October from the postJ of town clerk of Suva.
Bernard Narakobi. a Papua t New Guinean lawyer, and!
Theo Bredmeyer, an Australianr with long experience in PNGi as a lawyer and magistrate,, have been appointed acting* judges of the PNG Nationall Court. Acting Chief Justices
Lady Cleland
William Toganivalu (right), Fiji Minister for Home Affairs, was a recent observer at an Australian ministerial conference on gaol services, probation and parole.
He is seen here with Neville Wran, Premier of New South Wales, in Sydney. Ratu William and Mr Wran held private talks after the conference.
Mr Justice Kearney welcomed them at a recent ceremony in the National Court, Port Moresby.
Judge Narakobi is widely known in PNG as a writer and commentator on social and legal problems, particularly those arising from outside in fluences on his country. He is a former chairman of the PNG Law Reform Commission which has been examining the suitability of laws inherited by PNG from the time it became politically independent, and he was also one of the advisers on the PNG Constitution.
Judge Bredmeyer, who has been based in Rabaul as a senior magistrate, has had 15 years experience in legal work in PNG. \ world expert on heraldry, Professor Paul Beadle, has visited the Cook Islands to research a new coat of arms for
he country. The Cooks at (resent use the New Zealand mblem on official correspon lence and documents.
The government had invited he public to submit ideas for he coal of arms, but a spokes nan said there had not been a ;real response.
Ideas that were submitted re being studied closely by Yofessor Beadle, who is a ormer Dean of the Faculty of at Auckland University.
Australia’s Minister for Trans ort Ralph Hunt in June an ounced a number of changes 3 the Qantas board, including
the appointment of Jim Leslie as part-time chairman.
Mr Leslie, chairman of Mobil Oil Australia Ltd, re placed Sir Lenox Hewitt who retired as chairman on 30 June.
General manager of Qantas, Keith Hamilton, was appointed a director. He will continue as general manager.
Mrs Rachel Brown, a Peace
Corps volunteer on Ponape,
Federated States of Micronesia, has made a per sonal donation of SUSIOOO to pay for a Ponapean student to
study nursing at a top training
school. Mrs Brown, who has
been teaching nursing at
Ponape Central School for the past two years, offered her pri vate scholarship to Ms Ber noiina Lekka, who had shown herself an outstanding student.
Miss Taufa Vakatale recently began an entirely new career after more than 20 years work ing as a teacher: she joined
Fiji’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and is serving as coun sellor to the Fiji High Com missioner in London.
The former Principal of the Adi Cakobau School (a government boarding school for girls, near Suva) says that things she looked forward to particularly in her new job were ‘providing a second home for Fiji students in UK’, and
‘encouraging better partici
pation in community affairs
among the Fijian people in London’. She said she would place great emphasis on cul tural activities like meke per formances.
She added: ‘As a member of the World Executive of the
Young Women’s Christian As sociation, I also look forward to having close contact with the Y Executive body and its activi ties.’
Ross Ligairi, a trainee diplo mat in Fiji’s Foreign Affairs Department, has been awarded an Oxford University ‘Blue’ for boxing. Thousands of Oxford University students compete each year for a ‘Blue’, which goes only to those with out
standing sporting perform
ances.
Ross has represented Oxford nine times in the middleweight division.
His only loss was at the hands of Frank Bruno who has
been middleweight champion
of the British Universities since 1978.
Ross, who holds a Master of Arts in Public Administration and a Master of Philosophy in
Development Administration,
is studying for a post-graduate diploma in International Law
and Diplomacy.
He said of the award: ‘Tremendous. I never thought I’d ever have the chance to study at Oxford, let alone be an Oxford Blue.’
Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Science, Culture and Tour ism Stephen Tago was named
patron of the June-July South Pacific Festival of Arts by Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan. Mr Tago replaced for mer Prime Minister Michael Somare in the position. Mr Somare’s government was de feated on a confidence vote in March.
Rose Kekedo has become the first Papua New Guinean woman to be appointed sec retary of a government depart ment. She was appointed in June to head the Department
of Community and Family
Services. Rose’s sister, Jean Kekedo, is deputy secretary, Department of the Prime Minister.
President Hammer Deßoburt of Nauru has been honoured with the Samoan chiefly title of Faamausili from the village of Malie by Western Samoa’s head of state Malietoa Tanumafili 11.
The ceremony, held in June at the head of state’s private residence at Faatoilemanu, was performed by his sister Tooa Salamasina Malietoa.
Tooa also officially con ferred the name Lupesina on the Nauruan president’s
daughter, following his ex
pressed wish that she should ‘have a Samoan name’.
It is expected that President Deßoburt will be officially
Professor Beadle
Jim Leslie
Forty cardinals, archbishops and bishops from Pacific Island coun tries, Australia and New Zealand recently conferred in Australia to prepare for an international Roman Catholic conference to be held in Rome in September on the role of the family in the modern world.
Picture shows Cardinal Sir James Freeman, Archbishop of Sydney, in Sydney with (left) Cardinal Pio Taofinu’u of Western Samoa and (right) Archbishop Petero Mataca of Fiji - AIS photograph.
presented to the village of Malie in the course of a visit he is expected to make in August.
As well as being president, Mr Deßoburt is Head Chief of Nauru.
Aualii Kalti Mose, for 20 years Samoan editor 6f the Western Samoa Government publi cation Savali, has retired,
according to Apia reports.
Aualii was one of the orig inal members of the Public Re lations Office, Prime Minister’s Department, when it was set up in the early 60s.
He has since been respon sible for editing the Samoan language version of Savali.
He had earlier been Samoan editor of the Samoa Bulletin.
Until a permanent appoint ment is made, Mrs Leute Fua. previously sub-editor, was con tinuing to produce the paper.
Papua New Guinea’s Univer sity of Technology at Lae has a new deputy vice-chancellor.
He is Moseley Moramoro of Davaon village in the East new Britain Province. Mr Moramoro has degrees in ac countancy and commerce.
Angelyn Tukana has been appointed media director of Papua new Guinea’s largest advertising agency, Gordon Sioni Pacific Advertising (PNG) Pty Ltd. She joined the company in 1978 as an associ ate account executive.
Announcing the appoint
ment, Gordon Sioni Managing Director Chris Gordon said it
reflected the company’s policy
of career development for Papua New Guineans.
Angelyn, 24, a former Air Niugini hostess and Miss Papua New Guinea 1978, drew the wrath of political and civic leaders when her nude photo
graph appeared in a full-page
newspaper advertisement (PIM Dec 1979 p 27).
Standing her ground firmly,
Angelyn replied; ‘Let the male chauvinists criticise all they like ...’
New Hebrides’ embattled Chief Minister Father Walter Hayde Lini was awarded the CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, 1980.
This gesture was warmly appreciated in the New Hebrides, where it was seen as a clear acknowledgment of the legitimacy and authority of the government led by Fr Lini, legitimacy and authority which were under challenge by se cessionists on Santo and else where, with a measure of sup port from the other metropoli tan power in the condominium.
Finance Minister Benedict Kinika of Solomon Islands, and Bertram John Fletcher Russell, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands in Solomon Islands, were awarded OBEs in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Dr A. P. Mead, Vice-chancellor of the University of Tech nology, Lae, Papua New
Guinea, was made an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List this year.
Before his present appoint ment, Dr Mead was professor of zoology and head of the department of biological sci ences at Ahmadu Bello Univer sity in Nigeria.
His award was given for his work in Nigeria, particularly in the development of university education. He has worked at universities in Ghana and Nigeria since 1956.
Dr Mead, 52, is married with three children and comes from the United Kingdom. He was educated at Bristol Univer sity where he obtained a first class honours BSc degree in 1949. He took out his PhD at Birmingham University in 1959.
A suite has been reserved for several months at Port-Vila’s
Angelyn Tukana
Papua New Guinean police
specialists Sub-inspector
Henry Guawi (left) and Senior sergeant Messo Awe have re turned home with two new ‘recruits’ from Australia German Shepherd police dogs Sandy and Rusty who are trained to sniff out and locate explosives. With them in the picture is Corporal Bob Jameson from the Military Dog Section of the School of Mili tary Engineering at Casula, NSW, who assisted in a three month training course attended by Sub-inspector Guawi and Senior-sergeant Awe. The two policemen were already experi enced dog-handlers when they arrived in Australia in April to begin the new course. Rusty, an 18-month-old male and Sandy, a seven-month-old female, were bred at the Casula school and are a gift to PNG from the Australian Army. They have been trained since the age of three weeks to detect explos ives in buildings, motor ve hicles, aircraft, ships, railway yards and trains. AIS photo graph.
US Ambassador Anne Martindale greeted by Cook Island Internal Affairs Minister Tangaroa Tangaroa in Rarotonga.
Kai Viti hotel for no less a personage than the King of Spain, King Juan Carlos. The monarch planned to visit the New Hebrides for the indepen dence celebrations of July 30.
Spain was the homeland of the explorer Pedro Fernandez de Quiros who was the first European to see the New Hebrides on April 25, 1906.
Spain also had a role to play in the condominium set up in the early years of the 20th cen tury, with a mediating function in disputes between Britain and France. But this never came to much.
The first overseas diplomatic
appointment made by newly
independent Kiribati is that of an Honorary Consul in New Zealand. The post is held by Gilbert W. Ullrich, whose brother. Ernest E. Ullrich, is New Zealand Consul for Tuvalu.
The United States Ambassador to New Zealand Anne C.
Martindale was in Rarotonga in June for the signing of a treaty between the US and the Cook Islands.
In the treaty the US relinquishes all past claims it has had on some of the north ern group islands in the Cooks.
The treaty also delineates the Cook Islands exclusive econ omic zone which overlaps with that of American Samoa.
Describing Rarotonga as ‘spectacularly beautiful’, Mrs Martindale said that it was
obvious that Rarotonga itself is doing very well and is not in need of the kind of aid offered by the US Peace Corps. How ever, she added, this may not be the case with some of the outer islands.
This aspect of affairs was to be examined by Caroline Gullett, the Peace Corps direc tor in Apia, Western Samoa, who was travelling with Mrs Martindale. The American party were to visit Aitutaki with this problem in mind.
The man in the hot seat at the daily press conferences held in Port-Vila’s Government Build ing in June-July was a 38-year old Englishman John Beasant.
Mr Beasant, a freelance journalist, is the eldest son of a retired Wiltshire farmer.
He served in Uganda in 1962 as a member of Voluntary Service Overseas. He later be came personal secretary to Sir Edgar Whitehead, leader of the opposition in Rhodesia.
Following the 1965 Unilat eral Declaration of Indepen dence in that country, he served in Zambia as a press officer to a statutory body, going in 1968 to Fiji where he was eventually appointed press secretary to Fiji’s ruling Al liance Party, designing and editing The Fiji Nation, the organ of the Alliance Party.
He returned to Britain in
1974 and has since worked as a freelance journalist.
John Beasant has written and had published numerous articles on African and Pacific land questions, and in 1969 his play The Urbanisation of Uwami was staged in Fiji. The basic ‘message’ of the play is that the Western concept of land as a marketable com modity is not only alien to the Pacific Islanders but immoral and impractical.
Since March 1978 he has worked as the personal rep resentative in Britain of Father Walter Lini, chief minister of the New Hebrides Govern ment.
Following the events of
October and November 1977, Fiji’s Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara had developed a very real concern about the state of affairs in New Hebrides, a concern which was given emphasis following a visit to Suva by Walter Lini and George Kalkoa.
During their discussions the New Hebridean leaders sought Ratu Mara’s advice on obtaining a spokesman for their cause in London. It was be cause of this request that Ratu Mara advised them to contact Beasant as a local person in the United Kingdom who could assist by virtue of the fact that he had personal knowledge of Pacific Islands affairs, and was familiar with the British politi cal scene.
Following the rebellion on Santo, and the apparent unwill ingness of the metropolitan powers to assume their responsibilities to put it down, the chief minister and his coun cil of ministers decided that they needed a spokesman at Port-Vila to put the govern ment viewpoint to the inter national corps of journalists which had gathered in the group following the rebellion.
Beasant was invited to do this job in early June, when he came to Port-Vila as govern ment spokesman and press sec retary to the chief minister. He expected to stay until mid- August.
Gilbert Ullrich
During their recent Australian visit the King and Queen of Tonga visited television station QTQ9 in Brisbane, and are shown here with (seated) Senior Producer Dave Holt and General Manager Jim McKay of Queensland Television Ltd.
John Beasant