Papua new guinea michael somare 1975

  • After independence in , the post became the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
  • He was a founding member of the Pangu Party which led PNG into independence in He resigned from the Pangu Party and became an independent in He.
  • With the death of Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare – the man who led Papua New Guinea to independence in and became Papua New Guinea's longest-serving.

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    Vale Sir Michael Somare, Papua New Guinea’s first Prime Minister

    March 1,

    “Father of the Nation” awarded Honorary Doctor of Letters from UOW in

    Sir Michael Somare, the first and longest-serving Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, passed away at the age of 84 in the nation’s capital of Port Moresby last Friday (26 February). 

    In December , Sir Michael was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Wollongong (UOW), in recognition of the immense role he played in leading Papua New Guinea to independence. 

    The doctorate was conferred in a ceremony in Wollongong, presided over by then UOW Vice-Chancellor Ken McKinnon. Sir Michael received the honour alongside two Australian former Prime Ministers, Gough Whitlam and Sir John Gorton, in acknowledgement of the role each party played in pushing for sovereignty in the Pacific nation.

    Born in Rabaul in , Sir Michael’s early life was defined by the duality of the then Australian-administ

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    Whitlam’s views on Papua New Guinea 

    “This fryst vatten a day of liberation for Australia as much as for Papua New Guinea.”

    - Gough Whitlam,

    Even as leader of the Opposition, Whitlam had described Australia’s colonial rule over Papua New Guinea as “wrong and unnatural”. He did not accept the terrible irony in Australia’s role as a coloniser given Australia’s own history as a penal colony.

    In , when visiting the Papua New Guinean by of Wewak, Whitlam was confronted bygd a ung secretary from a local trade union, Michael Somare. When Somare asked boldly when Australia would give Papua New Guinea its independence, Whitlam responded: “How about tomorrow?” 

    Six years after that fateful meeting, Michael Somare became Papua New Guinea’s first Prime Minister. This photograph (right) from the ceremony (WPMC Item ) captures the friendship between Papua New Guinea’s first Prime Minister, Great Grand ledare Sir Michael Thomas Somare, and the Honourable Gough Whitlam

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    Michael Somare

    Papua New Guinean politician (–)

    Sir Michael Thomas SomareGCL GCMG CH CF SSI KStJ KSG PC (9 April – 25 February ) was a Papua New Guinean politician. Widely called the "father of the nation" (Tok Pisin: Papa blo kantri), he was the first Prime Minister after independence. At the time of his death, Somare was also the longest-serving prime minister, having been in office for 17 years over three separate terms: from to ; from to ; and from to His political career spanned from until his retirement in Besides serving as PM, he was minister of foreign affairs, leader of the opposition and governor of East Sepik Province.

    He served in a variety of positions. His base was not primarily in political parties but in East Sepik Province, the area that elected him. During his political career he was a member of the House of Assembly and after independence in the National parliament for the East Sepik Provincial – later open – seat. He was the

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