Papua New Guinea celebrates journey to independence, 50 years after parting with Australia

Lit by a pastel sky as the sun sets over Port Moresby's vast harbour, a group of young, athletic men toss a football on the beach.

A few meters away on a faded concrete basketball court, teenagers whiz around on skateboards, practising their tricks in the ocean breeze.

One boy in a grey singlet starts breakdancing to the music blaring in his headphones — absorbed by a beat only he can hear.

This is an average afternoon at Ela Beach — a place where locals come to exercise, mingle and unwind at the end of a long day.

But it wasn't always this way.

Decades ago, when Papua New Guinea was under Australian colonial rule, there was a sign at this beach that read "no dogs or natives allowed".

It's a detail that Dr John Momis recalls painfully, as he reflects on his country's journey to becoming an independent nation 50 years ago.

Until September 16, 1975, Papua New Guinea had endured almost a century of colonisation, first under Germany and Britain.

Australia ruled parts of the nation from 1906, and went on to unify the territories of Papua and the former Germany colony of New Guinea under one administration based in Port Moresby, in 1949.

While the territory remained under Australian control, the Papua and New Guinea Act 1949 established local rule.

The Kiap system

As young student on the island of Bougainville, Dr Momis's interactions with the colonial administration were mixed.

"Our headmaster at the time was from Queensland, he was a very good man and, in fact, it was under his tutelage that I won a scholarship to study in Australia," he says.

"Kiaps, the district officers, were a bit different. They were the administration officials and people just did what they told them to do, without being totally agreeable."

Australia sent about 2,000 patrol officers to the country over the years — tasked with representing the government, enforcing laws and helping with development.

Personalities differed among the various colonial administrators. But for Dr Momis, the broader system was problematic.

"Things were being done for us. We were not really participating. And that was the big thing," he says.

"We wanted people to participate in the process of development … to become agents of change and development, and not mere recipients of goods and services," he says.

Leading PNG to independence

It was a feeling shared by Sir Michael Somare, the nation's founding father, who was a teacher and a radio announcer in his earlier years.

"His take home pay was stipend of very low dollars and corned beef and biscuits," his son Arthur Somare recalls.

"These were all things that helped him in focusing his thinking towards 'What would it be like if Papua New Guineans were to determine their own future?'"

In the 1960s, Somare and other young Papua New Guineans began advocating for self-government.

Meeting of the minds

Before his father became the Prime Minister of Australia, a young Antony Whitlam travelled to the neighbouring country with his father, Gough, and met the indigenous Papua New Guineans agitating for independence.

What he encountered left a strong impression on him and his father.

"They were a pretty impressive bunch of young men who were likely to be, and would, did, become the future leaders of PNG," he tells the ABC.

When Gough was elected Prime Minister of Australia in 1972, he made Papua New Guinea's independence a foreign policy priority.

Later in life, the former prime minister mused that if his entire public career was erased, except for his contribution to the independence of PNG, he'd rest happy.

"It wasn't just a matter for PNG about whether they became independent. It was also a matter for Australia and whether it wanted to be a colonial power," Antony Whitlam said.

But support for the idea wasn't universal.

Much of the Australian expatriate population living in Papua New Guinea was against it — some even erecting hostile signs of protest when Gough Whitlam visited the country.

In parts of Papua New Guinea's highlands, first contact with the wider world had only occurred decades earlier, and some indigenous groups felt the country was not ready.

Sir Michael Somare faced the unique challenge of galvanising support for a single country, in a land made up of more than 800 different languages and tribal groups.

"From the very outset, the old man's biggest challenge was to get everyone together and share in a vision that they are one people," his son, Arthur Somare said.

Challenges remain

Papua New Guinea achieved independence from Australia in 1975 but to this day, that challenge continues.

In parts of Papua New Guinea there are regular outbreaks of tribal conflicts — often between neighbouring cultural groups.

Those conflicts have started to spread to the capital, Port Moresby, as more people move to the city in search of jobs and services.

But despite the challenges, Papua New Guinea's prime minister James Marape says there is much to celebrate.

Today, the country is awash with people in national colours, with feathers in their hair, waving the Papua New Guinea flag and celebrating.

"Where else in the world do you find that diversity in a symphony of one nation, one people, one country?" Mr Marape tells the ABC.

But as he reflects on the country's 50 years, he chokes up — a rare moment of raw emotion for the tough highlander.

"I am the first to admit challenges remain," he says. "I wish I had all the resources to fix this country."

Founding fathers disillusioned

With 50 years of independence under its belt, some feel the country has not lived up to the aspirations of its founding fathers.

Later in life, Sir Michael Somare had become disillusioned with the state of the country, according to his youngest daughter, Dulciana Somare-Brash.

"I think at one point he felt like our institutions weren't upholding the importance of governance and rules," she says.

Before his death in 2021, the nation's most successful anti-corruption agency had been gutted and disbanded, despite corruption remaining a pervasive issue.

Today, another anti-corruption agency is under strain after the three commissioners appointed to the fledgling Independent Commission Against Corruption were suspended. 

Papua New Guinea's courts are chronically under-resourced, with judges working "between both court systems", leading to a backlog of cases, according to a 2021 report.

Dr Momis, who chaired the committee that drafted PNG's constitution from 1972 to 1975, shares Sir Michael's concern.

"We had a homegrown constitution. It was not copied from anywhere else," he says.

The nation's founding document includes a leadership code that stipulates public officials must not use their position for personal gain.

"We wanted to develop good leaders, good, educated people."

But almost half a century on, he's worried about where the country is heading.

"We've become so dependent and vulnerable to manipulation, and in fact, we are a corrupt nation," he says.

Looking ahead

For some, Papua New Guinea's 50th anniversary presents an opportunity to consider the future.

"I am so proud. I'm such a proud Papua New Guinean,” Ms Somare-Brash says. 

"We survived as indigenous people, close to our land and sea for about 40,000 years, and along came a group that said we're going to be like everybody else now, we're going to be contained in what is called a nation.

"We did that in a really short period of time, so imagine what we're going to be able to do in 50 years."

She believes the solutions to Papua New Guinea's troubles lie in the hands of its people.

"It's always been up to us. It has been for 50 years."