New Ireland Governor Sir Julius Chan

The event, marked as the first of its kind in New Ireland, was hailed as a magnificent success and witnessed the enthusiastic participation of locals from all corners of the province, as well as visitors from other parts of Papua New Guinea, including Port Moresby and the Highlands.

Addressing the organizing committee in a debriefing session on Friday morning, Sir Julius thanked everyone involved in the coordination of the celebrations.

Despite it being a national holiday, Sir J dedicated four hours on Friday, June 16th, to reinforce his thoughts on these matters and shed light on several private member's bills that will soon be presented to parliament.

Accompanying Sir Julius Chan were Deputy Chairman of the New Ireland Autonomy Committee, Byron Chan; former Ambassador and former People's Progress Party President, Sumasy Singin, consultant legislative counsel, Kalu Yomilewa; and legal advisor, Dr. John Kwimb.

He was in Brisbane for medical check up when he received the news late yesterday afternoon.

He described Sir Rabbie as a one of a kind Papua New Guinean amongst other distinguished Tolai's of his time including Oscar Tammur Snr, Sir Paulias Matane, Sam Piniau, and the living giant Dr Alan Marat and Sir John Kaputin.

“He was a very cool, calm and collected leader, and naturally classed as a true gentleman by anyone who had the good fortune of meeting him,’ said Sir J.

The peaceful protest coincided with the celebrations of the National Women’s Day held on Friday 24th March, 2023.

Governor Sir Julius Chan was present to accept the petition. He said his government stands ready to support women’s issues in the province.

The women dressed in black and purple silently marched with banners and placards from the Kavieng National Court house through the main town area and proceeded down to the market and to the Government Legislative Assembly building.

The women were joined by New Ireland PPC Albert Beli in the peaceful protest.

Upon arrival, he was taken on a tour of the new look Kavieng Airport, an infrastructure project close to his heart. One, which he penned off in 1995 when he signed the Lihir MOA as then Prime Minister.

Outside the airport terminal he was met by a patriotic crowd of New Irelanders and senior administrative executives.

Sir Julius taken aback by the reception responded with a stern and serious, yet uplifting message back to the people of New Ireland.

He was sworn in as Chairman of the Provincial Executive Council and Provincial Assembly on Monday 15 August, after being sworn into Parliament on 9th of August.

Lavongai LLG, President Andrew Minkiong was also sworn in as a new member of the PEC and Chairman of Transport, Works and Infrastructure.

Officiating at the swearing in ceremony was Senior Provincial Magistrate, Patricia Tivese. She emphasized on virtues of serving the people and living up to the oath of office.

This is a milestone not bestowed to many Papua New Guineans. An octogenarian refers to someone who is in his or her 80s.

Taken aback by the kind gesture Sir John expressed great pleasure at receiving the wonderful message for his birthday. A message that acknowledged all of Sir John’s contributions to PNG as well as a close friend of Sir Julius. 

Reflecting on history, he recollected a number of milestone achievements by Sir Julius and himself in the area of policy initiatives in finance and development during the early days of self-government. 

He made this call following the death of a 24-year old woman last week at the hands of her partner. 

“Just last week a woman was attacked by her husband who beat her with a golf club.  When he broke the golf club because he was beating her so hard, he proceeded to stab her in the neck with the shaft of the broken golf club.  

“The worst thing about this is that all of this happened on a PMV in front of 10 ten or 15 other people and no one did a thing,” added Sir Julius.  

Mr Schnaubelt made the offer at the Kavieng Airport recently in response to the women in Kavieng who protested on his arrival demanding that the three New Ireland Members reconcile and work together for the good of the province.

He said: I have no problem with the reconciliation and am happy to sit with Member for Kavieng, Ian Ling-Stuckey and Governor Sir Julius for a reconciliation ceremony.”

It was an old building belonging to the Kavieng courthouse and was transferred to its current location after resident Chief Magistrate Lawrence Kangiwa gave clearance for the transfer.

He felt that the police in the province had been performing exceptionally well, basing this on the number of police cases being referred to the court.