Vin ToBaining

Last updated

Vin ToBaining
Member of the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea
In office
1961–1963
Personal details
Born East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea
Died2 April 1995

Vin ToBaining OBE MBE (died 1995) was one of the first six elected indigenous members of the colonial-era Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea, between 1961 and 1963. Subsequently, he was involved in the formation of the Pangu Party in 1967, which went on to form the government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) when the country became independent in 1975. [1]

Contents

Early life

Vin ToBaining was a Tolai from what is now the East New Britain Province of PNG. He came from a farming family. His date of birth is unknown but he is known to have been over 80 when he died. [2]

Political involvement

ToBaining was a strong supporter of local-level government. He was elected as president of the Vunamami local government council in 1951 and subsequently of the Gazelle local government council. He was instrumental in the formation of the Tolai Cocoa Project in the 1950s, designed to improve the quality of cocoa-processing facilities for local farmers on the Gazelle Peninsula. When the Australian administration of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea decided that the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea should have six elected Papua New Guinean members in the 1961 elections, ToBaining was elected to represent New Britain, as a member of the United Progress Party. In 1961, he was chosen to be a member of the Australian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. [2] [3] [4]

In 1964, the Territory of Papua and New Guinea introduced a new 64-member House of Assembly, which had 54 elected members. In the 1964 election ToBaining failed to be elected in the East New Britain constituency, being soundly defeated by Koriam Urekit. In 1967, nine members of the House of Assembly came together to form the Pangu Party, together with others that included Michael Somare, the future prime minister of an independent Papua New Guinea, and ToBaining, who became one of its four rotating chairmen. In the 1968 elections ToBaining was again defeated, this time by Oscar Tammur. Subsequently, he left the Pangu Party and became president of the newly formed Melanesian Independence Party, which had a policy of achieving independence for the islands of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, specifically New Britain, New Ireland, Bouganville, and the Admiralty Islands. [5] [6] [7] [8]

Death

ToBaining died on 2 April 1995 in his home village in East New Britain.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Papua New Guinea</span> Chronicle of Papua New Guinea

The prehistory of Papua New Guinea can be traced to about 50,000–60,000 years ago, when people first migrated towards the Australian continent. The written history began when European navigators first sighted New Guinea in the early part of the 17th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rabbie Namaliu</span> Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1988 to 1992

Sir Rabbie Langanai Namaliu was a Papua New Guinean politician. He served as the fourth prime minister of Papua New Guinea from 4 July 1988 to 17 July 1992 as leader of the Pangu Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pangu Pati</span> Papua New Guinean political party

The Pangu Pati, officially Papua na Niugini Yunion Pati, is a nationalist and developmentalist political party on the centre-left in Papua New Guinea. The party is the oldest political party in Papua New Guinea and has held all levels of government throughout its history. As of 2023, it is the largest party in the National Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East New Britain Province</span> Province in Papua New Guinea

East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely destroyed in a volcanic eruption in 1994. East New Britain covers a total land area of 15,816 square kilometres (6,107 sq mi), and the province's population was reported as 220,133 in the 2000 census, rising to 328,369 in the 2011 count. Provincial coastal waters extend over an area of 104,000 square metres. The province's only land border is with West New Britain Province to the west, and it also shares a maritime border with New Ireland Province to the east.

The Tolai are the indigenous people of the Gazelle Peninsula and the Duke of York Islands of East New Britain in the New Guinea Islands region of Papua New Guinea. They are ethnically close kin to the peoples of adjacent New Ireland and tribes like the Tanga people and are thought to have migrated to the Gazelle Peninsula in relatively recent times, displacing the Baining people who were driven westwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gazelle Peninsula</span>

The Gazelle Peninsula is a large peninsula in northeastern East New Britain, Papua New Guinea located on the island of New Britain within the Bismarck Archipelago, situated in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The Rabaul caldera is located on the northern tip of the peninsula. Upon the Gazelle Peninsula are the Baining Mountains, of which the highest point is Mount Sinewit at 2,063 m (6,768 ft). The Gazelle Peninsula houses Vulcan Crater and Mount Tavurvur, both of which conducted volcanic activity in the 20th and 21st centuries and have provided extremely fertile soils. The body of the Gazelle Peninsula is about 80 km (50 mi). The southern isthmus upon which the Gazelle Peninsula is connected to the main body of East New Britain is reduced to about 32 km (20 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Somare</span> Papua New Guinean politician (1936–2021)

Sir Michael Thomas Somare was a Papua New Guinean politician. Widely called the "father of the nation", 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 1975 to 1980; from 1982 to 1985; and from 2002 to 2011. His political career spanned from 1968 until his retirement in 2017. Besides serving as PM, he was minister of foreign affairs, leader of the opposition and governor of East Sepik Province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Marape</span> Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea

James Marape is a Papua New Guinean politician who has served as the prime minister of Papua New Guinea since May 2019. He has been a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea since July 2007, representing the electorate of Tari-Pori Open in Hela Province in the New Guinea Highlands. He has held Cabinet Posts as Minister of Education (2008–2011), Minister of Finance (2012–2019), and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2023–present). Marape entered the 2022 elections under the banner of the Pangu Party and won more seats than any other party. He was therefore entitled to form the government. His new government was elected unopposed by the new parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Emanuel</span> Australian official in New Guinea (1918–1971)

Jack Emanuel was an Australian colonial administrator who served as district commissioner in the East New Britain district of Papua New Guinea who was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest British award for bravery out of combat, for gallantry displayed between July 1969 and 19 August 1971. Emanuel served as a police officer and fireman in Australia before accepting a posting as patrol officer (kiap) to the Australian-administered United Nations trust territory of New Guinea, shortly after the Second World War. Emanuel was appointed acting district commissioner for East New Britain in 1969, and was confirmed in this role in 1971. He was well-respected as a local government official and noted for his willingness to negotiate resolutions to local disputes without police escort. Emanuel was trying to discuss a resolution to a land dispute between European settlers and the Tolai people in August 1971 when he was stabbed to death during negotiations. His killers were brought to trial and his death shocked the Tolai who largely abandoned the dispute.

Michael John Manning OBE was an Australian-born Papua New Guinean anti-corruption activist and economist. Manning served as the second Chairman of Transparency International PNG (TIPNG), one of Papua New Guinea's largest organizations dedicated to eradicating corruption, from 2003 until 2008. He was a naturalized citizen of Papua New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Basil</span> Papua New Guinea politician (1969–2022)

Samuel H. Basil was a Papua New Guinean politician. He was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 2007, representing the electorate of Bulolo Open, until his death in 2022. From 8 June 2019, to August 2019 Basil served as the Treasurer of Papua New Guinea.

Nicholas Brokam was a Papua New Guinean politician. He was a member of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly between 1961 and 1968, also serving as Under-Secretary for Economic Affairs and Information and Extension Services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1972 Papua New Guinean general election</span>

General elections were held in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea between 19 February and 11 March 1972. They saw the election of the country's first female MP, Josephine Abaijah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthias Toliman</span>

Matthias Tutanava Toliman was a Papua New Guinean politician. He served as a member of the House of Assembly between 1964 and 1973, also holding ministerial roles from 1964 until 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Papua New Guinean general election</span>

General elections were held in Papua New Guinea from 4 to 22 July 2022 to elect the members of the National Parliament for a new five-year term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Siaguru</span> Papua New Guinea public servant and anti-corruption campaigner

Sir Anthony Siaguru was a Papua New Guinean civil servant, lawyer, international diplomat, politician, sportsman and anti-corruption campaigner.

Sir Cecil Abel (1903–1994) was a missionary, teacher and politician, initially in the Territory of Papua and, from 1975, in the independent nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG). He played an important role in the independence process and is said to have been responsible for the preamble to PNG's constitution. He also played a leading role in the early stages of the Pangu Party, the party that formed the government under prime minister Michael Somare after independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry ToRobert</span> Papua New Guinea banker and public servant

Sir Henry ToRobert was a Papua New Guinean civil servant who was the first governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea. He also played a major role in developing the Credit Corporation (PNG) Ltd and was president of the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee for 30 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Lapun</span> Papua New Guinea politician

Sir Paul Lapun was a Papua New Guinean politician. Both a supporter of independence for Papua New Guinea (PNG) and of the secessionist movement on Bougainville, Lapun served in the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea and in the first National Parliament of Papua New Guinea between 1972 and 1975, when he was Minister for Mines and Energy. He was instrumental in obtaining royalties for the people of Bougainville for the copper mine on their island. He was the first Papua New Guinean to receive a knighthood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebia Olewale</span> Papua New Guinea politician

Sir Ebia Olewale (1940–2009) was a politician in Papua New Guinea (PNG). He was elected as a member of the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea in 1968 and went on to hold several ministerial positions during the period of self-governance and after PNG's independence in 1975, including that of deputy prime minister. He was knighted in 1983 and served as chancellor of the University of Goroka from 2000 to 2006. From 2002 until his death, he was a director of the Papua New Guinea Sustainable Development Program.

References

  1. "PANGU Party". PNG Facts. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Vin TOBAINING (2 April 1995, aged 80+)". Papua New Guinea Association of Australia. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  3. New Faces in P-NG Council Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1961, p18
  4. Bettison, David G.; Hughes, Colin A.; van der Veur, Paul W. "The Papua-New Guinea Elections 1964" (PDF). ANU Press. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  5. "Cecil Abel". Malum Nalu. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  6. "177 Paper By Doet". DFAT Australia. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  7. "234 Telex, Hay To Warwick Smith". DFAT. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  8. "Full details of the big New Guinea Elections". Pacific Islands Monthly May 1964. Retrieved 23 February 2022.