John Dademo Waiko (8 August 1945 – 17 November 2024) was a Papua New Guinean historian, anthropologist, playwright and politician. Waiko was born in the village of Tabara in the Northern Province.Waiko, John D., ''A Short History of Papua New Guinea'', 1993, . Biographical information on back cover.

Education

He obtained a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Social Sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, thus becoming the first Papua New Guinean to earn a PhD of any kind.

Career

In 1986, he was the first Papua New Guinean to be appointed Professor, and became head of the History department at the

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

. He published a number of articles on the

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and politics of his country. His book ''A Short History of Papua New Guinea'' was first published in 1993. He was also the author of a play, ''The Unexpected Hawk'', published in 1971. In 1992, Waiko was elected to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, beginning his national political career. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2002, before losing his seat in Parliament in the June 2002 general election. In the 2007 general election, he stood unsuccessfully for election at the Sohe Open constituency, representing the new

Papua New Guinea Party The Papua New Guinea Party is a political party in Papua New Guinea. It was founded in 2007 by former Prime Minister and Leader of the People's Democratic Movement, Mekere Morauta, along with MP Wake Goi. The party won 8 out of 109 seats in the ...

. Waiko was controversially involved with a prominent Malaysian businessman in the logging industry in Papua New Guinea, Philip Lee. After Lee had "fraudulently obtained three Papua New Guinea passports and was found guilty of violating PNG immigration laws", Foreign Affairs Minister

John Pundari Sir John Pundari (born 7 January 1967) is a Papua New Guinean politician. He has been Speaker of the National Parliament (1997–1999), Deputy Prime Minister (1999), Minister for Foreign Affairs (2001), and has served as the Minister of Finan ...

ordered his deportation. Pundari was sacked by Prime Minister

Mekere Morauta Sir Mekere Morauta (12 June 1946 – 19 December 2020) was a Papua New Guinean politician and economist who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1999 to 2002. Inheriting a depressed economy and a fractious legislature, h ...

, and replaced by Waiko, who suspended and reviewed the deportation order. When it was revealed in February 2002 that Waiko and Lee "held shares in the same company", and Waiko admitted they were "business partners", PNG Forest Watch expressed its concern over a "clear conflict of interest" and urged Waiko to resign. Papua New Guinea's Trade Union Congress also called for Waiko to be sacked. Waiko was the subject of two biographical films. He was the subject of, starred in, and was associate producer of, the 1990 film ''Man Without Pigs'', by Chris Owen. In 2007, he starred in ''Minister Without Money'', a short film by Sandra Welkerling, focused on his political career, set against the wider context of Papua New Guinean politics.

Personal life and death

Waiko married Anne Dickson-Waiko (1950–2018), a professor at the

. They had one son. John Waiko died on 17 November 2024, at the age of 79.Tribute to PNG's John Waiko: scholar and politician
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waiko, John 1945 births 2024 deaths Papua New Guinean historians Papua New Guinean anthropologists Papua New Guinean dramatists and playwrights Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea Ministers for foreign affairs of Papua New Guinea People from Oro Province Papua New Guinea Party politicians 20th-century dramatists and playwrights 20th-century historians Australian National University alumni Academic staff of the University of Papua New Guinea