Mao Zeming CMG (born 11 November 1963) is a

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

n politician. He served as Deputy Prime Minister from December 1999 to November 2000. He was raised in the

New Guinea Highlands The New Guinea Highlands, also known as the Central Range or Central Cordillera, is a long chain of mountain ranges on the island of New Guinea, including the island's highest peak, Puncak Jaya, Indonesia, , the highest mountain in Oceania. The r ...

. After studying motor mechanics for his tertiary education in

Goroka Goroka is the capital of the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. It is a town of approximately 19,000 people (2000), above sea level. It has an airport (in the centre of town) and is on the " Highlands Highway", about from Lae in Mor ...

, he enrolled as an officer cadet in 1983 at the Papua New Guinea Defence Academy in Lae.Bio sheet
Parliament of Papua New Guinea He was first 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 ...

in a by-election in July 1995, representing the Tewai-Siassi constituency (in

Morobe Province Morobe is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands Province ...

). In July 1997, Prime Minister Bill Skate appointed him Minister for Defence, then reshuffled him in December to the position of Minister for Housing. Skate briefly shuffled him to the position of Minister for Forests in July 1998, then back to Minister for Housing in October. Out of the Cabinet from June 1999, he was back in it from December, this time under 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 ...

, as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Livestock. He held the position until November 2000, when Morauta sacked him, accusing him of disloyalty. In April 2003, the Leadership Tribunal found Zeming guilty on nine charges "relating to use of his discretionary funds to pay companies owned or controlled by his associates". On recommendation of the Tribunal, which deemed him "unworthy to continue in office" for his mishandling of millions of kina, he was dismissed from Parliament in May by the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

. Returning to Parliament in the 2012 general election, as a member of incumbent Prime Minister

Peter O'Neill Peter Charles Paire O'Neill (born 13 February 1965) is a Papua New Guinean politician who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 2011 to 2019. He has been a Member of Parliament for Ialibu-Pangia since 2002. He was a fo ...

People's National Congress Party The People's National Congress is a political party in Papua New Guinea. Its former leader Bill Skate served as prime minister from 1997 to 1999 and as speaker of Parliament from 2002 to 2004. Skate died in 2006 and the party was led by Peter O'N ...

, he was appointed Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources. In June 2015, he was made a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

"for services to the community and to politics"."Queen's birthday honours list 2015: Commonwealth"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 12 June 2015

References

Living people 1963 births Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea Government ministers of Papua New Guinea Deputy prime ministers of Papua New Guinea Ministers of defence of Papua New Guinea People's National Congress (Papua New Guinea) politicians Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George {{PapuaNewGuinea-politician-stub