Who the first woman to be elected to the House of Assembly?

Trevor
13/05/2017

Dame Josephine Abaijah was the first woman to be elected to the House of Assembly, in 1972.  She pushed unsuccessfully for the territory of Papua not to be joined with New Guinea in the lead-up to independence.

She was born in Milne Bay Province, in 1944 

Josephine Abaijah was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1990, and her autobiography, A Thousand Coloured Dreams, was published in 1991.

Dame Josephine returned to politics in 1997, when she was elected as Governor of Milne Bay Province.  She left parliament in 2000.

Tags: Dame Josephine Abaijah
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