Sir William Jack Skate (26 September 1953 – 3 January 2006) was a prominent

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

politician. He was the son of an Australian father and a Papua New Guinean mother. Though his career was turbulent and often marked by setbacks, he served in the highest posts in his country:

prime minister of Papua New Guinea The prime minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Prai Minista bilong Papua Niugini) is Papua New Guinea's head of government, consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the National P ...

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

National Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, and as acting

governor-general of Papua New Guinea The governor-general of Papua New Guinea () is the vice-regal representative of the Monarchy of Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinean monarch, currently Charles III, in Papua New Guinea. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch after their ...

Life

Skate became manager of the capital district commission in 1987. He was elected to parliament in 1992 and served as speaker from 1992 to 1994, supporting the government of

Paias Wingti Paias Wingti (born 2 February 1951) is a Papua New Guinean politician. He served as the third Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea between 1985 and 1988, and again from 1992 to 1994. Early life and education Wingti hails from the Jika Tribe of the ...

. Skate served as governor of the National Capital District from 1995 to 1997. He was prime minister from 1997 to 1999 and resigned after 18 months, fearing that he would lose a challenge. In 2002, his political party the

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'Ne ...

(PNC) became a coalition partner in the government of

Michael Somare Sir Michael Thomas Somare (9 April 1936 – 26 February 2021) 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 lo ...

and Skate became Speaker of the National Parliament. He was appointed acting governor-general in November 2003, a constitutional requirement when that office falls vacant.

Pato Kakeraya Sir Pato Kakaraya, KBE, CMG, is a Papua New Guinea politician and former Cabinet Minister. Kakaraya was the second person considered for the elections for Governor-General of Papua New Guinea in 2004. Despite Sir Paulias Matane Sir Paulias Ng ...

was scheduled to take up the office on 20 January 2004, but Skate continued to act in the office because of court challenges to Kakeraya's election. On 3 March 2004, Skate was suspended as acting governor-general because of allegations that he misappropriated funds during the 1990s. He then advised the Prime Minister to appoint a cabinet minister as acting governor-general. The following day, however, he was cleared of the financial charges in court, and he became acting governor-general again. In May 2004, his party left the coalition when he and other members refused to support a constitutional amendment supported by Somare which would have given the government more time to be immune to no-confidence votes. As a result, the PNC became the largest opposition party. On 28 May 2004, Skate ceased to be Speaker when the parliament elected a pro-government candidate,

Jeffery Nape Jeffery Nape (1964 – 8 July 2016) was, until the 2012 election, speaker of the National Parliament and twice officially and once unofficially acting governor-general of Papua New Guinea. He was elected speaker by the members of the parliament ...

. The office of governor-general was still vacant at that stage, so Nape automatically succeeded Skate as acting governor-general. Bill Skate was knighted in January 2005 for services to parliament, becoming Sir William Skate. He died in hospital on 3 January 2006, in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where he had been airlifted after suffering a stroke in late December 2005 which was probably an effect of chronic alcoholism. He was buried in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

References

External links

Pacific Magazine: Former Prime Minister Sir William Skate Dies At 52

Pacific Magazine: Former PM Sir Bill Skate Laid To Rest

Pacific Magazine: Public Holiday Declared For Sir Skate’s Funeral

Pacific Magazine: Sir Bill Skate Ailing, Medivacked To Queensland Hospital
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skate, Bill Papua New Guinean people of English descent 1953 births 2006 deaths Governors-General of Papua New Guinea Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea Leaders of political parties in Papua New Guinea Prime Ministers of Papua New Guinea Speakers of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Politicians awarded knighthoods People's National Congress (Papua New Guinea) politicians Papua New Guinean people of Australian descent

Life

See also

References

External links