Dame Josephine Abaijah, (born 23 June 1940) is a

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 ...

n former politician. She was the first woman to be elected to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

in 1972.

Biography

Born in

Misima Misima (formerly called St. Aignan) is a volcanic island in the northwest of Louisiade Archipelago within Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. History Misima Island was inhabited by Austronesians since about 1500 BC. The island was sig ...

and one of 17 children, Abaijah began working in the Department of Public Health after leaving school, becoming a health education specialist. She also attended the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, where she obtained a diploma.She'll drive a hard bargain for Papua
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', May 1972, p35 She also played netball for the Papua New Guinea territory team, becoming vice-captain. She contested the Central Provincial seat in the 1972 elections, becoming the first woman to win a seat in the House of Assembly, and only the second female legislator in

after Doris Booth (who had been an appointed member in the 1950s). Abaijah was the only woman elected at that time. After being elected, she founded and led the Papua Besena movement, which agitated unsuccessfully for Papua to become a separate independent country instead of being linked with New Guinea as

. She was re-elected in 1977 in the National Capital District Provincial constituency, but was defeated by Phillip Bouraga in the 1982 elections. She ran unsuccessfully again in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. Asked by the '' Pacific Journalism Review'' for her opinion as to why there were (in 1995) no women in Papua New Guinea's Parliament, she stated:

''"I maintain that I will not give money to somebody to vote for me. So I think that's one big reason. The men can get money, the men can bribe. We are finding it very difficult for women to go around bribing people. I think this is where the country is going nowhere because here there is a lot of bribes, there is a lot of corruption, something that women don't want in this country."''

However, Abaijah returned to parliament after winning the Milne Bay Provincial seat in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, unseating

Tim Neville Tim Neville is a former Republican member of the Colorado Senate from the 16th district. Neville was born and raised in Florida. He has a degree in business administration from Regis University and has lived in Jefferson County, Colorado sin ...

. She lost the seat to Neville in the 2002 elections. Her autobiography, ''A Thousand Coloured Dreams'', was published in 1991.Josephine Abaijah and Eric Wright (1991) ''A Thousand Coloured Dreams: The Story of a Young Girl Growing up in Papua'', Dellasta Pacific. Mount Waverley, Victoria, 1991

References

External links

Papua New Guinea (PNG) newsite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abaijah, Josephine Living people Alumni of the University of London Grand Companions of the Order of Logohu Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Milne Bay Province Members of the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinean women in politics 20th-century women politicians Women members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinean civil servants 1940 births Papua New Guinean netball players Papua New Guinean expatriates in the United Kingdom