Justin Wayne Tkatchenko, , BEM (born 2 June 1972) is an Australian-born Papua New Guinean politician. He served as the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in Papua New Guinea from 23 June 2022 to 12 May 2023.

Biography

Tkatchenko was born in Australia to Ukrainian immigrants. Tkatchenko was originally from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, and followed a brief vocational training in

Horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

after his secondary education. He was then employed as curator of the Botanical Gardens of the National Capital District of Papua New Guinea. In 1997, he was appointed high official in the administration of the District. In 1999, he bought a small gardening business, which he grew over the following years. He also became famous as the presenter of a television gardening show, ''The Happy Gardiner''. In 1997, he was awarded the

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...

for services to “the orchid industry and tropical gardening”. He was naturalised as a Papua New Guinean citizen in 2006 and ran unsuccessfully as a candidate in the Papua New Guinean legislative elections of 2007. He was defeated by outgoing MP Dame

Carol Kidu Dame Carol Anne Kidu ( Millwater; born 10 October 1948), also known as Carol, Lady Kidu, DBE, is an Australian-born Papua New Guinean politician. Kidu was the only female Member of Parliament in the 2002–2007 and 2007–2012 National Parl ...

in the constituency of Port Moresby-south. After Dame Carol's retirement from politics, Tkatchenko won the constituency in the 2012 elections and entered the national parliament as a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

Powes Parkop Powes Parkop (born 18 February 1962) is a Papua New Guinean lawyer and politician, from Manus Province. A former lecturer in Law at the University of Papua New Guinea, he is the current governor of Port Moresby and the National Capital District s ...

. He then became the Minister of Sports in

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. From 2002 until the present he served as Member of Parliament for Ialibu-Pan ...

's cabinet, and became a member of the latter's People's National Congress party. In April 2016, he also had ministerial responsibility for hosting the 2018 APEC summit in Papua New Guinea. Re-elected MP in the 2017 elections, he retained responsibility for the APEC summit, and he was shifted in cabinet to become Minister of Lands and Territorial Planning. In 2018,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

made him

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. The O'Neill government lost the confidence of Parliament in May 2019. Tkatchenko left the National People's Congress to become a member of the Social Democratic Party again, and provided support to the new Prime Minister

James Marape James Marape (born 24 April 1971) is a Papua New Guinean politician, who is serving as the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea since May 2019. He has been a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea since July 2007, representing the el ...

, who appointed him Minister of Housing and Urban Development. Following the 2022 legislative elections, he was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. A few days later, he publicly mentioned Papua New Guinea's desire to sign a military and security cooperation treaty with Australia, allegedly in response to the similar treaty signed by the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

and China in March. In December 2022, he reiterated Papua New Guinea's recognition of Indonesian sovereignty over

western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...

, which is disputed by some indigenous Papuans from that region. He requested that Papuans from Indonesia who have taken refuge in Papua New Guinea not proclaim the independence of the unrecognized

Republic of West Papua The Republic of West Papua ( id, Republik Papua Barat) is a proposed state consisting of the Western New Guinea region. The region has been administered by Indonesia since 1 May 1963 under several names in the following order, West Irian, Irian ...

, so as not to disturb the good relations between Port Moresby and Jakarta. In May 2023, he was part of the Papua New Guinean delegation to the

coronation ceremony A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

, King of Papua New Guinea, the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms, along with his eldest daughter Savannah, who attended in place of his wife. Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae led the delegation, while Tkatchenko represented Prime Minister Marape. The Prime Minister remained in Papua New Guinea to prepare for the visit of Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

and US President Joe Biden. His daughter posted a TikTok video during the trip that caused much controversy because it flaunted cocktails and meals at first-class airport lounges. In an interview with the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

on 10 May, he described critics of his daughter's video as "primitive animals" and "useless individuals". This remark caused Opposition Leader Joseph Lelang to call for Tkatchenko to be dismissed from his post as Foreign Minister and have him referred to the Ombudsman Commission for misconduct in office. On Thursday Tkatchenko apologised for his comments, saying they were "taken completely the wrong way" and were solely directed at those who made "disgusting and vile comments" about his daughter. Prime Minister James Marape said he was offended by the comments but asked the nation to forgive Tkatchenko, saying "Our national character is put to the test ... and we must show the world that we can forgive those who offend us." The next day, he resigned his position as foreign minister, with the role being taken over by Marape.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tkatchenko, Justin 1972 births Living people Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea Foreign Ministers of Papua New Guinea Social Democratic Party (Papua New Guinea) politicians Papua New Guinean Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Papua New Guinean recipients of the British Empire Medal Australian recipients of the British Empire Medal Australian emigrants to Papua New Guinea Australian people of Ukrainian descent Papuan people of Ukrainian descent