Edward Ramu (Ted) Diro GCL

CBE 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 ...

(born 14 December 1943) 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 politician and soldier. Diro was born in Boku village in the

Rigo District Rigo District is a district of Central Province in Papua New Guinea. It is one of the four administrative districts that make up the province. Local-level government areas * Rigo Central Rural * Rigo Coastal Rural * Rigo Inland Rural Town ...

of Central Province, the son of a plantation labourer. He was educated at the Boku mission school, Kila Kila High School 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 ...

and Slade School in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. He studied at the

Officer Cadet School, Portsea The Officer Cadet School, Portsea (sometimes referred to as OCS Portsea) was an officer training establishment of the Australian Army. Established at Portsea in Victoria, Australia, in 1951 to provide training to officer cadets prior to commissio ...

, in 1963–1964, becoming a commissioned officer (2nd lieutenant) in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

. He was promoted to captain in 1967 and to major in 1971, becoming the first Papua New Guinean major in the Royal Pacific Islands Regiment. He was the first Commander of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force from Papua New Guinean independence in 1975, serving until 1981. He was made a 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 ...

(CBE) in the 1977 Birthday Honours. Diro was elected to the

National Parliament of Papua New Guinea The National Parliament of Papua New Guinea is the unicameral national legislature in Papua New Guinea. It was created in 1964 as the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea but gained its current name after the nation was granted independence ...

at the 1982 election, winning the Central Provincial seat. He served as Minister for Forests under

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 ...

from November 1985 to mid-1986, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1986 to 1987 and Minister Without Portfolio from August to November 1987. He resigned from Cabinet in November 1987 over mounting controversy around alleged corruption while he was Minister for Forests and having received undeclared campaign funds from

Leonardus Benjamin Moerdani General (Ret.) Leonardus Benjamin Moerdani (also publicly known as LB Moerdani or Benny Moerdani and in foreign media as Murdani; 2 October 1932 – 29 August 2004) was the ABRI Commander from 1983 to 1988 and also served as Indonesia's Min ...

, the head of the Republic of Indonesia Armed Forces. Despite the ongoing controversy, he returned to Cabinet from April to July 1988 as Minister for State in the last months of the Wingti government, before again returning in that role from May 1989 to April 1990 under

Rabbie Namaliu Sir Rabbie Langanai Namaliu (born 3 April 1947) is a Papua New Guinea politician. He served as the fourth Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. from 4 July 1988 to 17 July 1992 as leader of the Pangu Party. Biography An ethnic To ...

. He was Deputy Prime Minister under Namaliu from April 1990 to October 1991, when he was convicted by a leadership tribunal of 81 counts of official misconduct. The conviction sparked a constitutional crisis when Governor-General Sir Serei Eri, who had been president of Diro's party before assuming the role, purported to reinstate Diro; the resulting controversy saw both Diro and Eri resign. He returned to parliament at the 1997 election and served a stint as Minister for Agriculture, but was defeated at the 2002 election. In January 2017, he unsuccessfully sought the role of

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 ...

, with the term of incumbent

Michael Ogio Sir Michael Ogio (7 July 1942 – 18 February 2017) was a Papua New Guinean politician who led People's Democratic Movement party. He served as the ninth Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, governor-general of Papua New Guinea. Biograp ...

due to expire.

Legacy

On 9 July 2018 ''Loop'' announced that Papua-New Guinea's first Guardian class patrol vessel would be named . Australia had launched the vessel in June, and its sea trials were expected to finish by October. Delivery is scheduled for December 2018. Diro was present when the vessel was commissioned, on 1 February 2019. Diro has a primary school named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diro, Ted 1943 births Deputy Prime Ministers of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinean military personnel Commanders of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force Living people Grand Companions of the Order of Logohu Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Graduates of the Officer Cadet School, Portsea