Tom Olga (born 16 December 1975) 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 ...

politician. He was the independent Governor of

Western Highlands Province Western Highlands is a province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Mount Hagen. The province covers an area of 4,299 km2, and there are 362,850 inhabitants (2011 census), making the Western Highlands the most densely populated pro ...

in 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 ...

from 2007 to 2012. Olga, who comes from the Mul-Baiyer area, was a student leader at the

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

during protests against government privatisation and land mobilisation policies in 2001 in which four students were killed in a police crackdown. He cited this as his reason for running for parliament when, in 2007, he challenged former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

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 ...

in his seat of Western Highlands Provincial.Tiptip, Nikints. "Newcomer confident of win". ''

Papua New Guinea Post-Courier The ''Papua New Guinea Post-Courier'' is a newspaper based in Konedobu, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It was established on 30 June 1969. Its parent company, The Herald and Weekly Times (later purchased by News Corp Australia), had acquired wha ...

'', 3 July 2007. He was supported in his campaign by the Millennium Pack 2000, a group of provincial leaders supporting pro-development and anti-corruption initiatives, and more than thirty local councillors. Olga campaigned on a platform of fighting government corruption and mismanagement and stemming the exploitation of the country's resources. He also made an issue of the need for a new generation of leaders, contrasting his age of 32 with Wingti's advancing years. The result was extremely close, with Wingti leading for most of the count, but ultimately losing to Olga on preferences in the final stage of counting. It was the last electorate to be declared, with Olga being eventually announced as the winner on 6 August. The result was widely considered an upset, with the potential to end Wingti's thirty-year career in national politics. The result enraged some of Wingti's supporters, who retaliated by blocking roads in the region and digging up a major road into the city of

Mount Hagen Mount Hagen ( tpi, Maun Hagen) is the third largest city in Papua New Guinea, with a population of 46,250. It is the capital of the Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea, Western Highlands Province and is located in the large fertile Wahgi Valley in ...

. Wingti subsequently filed a petition challenging the result with the Court of Disputed Returns on 17 August. This challenge has not yet been resolved. He was sworn in as the provincial governor on 22 August 2007. Olga's first act as governor was to advertise all acting public service positions in the province, including that of the provincial administrator. He also pledged to increase government services to remote areas of the province. In January 2012, he joined

Don Polye Don Pomb Polye (born 1 February 1967) is a Papua New Guinean politician from Enga Province. He has been a Cabinet Minister under two Prime Ministers, and was briefly Deputy Prime Minister from July to December 2010. He has held Foreign Affairs, ...

's new

Triumph Heritage Empowerment Rural Party The Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party ("T.H.E Party") is a political party in Papua New Guinea. It was founded in 2012 by Don Polye, Minister of Finance at the time. As of May 2019, the party has 1 member in the National Parliament. Background P ...

."New party launched"
, ''Post Courier'', 24 January 2012 He was defeated in a rematch with Wingti at the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olga, Tom Governors of Western Highlands Province Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea People from the Western Highlands Province University of Papua New Guinea alumni Triumph Heritage Empowerment Party politicians Living people 1975 births