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, poet and singer. She was known under her married name of Loujaya Toni when elected, but reverted to her maiden name in 2013 after divorcing her husband."Poet and firebrand finds herself in good company" ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 1 September 2012
Biography
She was born in Lae."New PNG MP Loujaya Toni – a life of music, politics & poetry…." Pacific Women in Politics, 24 July 2012 Poems which she wrote as a schoolgirl were published by the Education Department, earning her a description as "PNG's youngest poet". In 1985, under the name Loujaya Dunar, "she launched a string of solo
gospel music
Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is co ...
albums", beginning a career as a singer / songwriter. Most notably, she wrote the song "Keep the Fire Alive" and performed it with the group Tambaran Culture at the
1991 South Pacific Games
The 1991 South Pacific Games, held from 7–21 September 1991 at Port Moresby and Lae in Papua New Guinea, was the ninth edition of the South Pacific Games. This was the first time that events at one games had been held in two cities. The decisi ...
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 ...
. A qualified journalist, she has also taught as a part-time tutor at the
University of Technology
An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...
in Lae.
She stood unsuccessfully for election to the National Parliament in the 2007 general election. After a master's degree in communications in 2012,"PNG tally of women MPs rises to two and counting" ''
Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'', 25 July 2012 she stood again, in the general election that same year. Representing the Indigenous People's Party, she stood in the constituency of Lae, the capital of
Morobe Province
Morobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands ...
and the second largest city in the country, against the incumbent MP: her uncle
Bart Philemon Bartholomew "Bart" Philemon (born 16 April 1945, in a Butibam village near Lae, Ministry for Finance ( Wayback Machine)) is a Papua New Guinean politician.
He was educated in a Lutheran missionary primary school in Lae. She defeated him and won the seat, as one of the only three women elected to Parliament that year (with
Delilah Gore
Delilah Pueka Gore (born 24 June 1962) is a Papua New Guinean politician. She was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 2012 to 2017, representing the electorate of Sohe Open. She was Minister for Higher Education, Science, ...
and
Julie Soso
Julie Soso Akeke (born 29 August 1960) is a Papua New Guinean politician. She was the Governor of Eastern Highlands Province from 2012 to 2017.
Background
Soso was a broadcaster and women's advocate before entering politics, serving as president ...
), out of 111 MPs. Despite being a first time MP, she was appointed Minister for Community Development, Religion and Family Affairs by Prime Minister
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 ...
, and joined his
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 ...
after the election.
In December 2013, she controversially supported the actions of Parliament's Speaker
Theo Zurenuoc
Theodore Zibang Zurenuoc (born 6 October 1965) is a Papua New Guinean politician who served as the acting governor-general of Papua New Guinea in February 2017.
He was first elected to the National Parliament in the 2007 general election, a ...
, who had "removed and badly damaged" several carvings adorning the interior of Parliament and representing Papua New Guinea's diverse indigenous cultures. Zurenuoc considered the carvings to be contrary to Christianity. Toni, speaking up in support of the destruction, indicated it had been carried out on advice from an Israeli Christian
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
movement, whom she had met. Stating that the carvings represented "idol gods", she added: "The Government declares that the God of Israel is the God of PNG. €¦I thank God for the Speaker Theodore Zurenuoc for the cleansing of the House". Prime Minister O'Neill condemned the destruction, ordered it stopped, and publicly denied Toni's claim that it had been authorised by Cabinet: "There is no truth in that. Cabinet didn’t give approval for anything to be removed from the National Parliament. The Minister has no authority to speak for Cabinet".
In August 2014, Toni resigned from the government to serve as interim chair of the Lae City Commission. She was replaced as Minister for Community Development by
Delilah Gore
Delilah Pueka Gore (born 24 June 1962) is a Papua New Guinean politician. She was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 2012 to 2017, representing the electorate of Sohe Open. She was Minister for Higher Education, Science, ...