Career
She was the only woman elected at that time. She was re-elected in 1977, and stood unsuccessfully for a third term in 1982. After fifteen years out of Parliament, she was elected once more in 1997.
She founded and led the Papua Besena movement, which agitated unsuccessfully for Papua to become a completely independent country on its own instead of being linked with New Guinea as Papua New Guinea.
She expressed support for Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka"s military coup in Fiji in 1987. 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:
Regarding the condition of women, she told the Review:
"Now women can"t go from their homes to their gardens because of fear of being raped.
lieutenant"s unfortunate. I don"t want to paint a picture that is negative -- this is my country and when I talk about it I want to give a good picture of it -- because I want to be proud of lieutenant
But how can I be proud of it when these are things that are happening?"
Her autobiography, A Thousand Coloured Dreams, was published in 1991.
