Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare CGL, GCMG, CH, CF, SSI. KStJ, KSG

Michael Somare was a personal friend for 25 years. More importantly, he was a great friend of Australia throughout his political career.As the father of Papua New Guinean independence, Sir Michael was instrumental in bringing his country out of Australian administration in 1975. But Sir Michael didn’t just disrupt the status quo; he helped to build a new one, helping to steer his country through the heady early days of independence and beyond.The close and enduring nature of the Papua New Guinea–Australia friendship owes a great deal to Sir Michael’s personal contribution. As Prime Minister, I saw first-hand how much effort he put into sustaining and building that friendship.There is probably no relationship more important to Australia than with our northern neighbour, Papua New Guinea. The fact that there is such a strong relationship, despite our colonial history and latent neo-colonial attitudes, is a core part of Sir Michael’s legacy.Sir Michael was no pushover. He robustly defended his country’s interests when lesser leaders would have crumbled. But whenever Australia was in need, Sir Michael was there to lend a hand. I remember how, in the aftermath of the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, he pledged $2 million from Papua New Guinea to support the survivors of that tragedy.Thérèse and I express our deepest sympathies to Lady Veronica, the Somare family and the people of Papua New Guinea as a whole on this sad day.