IN case some among us may forget, there was once upon a time something called British New Guinea (BNG).
It was a protectorate and later a Crown colony within the British Empire from 1884 to 1902.
It comprised the south-eastern portion of the island of New Guinea, largely corresponding to the southern portion of present-day Papua New Guinea.
That is worthy of mention as Wednesday, was a public holiday commemorating the official birthday of King Charles III of Britain and Papua New Guinea.
The British realm and Papua New Guinea go back a better part of two centuries; to the days of the Dutch, German and British colonial conquests in this part of the world, the arrival of British naval officer Captain John Moresby and eventual annexation of British New Guinea in 1885.
Papua New Guinea among 14 of the 56 Commonwealth nations observing the monarch’s birthday, in keeping with the centuries-old links to the British crown.
At independence in 1975 Papua New Guinea had retained the reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, Charles’ mother as the head of state. Ascending to the throne in 2022 and being crowned in on May 6, 2023, King Charles assumed that role of head of state.
From Great Britain came the British Common Law which is used in much of the Commonwealth.
This legal code has so far served Papua New Guinea well in that it allows for adaptation and local precedent in each jurisdiction it is used in.
The association with the British monarchy may last well into the future until Papua New Guinea decides to severe any or all such ties.
One of the largest global gathering of nations, the Commonwealth is a natural result of a British influence during its height.
It is now home to 2.7 billion people, and includes both advanced economies and developing countries.
A very large number of these are tiny island nations mainly in the Pacific and the Caribbean, one of which, Antigua and Barbuda, will play host to the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) from Nov 1 to 4.
Papua New Guinea has not missed any recent CHOGM meeting; Prime Minister James Marape attended the last one in Apia, Samoa, in 2024.
The Commonwealth is rooted in the history of the British Empire but today any country can join the modern Commonwealth. The last two countries to join the Commonwealth were west African nations Gabon and Togo in 2022.
King Charles III is also the symbolic Head of the Commonwealth.
In February 1990, trailblazing civil servant, Sir Anthony Siaguru who also served a term as Member for Moresby North East became deputy secretary-general for political affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, serving for five years.
Among his roles was to support the transition process from apartheid in South Africa, leading up to the 1994 election when the African National Congress, led by Nelson Mandela achieved a majority.
The Commonwealth has led action on global issues such as environment conservation and youth development. And Great Britain has been at the forefront of such initiatives and many small nations look to it to take the lead going into the future.
But with developments and trends of the past few decades, people around the world and including Brits themselves would have been wondering if Britain, the supposed role model nation of the commonwealth is still the nation it had been known for over at least two centuries.
Apparently, one of Britain’s most prominent problems has to do with waves of immigration and the socio-economic costs of that to the British public who are understandably growing resentful about it.
If the United Kingdome is striving to live up to its reputation as the model of democracy that guarantees basic human rights and freedoms including the right to free speech, movement and assembly, it could struggle also hold a mirror to the Commonwealth of nations.
Maybe in people’s reckoning, what Great Britain is experiencing at the moment is a consequence of its own exploits of the past and its more recent liberal approach to immigration.
But it may be also worth pausing to ask: What would the present world be like without the intervention of the British Empire?
