John Waiko

Who is John Waiko?

John Dademo Waiko, born in the village of Tabara in the Northern Province of Papua New Guinea in 1944, is a Papua New Guinean historian, anthropologist, playwright and politician.

He obtained a PhD in Social Sciences from the Australian National University, thus becoming the first Papua New Guinean to earn a PhD of any kind. In 1986, he was the first Papua New Guinean to be appointed Professor, and became head of the History department at the University of Papua New Guinea. He has published a number of articles on the history, culture and politics of his country. His book A Short History of Papua New Guinea was first published in 1993.

He is also the author of a play, The Unexpected Hawk, published in 1971.

In 1992, Waiko was elected to Parliament, beginning his national political career. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2001 to 2002, before losing his seat in Parliament in the June 2002 general election. In the 2007 general election, he stood unsuccessfully for election at the Sohe Open constituency, representing the new Papua New Guinea Party.