The Lowy Institute

This is a special Women in Politics  series for the  Australia-PNG Network, in which the Lowy Institute's Jessica Collins sits down with prominent women from Papua New Guinea (PNG) to discuss the deep-seated challenge of women’s political representation in PNG.In this fifth and final episode of the series, Jessica speaks with Dame Carol Kidu, about the discrimination and disadvantage experienced by indigenous Papua New Guinean women as they seek to get elected.Carol is one of seven women who served in PNG’s National Parliament. She also managed to get re-elected twice, despite half of all politicians losing their seat at every election.Carol’s tenure as a politician is remarkable, but she said her husband’s legacy and her European background helped secure ongoing community support. She often heard from her community, “We don’t mind you being here, but we don’t want our own women here [in parliament].”Carol talks us through the issues that are increasingly disadvantaging women during campaigns, such as bloc vo