Product Code Database
Sir Anthony Siaguru (4 November 1946 – 16 April 2004) was a Papua New Guinean civil servant, lawyer, international diplomat, politician, sportsman and anti-corruption campaigner.
Together with Mekere Morauta in the Ministry of Finance, Rabbie Namaliu in the Public Service Commission, and Charles Lepani of the National Planning Office, Siaguru became one of the so-called "Gang of Four" young Papua New Guinean senior public servants who coordinated policy development and government programmes.
Siaguru helped organise the 1982 election campaign for the Pangu Pati, which was led by Michael Somare. In a country where there are numerous political parties, requiring problematic coalitions, the Pangu Pati victory in 1982 was the most successful result for a single party in PNG's history. Siaguru was elected to parliament in that year, winning a seat in Port Moresby, and becoming the minister for the public service in 1982–84 and the minister for youth and development in 1985. Following a split in the party, however, Siaguru joined together with John Nilkare and Sir Barry Holloway to form a new party, the League for National Advancement (LNA), but Siaguru was not re-elected in 1987, although the party gained seats in 1987 and again in 1992. In 1987 he joined the international law company, Blake Dawson Waldron. In February 1990, Siaguru 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.
Siaguru returned to PNG in 1996 and went back to working with Blake Dawson Waldron. He became a pioneering leader in the country's civil society. He was much in demand as a board member of private companies and was the founding chairman of the Port Moresby Stock Exchange; chairman of Pacific Reinsurance; deputy chairman of Lihir Gold, which provided a successful model for establishing community relations with extraction industries; a director of Steamships Trading Company; chairman of the oil palm producer Pacific Rim Plantations; chairman of PNG Water; chairman of an investment fund; and a director of the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. He represented PNG on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council and was a member of the Policy Advisory Council of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). For the Post-Courier, he wrote a weekly column called In House, in which he condemned corruption in PNG, and made proposals for constitutional reform, in part to address the numerous political parties in the country. His writings were later published as a book, called In House in Papua New Guinea with Anthony Siaguru.
Reflecting his concerns about corruption in the country, Siaguru became the founding chairman of the PNG chapter of Transparency International. He launched the Integrity Pact at the time of the 1997 national elections, requiring politicians to sign a Charter committing themselves to transparent governance.
(2025). 9780731536801, Asia Pacific Press. ISBN 9780731536801
Death
Siaguru died of 16 April 2004 in Brisbane, while undergoing treatment for liver cancer. He was survived by his wife, Wilhelmina (Mina), who served for many years as Chairperson of PNG's Commission for Higher Education, whom he married in 1972, and three sons.
Awards and posthumous recognition
Categories: 1946 Births, 2004 Deaths, Papua New Guinean Knights, Members Of The National Parliament Of Papua New Guinea, Pangu Pati Politicians, Diplomats For Papua New Guinea, University Of Papua New Guinea Alumni, Papua New Guinean Civil Servants, Papua New Guinean Anti-corruption Activists, Papua New Guinean Rugby Union Players, Papua New Guinean Sportsperson-politicians, 20th-century Papua New Guinean Politicians, Mason Fellows, People From East Sepik Province
|
|
