Sir Julius Chan

Who is Sir Julius Chan?

Sir Julius Chan was born on 29 August 1939 on the Tanga Islands in what is now New Ireland Province, the son of a Chinese trader from Taishan and a New Ireland mother. Educated at Marist College Ashgrove in Brisbane, Australia, he entered politics in the pre-independence House of Assembly in 1968, representing the Namatanai district of New Ireland, a seat he held across several elections. He served as Deputy Prime Minister on four occasions and as Minister of Finance three times, and became Papua New Guinea's second Prime Minister in March 1980 after a no-confidence motion against founding leader Michael Somare, overseeing austerity measures and infrastructure projects during a period of fiscal strain. He returned as Prime Minister from 1994 to 1997, a term dominated by the Bougainville conflict and the controversial Sandline mercenary affair, which triggered public protests and a mutiny within the national army. In his later years he served as Governor of New Ireland Province from 2007 until his death, and became known in Papua New Guinea as the "Last Man Standing" for outliving most of his generation of independence-era leaders. He died in New Ireland Province on 30 January 2025 at the age of 85, honored with a state funeral.

Sources: Julius Chan — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Chan) · Lowy Institute, "Sir Julius Chan: PNG's 'last man standing'" · Devpolicy Blog, "Julius Chan's uniquely long political career played in two parts" (2024)