Politics
Lady Kidu's Fight Against Poverty
Tough battles as PNG’s only woman MP
She may not be the Iron Lady of Papua New Guinea as Margaret Thatcher is of England. But in her own way, she has contrived a reputation that comes close to matching that description.
She is strong and witty, and a workaholic who stands by her views and always strives for the best.
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She is the only woman MP in the current Parliament. She is also a minister in government, taking care of the Social Welfare and Development portfolio.
She is Moresby South MP, Lady Carol Kidu.
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Many Papua New Guineans in her electorate and others throughout the country know her as a true representative of the little people, who cares for their well-being and their future. This is evident through her activities, including her mission to “eradicate poverty” in the country — a rising problem facing many nations in the developing world. And she is a champion in this struggle in Papua New Guinea.
In line with the poverty fight, she has introduced many projects and activities involving people in her electorate. Among them, the most significant is the Ginigoada Bisnis Development Foundation, an organisation aimed at providing practical skills to people in her electorate to improve their living standards.
Lady Kidu started the foundation in 1997 and has so far provided training in small business management for 120 people in the electorate. Another 15 women in August started a three-month course on cooking and sewing. Lady Kidu said that if the project is successful in the national capital district, her ministry would look at establishing similar projects in other parts of the country.
She is one of four women so far to have served in Papua New Guinea’s parliament at different times during the country’s brief history. The others were Waliato Klaus, Nahau Rooney and Dame Josephine Abaijah.
Dame Abaijah, who had served with Lady Kidu in the last Parliament, lost her Milne Bay Regional seat with more than 90 other women candidates, who lost to their male counterparts in the recent election.
Lady Kidu got through for the second time among a pool of prominent male candidates. She won convincingly, beating her nearest rival by 3,000 votes. Commenting on her victory, she said: “I feel grateful but I am aware of my responsibility.”
The win did not come easily. Lady Kidu said she realised the fight was tough and she needed to be different. Unlike her male candidates, she made no promises. She let her achievements do the talking. And this proved successful.
Most of her voters were the less advantaged group in the electorate, the women, children and youths. She helped them with things in life that were dear and closer to their hearts. She touched them and they responded positively by giving her the numbers to win.
The media also played a vital part in her success. The media went with her everywhere and she used it to her advantage, publicising all the projects, workshops and everything else she did for the electorate.
Originally from Australia, Lady Kidu is a naturalised citizen through her late husband, a distinguished Papua New Guinean and the country’s first national Chief Justice, Sir Buri Kidu. The marriage and the death of Sir Buri was partly responsible for what she is today. Her strong love for her late husband and his people is such that his death inspired her rise from a high school teacher to a politician.
In memory of her late husband, she started the Sir Buri Kidu Heart Foundation, a charitable organisation, to help those suffering from heart diseases. The organisation is being successfully run by professionals in the country.
After establishing the organisation and being involved in other relevant activities, she decided that she should go one step further. She wanted to help people in a broader way and politics was the next step.
She stood for the Moresby South electorate in the 1997 elections and won. The electorate covers her late husband’s Pari village. During her first term, she also wrote a revealing book about her love for her late husband and his country, Papua New Guinea.
The book titled “A Remarkable Journey” is a reflection of her life. She wrote it as a tribute to her husband, the Motu people of Pari village and her families. The book illustrated her role within the Motu culture and her memories of her married life. Written in a clear style, it tells of how she met her husband as a schoolgirl, and travelled to Papua New Guinea first as a university student and later as a young wife.
Commenting on the book, Lady Kidu said after her husband died in 1994 she decided to write the book as a tribute to him, the Pari people and her families.
