Bully Beef Club - Original Members Administrative College 6 Mile Annex Port Moresby 1965. Founders of PANGU PATI
The story of the Bully Beef Club begins in the classrooms, dormitories and student homes of Port Moresby’s Administrative College in the 1960s. Here, young Papua New Guineans debated nationalism, justice, and the future of their country. What began as informal late-night discussions over tins of beef would grow into a movement that shaped the path to independence. Today, the Australian Government is supporting the Somare Institute of Leadership and Governance (SILAG)—the successor to the Administrative College—to develop a timeline and resource that captures the Club’s legacy. This project honours the young men and women who transformed everyday frustrations into political action and built the foundations of a new nation.
In the mid-1960s, a handful of young men and women in Port Moresby would gather late into the night over tins of corned beef. They argued about justice, equality, and the future of Papua New Guinea. What began as late-night student debates became known as the Bully Beef Club — the crucible of a political generation that would lead the country to independence.
The Administrative College, where many of these students studied, was meant to train Papua New Guineans for middle-level posts in the colonial service. Instead, it became a breeding ground for politics. Students frustrated by poor housing, meagre food, and unequal salaries compared to their expatriate peers began to see their grievances not as isolated problems but as signs of a deeper injustice.
Future leaders like Michael Somare, Albert Maori Kiki, John Kaputin, Ebia Olewale, Gavera Rea, and Joseph Nombri were at the centre of these conversations. Their friendships and debates formed a network of solidarity that would shape the nation’s destiny.
The Spark of Change
The Club’s gatherings were informal — often held in cramped dormitories or at Albert Maori Kiki’s house in Hohola, where his wife Elizabeth would cook for the hungry students. Somare later remembered:
“We develop into a small club that we used to call it Bully Beef Club. We talked politics and how countries would be governed. And that made me take interest in politics.”[1]
These conversations gave students confidence to challenge the colonial administration directly. They wrote letters, staged deputations, and pressed for equal pay. At the same time, they began meeting with members of the House of Assembly, absorbing lessons in parliamentary politics and dreaming of a future where Papua New Guineans would govern themselves.
[1] Courtesy of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Michael Somare, interview on Monday Conference, 1972.
Somare Remembers the Bully Beef Club
Source: ABC_MondayConference_Somare_proxy_ada44b7
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Reflecting on his student years, Michael Somare recalls how informal conversations at the Administrative College grew into what became known as the Bully Beef Club. A handful of like-minded young men—including future minister Albert Maori Kiki—shared ideas about politics, governance, and Papua New Guinea’s future. Somare explains that by speaking with one voice, they could be heard more clearly than as individuals. These late-night gatherings, fuelled by shared tins of corned beef, became a crucible for political debate and solidarity. For Somare, the club was decisive: it sparked his interest in politics and helped nurture the leadership that would guide the nation to independence.
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The Club That Built a Party, The Party That Built a Nation
The Bully Beef Club was never an official organisation. Its “membership” was fluid, and its name only came later. But its significance was undeniable. Out of those debates came the foundation of Papua New Guinea’s first major political party, the Pangu Pati, in 1967. Just eight years later, in 1975, the country achieved independence.
The story of the Bully Beef Club reminds us that big changes often begin in small rooms, with a few committed voices, a shared meal, and the courage to imagine a different future.
Ted Wolfers on Students, Pangu, and Early Political Alliances
Source: NLA Ted Wolfers 1
Media & Visuals (placeholders) <<<IMAGE>>> TED WOLFERS
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Wolfers recalls tensions in the mid-1960s between students and national politicians. Many students were sceptical of their leaders’ literacy and independence credentials and deeply frustrated by issues like local pay scales. Wolfers himself built friendships during this period with figures such as Barry Holloway and Tony Voutas, Australian expatriates who became close allies of emerging Papua New Guinean nationalists like Michael Somare and Albert Maori Kiki. He recounts Holloway’s unusual generosity in lending his battered car to students at ADCOL, symbolising trust and solidarity. While Wolfers was not directly involved in the formation of the Pangu Pati in 1967, he observed its emergence closely, recognising it as part of the global tide of decolonisation. Reflecting later, he notes that independence felt inevitable in principle but uncertain in timing, with crises in Bougainville and East New Britain eventually proving pivotal.
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