OUR CULTURE, OUR ARCHITECTURE: HOW THE PARLIAMENT CAME TO BE  

At the 41st National Parliament Anniversary on 7th August 2025, Sir John Kaputin, a distinguished Papua New Guinean statesman and former deputy speaker of parliament, reflected on how Papua New Guinea’s Parliament evolved institutionally, culturally, and architecturally.

With the State Function Room filled with the 24 Grade 11 finalists of the National Essay Competition, Sir John Kaputin took a moment to relive his earlier days and traced the institution’s roots dating back nearly six decades.

“We started off in the 1950s with a Legislative Council mostly comprised of members of the Council of the Administrator. From there, we went on to become the House of Assembly. We then saw participation by our elders who laid the foundation for our democracy today.”

Several stages align with historical developments, including the Legislative Council (1951–1963), which was the colonial-era legislature.

This was succeeded by the House of Assembly in 1964, which lasted for about 11 years until 1975, when this body became the National Parliament and the country gained independence.

Sir John Kaputin also recounted the origins of the Parliament Haus and how he and former Speaker Barry Holloway had to choose between two designs to present to Parliament:

“In 1984, this Parliament was opened by the then Prince Charles, now King Charles III. This building was designed by architects led by Cecil Hogan.”

“We had to make the choice between two parliaments whether to represent our Kundu, or the Haus Tambaran. In our wisdom, we believed it would be more appropriate to represent us by our culture, our architecture so that we could have something to be proud of.”

That decision led to the construction of the current National Parliament House in Waigani, which was officially opened by Prince Charles (now King Charles III) on 8 August 1984.

Its architecture draws strongly from the traditional Haus Tambaran style of the Sepik region, specifically its striking A-frame façade. The design was submitted by Cecil Hogan in 1976 and adopted thereafter.

Sir John Kaputin summarized the current state of Parliament “Over the years, the caliber and nature of our representation has been changing. We are proud of the decision by the Speaker of the House to put on this event to celebrate today our National Parliament.”