Village councils were first formed in Papua New Guinea to introduce the people to the Western style of governing.

These village councils were first established at the end of 1949 and provided a link between the villagers and the colonial authorities.Through these village councils European law was enforced.

It took awhile to establish the village councils, as there often wasn't the money available to fund them. Some people also opposed the idea of these councils, making it difficult to introduce them. One of the reasons that some of the people opposed them was that they feared the western colonial ways.

In particular, before 1960, slow progress was made, but after 1960 things began to move much quicker. The opening up of the highlands made it all that much easier. By 1964 there were 89 village councils established throughout Papua New Guinea.

A local government association with the representatives of all the village councils was established in 1968.

The first Legislative Council was established in 1951. After 1960 the local people became much more confident in being involved within these council meetings.

 

In 1962, Sir Hugh Foot, a United Nations Mission member, suggested that this Legislative Council should be replaced by an elected national parliament. He suggested within this elected parliament, that the membership should mainly consist of Papua New Guineans. At the end of 1962, a selected committee, run by John Guise, suggested that there should be a national House of Assembly.

In 1964 the first general election to the House of Assembly took place, with the majority of members being Papua New Guineans.

Originally in 1962 a first attempt in trying to form a new constitution was made, but little progress was made. It was only in May 1965 that real progress was made in forming a new constitution for Papua New Guinea. This constitution was formed with the ideas and contributions from many Papua New Guineans throughout the country.

 

In 1965 the members of parliament were given special areas in which they could manage. They were appointed as ministers. This was done to assist the people of Papua New Guinea in gaining some experience towards running the affairs of their own country.

 

The first two parties in Papua New Guinea were formed in 1967. These two parties were called the “United (Christian) Democratic Party” and the “Pangu Party.”