The Independent State of Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia and United Nations trusteeship on September 16, 1975. For many in both Australia and Papua New Guinea, that was too early. In fact, it was more or less inevitable, with only the precise date a matter for dispute at the time. With the dismantling of the European colonial empires proceeding apace in the late 1950s and with the newly independent nations increasingly dominating the United Nations General Assembly, Australia came under growing pressure to grant independence to the United Nations Trust Territory of New Guinea and its natural partner,…