Pacific Institute

Very sad news of the passing of our colleague Dr Bill Standish earlier this week. His scholarship focused on the politics of PNG at both local and national levels over several decades. He was especially connected to and we have heard news of a hauskrai in Kundiawa. He was an expert analyst and a fearless commentator, publishing not just many scholarly articles and book chapters but opinion pieces and blogs. In recent years he was working with the Pacific Institute and curator Anna Edmundson on an innovative exhibition of contemporary PNG art to be mounted at ANU. His most recent appointment at ANU was as an honorary staff member of the School of Culture, History and Language. He was a regular presence at ANU seminars and was at a seminar only two weeks ago. A gentle, humble and empathetic man with a quiet wit he had many friends in Papua New Guinea and across Australia. The Pacific Institute offers warm condolences to his partner Sue Andrews, and to family and friends. He will be much missed by friends and colleagues at ANU.