Vin ToBaining
{{short description|Papua New Guinea politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
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| name = Vin ToBaining
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| office = Member of the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea
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| term_start = 1961
| term_end = 1963
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| birth_place = East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea
| death_date = 2 April 1995
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Vin ToBaining {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE|MBE}} (died 1995) was one of the first six elected indigenous members of the colonial-era Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea, between 1961 and 1963. Subsequently, he was involved in the formation of the Pangu Party in 1967, which went on to form the government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) when the country became independent in 1975.{{Cite web |title=PANGU Party |url=https://www.pngfacts.com/pangu-party.html |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=PNG Facts |language=en}}
Early life
Vin ToBaining was a Tolai from what is now the East New Britain Province of PNG. He came from a farming family. His date of birth is unknown but he is known to have been over 80 when he died.{{cite web |title=Vin TOBAINING (2 April 1995, aged 80+) |url=https://pngaa.org/vale-september-1995/#Tobaining |website=Papua New Guinea Association of Australia |access-date=23 February 2022}}
Political involvement
ToBaining was a strong supporter of local-level government. He was elected as president of the Vunamami local government council in 1951 and subsequently of the Gazelle local government council. He was instrumental in the formation of the Tolai Cocoa Project in the 1950s, designed to improve the quality of cocoa-processing facilities for local farmers on the Gazelle Peninsula. When the Australian administration of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea decided that the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea should have six elected Papua New Guinean members in the 1961 elections, ToBaining was elected to represent New Britain, as a member of the United Progress Party. In 1961, he was chosen to be a member of the Australian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly.[https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-322675100/view?partId=nla.obj-323266896#page/n19/mode/1up/ New Faces in P-NG Council] Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1961, p18{{cite web |last1=Bettison |first1=David G. |last2=Hughes |first2=Colin A. |last3=van der Veur |first3=Paul W. |title=The Papua-New Guinea Elections 1964 |url=https://pacificinstitute.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/resources-links/ANU_Press_Papua-New_Guinea_Elections_1964.pdf |website=ANU Press |access-date=23 February 2022}}
In 1964, the Territory of Papua and New Guinea introduced a new 64-member House of Assembly, which had 54 elected members. In the 1964 election ToBaining failed to be elected in the East New Britain constituency, being soundly defeated by Koriam Urekit. In 1967, nine members of the House of Assembly came together to form the Pangu Party, together with others that included Michael Somare, the future prime minister of an independent Papua New Guinea, and ToBaining, who became one of its four rotating chairmen. In the 1968 elections ToBaining was again defeated, this time by Oscar Tammur. Subsequently, he left the Pangu Party and became president of the newly formed Melanesian Independence Party, which had a policy of achieving independence for the islands of the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, specifically New Britain, New Ireland, Bouganville, and the Admiralty Islands.{{cite web |title=Cecil Abel |url=https://malumnalu.blogspot.com/2007/11/cecil-abel-late-cecil-abel-later-to.html |website=Malum Nalu |access-date=23 February 2022}}{{cite web |title=177 Paper By Doet |url=https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/historical-documents/volume-26/Pages/177-paper-by-doet |website=DFAT Australia |access-date=23 February 2022}}{{cite web |title=234 Telex, Hay To Warwick Smith |url=https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/historical-documents/volume-26/Pages/234-telex-%2520hay-to-warwick-smith |website=DFAT |access-date=23 February 2022}}{{cite web |title=Full details of the big New Guinea Elections |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-370528117/view?sectionId=nla.obj-374118491&partId=nla.obj-370637607#page/n114/mode/1up |website=Pacific Islands Monthly May 1964 |access-date=23 February 2022}}
Death
ToBaining died on 2 April 1995 in his home village in East New Britain.