Australia, PNG issue joint stamp

FIVE stamps depicting the relationship forged between Papua New Guinea and Australia from the Kokoda Campaign of 1942 was launched in Port Moresby yesterday.
Of that, two stamps portray the difficult conditions and the close bonds forged through adversity.
Another showed the memorial at Isurava, while the final two stamps revealed relationships today through the eyes of veterans and travellers.
This is the first joint stamp issued between the two nations.
A joint issue is a special stamp where two countries produce and issue stamps under one theme, bearing the same image, design and released on the same date. The only difference would be the currencies and the country’s name.
The willingness of Australia Post and Post PNG to produce a joint stamp signified how both countries valued their common history and also bonded various agreements PNG and Australia have on Kokoda during the bitter battles fought between the Australians and the Japanese in 1942, where Australia also forged strong links with Papua and New Guineans who were affectionately known as the “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels”. 
Post PNG chief executive officer Peter Maiden said PNG has had a long historic relationship with Australia, from colonisation to the world wars, from self-government to Independence with military, economic, political and social ties.
“This stamp issue will go into the history books as it is the first joint stamp issue between Australia Post and Post PNG.”
The joint issue was design by a special war stamp designer in Australia and printed using a special printing technique.
The stamps were officially used yesterday, both in PNG and in Australia.
They will be used for postage purposes and also collected by philatelists all over the world.