Dame Carol heads organisation

 FORMER parliamentarian Dame Carol Kidu has been appointed patron of the Crocodile Prize Organisation.

Now in its fifth year, the organisation administers a range of awards, an annual prize-giving event, writers’ workshops and a website.

The annual Crocodile Prize awards this year will be held in Kundiawa in September.

Awards will be given for poetry, essays and journalism, short stories, tourism, arts and culture writing, heritage writing, illustration, and writing for children. 

As leader of the Melanesian Alliance Party, she worked for nine years as Minister for Community Development under Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare.

She was Leader of the Opposition for a short period in 2011 before her retirement from politics.

Dame Carol is a Fellow of the Lowy Institute for International Policy and sits on the boards of Bougainville Copper Ltd, the Pacific Institute of Public Policy and Nationwide Microbank.

She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005. In 2009, she became a knight of the French Légion d’honneur for her commitment to fighting discrimination.

Dame Carol began her career as a school teacher.