Northern governor takes Australians to task over Kokoda Trail

 AUSTRALIANS have been urged to refer to  “Kokoda Trail” by its proper name – after the trail of the Kokoda campaign – not “Kokoda track”.

Northern Governor Gary Juffa made a call to reclaim the naming rights of the trail and wants Australians to respect Papua New Guinea’s right to name its geographical features.

“It’s Kokoda Trail and not Kokoda track. Kokoda is our place and the people of Northern are custodians of the land along the trail,” he said.

“We welcome trekkers from Australia but we do ask that they respect our traditions, our culture and our right to name our geographical features.” 

He said the official name of Kokoda Trail had been a keenly contested debate in Australia and questioned why the Australian government and Australian media referred to the popular landmark track.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill recently said  Papua New Guineans preferred trail to  track.