Sir Michael’s grandchildren welcome Albanese

AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was welcomed by the grandchildren of the late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare, observed a traditional cleansing ceremony, before laying a wreath on his tomb.
Albanese visited the tomb of the late Sir Michael, took part in a traditional cleansing ceremony in which a coconut was split by a landowner leader, and the water poured on the ground for the Australian PM to walk on.
He laid a wreath on the tomb of Sir Michael who passed away on Feb 26, 2021, planted a coconut tree to mark his visit, and signed the Visitors’ Book.
Prime Minister James Marape thanked Albanese for taking time off from his busy schedule to visit the tomb of Sir Michael at Kreer Heights in Wewak.
“In your busy schedule, (you) could have just ignored this and passed it by,” Marape said.
Marape also thanked the local chiefs of Kreer for welcoming Albanese onto their traditional land, the Somare family and the people of East Sepik for accepting Albanese to visit the tomb.
Marape is the Pangu Pati leader while Albanese is the leader of the Australian Labour Party.
During Independence in 1975, Sir Michael was also the Pangu Pati leader while the then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was the Australian Labour Party leader.
Marape hailed Sir Michael as a leader hard to surpass.
“There was no greater figure in the past (in PNG), or will be in the future, than the late Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare. He is timeless as far as Papua New Guinea is concerned,” he said.
“And the fact that he is timeless allows us to still come and pay respect to him in rest. On my side, I cannot outgrow the late Grand Chief.
“He is bigger than any one of us now and into the future.”