# 1954 Papua New Guinean general election

General elections were held in Papua and New Guinea on 2 October 1954.

## Electoral system

The 29-member Legislative Council consisted of the Administrator, 16 civil servants, nine members appointed by the Administrator (three representatives of the indigenous population, three representing European settlers and three representing missionaries) and three elected Europeans. The Chinese community were also given the right to vote alongside Europeans. However, although there were around 13,000 Europeans and 2,000 Chinese in the territory, only around 2,700 people registered to vote.
The three elected members were elected from three single-member constituencies, New Guinea Islands, New Guinea Mainland and Papua by preferential voting. Voting was not compulsory.

## Campaign

Nominations for the three elected seats closed on 9 August, with five candidates put forward. The New Guinea Islands seat was contested by the incumbent Don Barrett and John Stokie, a plantation manager. In New Guinea Mainland, the incumbent Carl Jacobsen did not run, resulting in a contest between the theatre owner Harry Starr and optometrist and planter George Whittaker. Incumbent MLC Ernest James was the only candidate in Papua.

## Results

| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | % | Notes |
| New Guinea Islands | Don Barrett | 408 | 77.9 | Re-elected |
| New Guinea Islands | John Stokie | 116 | 22.1 | |
| New Guinea Mainland | George Whittaker | 145 | 78.4 | Elected |
| New Guinea Mainland | Harry Starr | 40 | 21.6 | |
| Papua | Ernest James | Unopposed | Unopposed | Re-elected |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 25 | – | |
| Total | Total | 734 | 100 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 1,825 | 40.2 | |
| Source: Pacific Islands Monthly |||||

### Appointed members

| Position | Position | Member |
| Administrator | Administrator | Donald Cleland |
| Civil servants | Chief Collector of Customs | Frank Lee |
| Civil servants | Government Secretary | Steven Lonergan |
| Civil servants | Chief Native Lands Commissioner | Ivan Champion |
| Civil servants | Crown Law Officer | Walter William Watkins |
| Civil servants | Director of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries | R.E.P. Dwyer |
| Civil servants | Director of District Services and Native Affairs | Alan Roberts |
| Civil servants | Acting Assistant Director of District Services and Native Affairs | John Rollo Foldi |
| Civil servants | Director of Education | William Groves |
| Civil servants | Director of Forests | James Bannister McAdam |
| Civil servants | Director of Health | John Gunther |
| Civil servants | District Commissioner for Central District | Sydney Elliott-Smith |
| Civil servants | District Commissioner for Madang | R.W. Wilson |
| Civil servants | District Commissioner for Morobe | Horrie Niall |
| Civil servants | District Commissioner for New Britain | John Keith McCarthy |
| Civil servants | Secretary of Lands, Surveys and Mines | Douglas Macinnis |
| Civil servants | Treasurer and Director of Finance | Harold Reeve |
| Representatives of Europeans | Representatives of Europeans | Doris Booth |
| Representatives of Europeans | Representatives of Europeans | Robert Bunting |
| Representatives of Europeans | Representatives of Europeans | Basil Fairfax-Ross |
| Representatives of Natives | Representatives of Natives | Merari Dickson |
| Representatives of Natives | Representatives of Natives | Pita Simogun |
| Representatives of Natives | Representatives of Natives | John Vuia |
| Representatives of Missionaries | Representatives of Missionaries | James Dwyer |
| Representatives of Missionaries | Representatives of Missionaries | Frank George Lewis |
| Representatives of Missionaries | Representatives of Missionaries | David Eric Ure |
| Source: Pacific Islands Monthly, Institute of Commonwealth Studies |||

## Aftermath

In March 1955 Frank Lee was replaced by Thomas Grahamslaw. Later in the year missionary representative Frank George Lewis left the territory and was replaced in the Council by Philip Strong.