'She set the benchmark': trailblazing PNG politician Nahau Rooney dies, aged 75

Manus Island's Nahau Rooney, at one time the only woman in PNG's parliament, dedicated her life to advancing women in her country

Hardworking, audacious, occasionally controversial, but always vivacious: one of Papua New Guinea's political pioneers, Nahau Rooney, has been remembered as a trailblazer for PNG women in power following her death on 15 September, aged 75.

In 1977, Rooney was one of just three women elected to PNG's first post-independence parliament - out of 109 members - where she served as the regional member for the province of Manus.