Papua New Guinea will mark a major milestone next week with the 2025 PNG Update, a high-level national conference commemorating fifty years of independence. The event, themed “Papua New Guinea at 50: past, present and future,” will be held on the 21st–22nd of August at the University of Papua New Guinea’s Waigani campus in Port Moresby. The Golden Jubilee conference is jointly hosted by the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) and the Australian National University (ANU), and is expected to draw over 1, 000 participants including national leaders, civil servants, diplomats, academics, students, and members of the judiciary. Prime Minister James Marape will officially open the two-day conference, which will begin with a series of keynote addresses reflecting on the country’s post-independence journey and setting the tone for the next fifty years. Distinguished speakers will include Dr. Fr. John Momis, widely regarded as the architect of PNG’s Constitution and former President of Bougainville, as well as Australian High Commissioner to PNG, Mr. Ewen McDonald. Prominent national figures such as former Treasurer Bart Philemon, former Deputy Prime Minister Charles Abel, Dame Carol Kidu, Dr. Thomas Webster, and Dame Jean Kekedo will also lead plenary sessions on topics ranging from the economy and governance to foreign relations. The second day will feature more than twenty sessions exploring issues critical to PNG’s development, including gender-based violence, climate change, mining and agriculture, health policy, digital transformation, and election reform. Ahead of the main event, a special book launch will take place on the evening of Wednesday 20 August. Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey will unveil Struggle, Reform, Boom and Bust, a new economic history of PNG co-authored by ANU and UPNG scholars. The launch will be held at 5:30pm at UPNG's School of Business and Public Policy (SBPP) Lecture Theatre 2. The 2025 PNG Update is open to the public and does not require prior registration. Attendees can check in at the welcome desk outside the New Lecture Theatre on arrival. The event will also be livestreamed via UPNG’s official Facebook page. Professor Stephen Howes, Director of the ANU Development Policy Centre, said that every PNG Update is important, but this year’s event is particularly significant as the country celebrate fifty years of nationhood. Meanwhile, Dr Lawrence Sause, Executive Dean of UPNG’s School of Business and Public Policy, added that this event also marks UPNG’s own 50th anniversary as PNG’s leading national university. “It’s a chance to reflect not only on our national journey, but also on how institutions like UPNG have contributed to shaping the country.”