The first local government councils in the Territory of New Guinea were set up in 1950. The system of local government spread rapidly in the 1960s: in 1963 there were 50 councils in the Territory and by 1965 there were 72. Local government began in the Western Highlands in 1961 with the formation of the Hagen, Minj (South Wahgi) and Nangamp (North Wahgi) Local Government Councils. Minj and Nangamp were merged in 1965 to form the Wahgi Council . By the mid 1990s there were 12 councils in the Western Highlands Province. Leading up to the formation of provincial government in the Western Highlands in the mid 1970s, the Wahgi Local Government Council was associated with a movement for the Jimi, Wahgi and Kambia areas to form a separate Jiwaka Province. (See John Burton and Chris Keher, Western Highlands Province, 1978-1990, in R.J. May & A.J. Regan (Eds.), Political Decentralisation in a New State, 1997).
From the description of Minutes of meetings and related papers [microform]. 1962-1976. (Libraries Australia). WorldCat record id: 224189000
