LYNNE’S STORY
A DECISION MADE
At age three, Lynne left Manus Province with her Australian father. It was approved at a village court hearing, over the community’s objection — her mother’s agreement carrying the decision, in the belief it would give Lynne opportunities unavailable on her remote island home.
MANY WAY TO LIVE WELL
Lynne grew up between PNG, Australia, the Philippines and Singapore, including high school in Singapore with students from more than 50 countries. That upbringing informed a lifelong viewpoint: there’s always more than one way to see things, and more than one way to live well — a belief she’s carried into everything Wantaim PNG does.
COMING HOME
In 2007, Lynne returned to Manus for the first time as an adult, to meet her mother. It wasn’t only her mother she was meeting. It was an entire family, and a culture, she’d never known existed.
“It’s alright that you leave now, but now you’ve come home, you must keep coming back.” – Niakop
THE LESSON
It was Lynne’s first lesson in what it means to be Melanesian: that relationships come with an enduring obligation — to always return.
Ten days after Lynne returned to Australia, her brother Fred died in a diving accident off Rambutso Island — diving being often the only way to earn an income in remote rural communities like his. Lynne has described it as a sliding-doors moment: had things gone differently thirty years earlier, Fred’s life could easily have been hers. She resolved to act. Wantaim PNG was formed within months, by Lynne and her then partner, Ruud.
She has kept coming back every year since — honouring her roots, the lesson and the promise to her mother.
BOARDROOMS TO BANANA BOATS
For 20 years prior to this, Lynne had a career in corporate strategy, marketing and stakeholder management at large ASX-listed companies, holding a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) and a Masters in Applied Finance. In 2010, she walked away from the corporate sector to focus on Wantaim PNG full time.
That combination anchors everything Wantaim PNG does: a founder with family ties across Manus, a resolve to facilitate positive change, and the professional discipline to run an organisation donors can trust with their money.
In 2018, Lynne received the inaugural ChangeBeing Award from the Blackmore Mercie Whellan Women+Wellbeing Awards, recognising bold leadership and advocacy for girls and women.
Hear more: Lynne tells her full story on ABC’s Conversations, Loss, Reunion and Invincibility.
