Joseph Detsimea Audoa (26 December 1921 – 18 April 1984) was a Nauruan politician. He served as a member of the Parliament of Nauru and its predecessors from 1955 until his death and was a cabinet minister for much of the period from 1968 to 1983.
Early Life and Education
Audoa was born in Nauru in December 1921, a member of the Deiboe tribe. He was educated at Nauru Primary School and then trained at the Commonwealth X-Ray and Radium Lab at the University of Melbourne. Returning to Nauru, he worked in the pathology department of Nauru Hospital from 1937 to 1942. Following the Japanese occupation during World War II, he was deported to Chuuk in 1942, where he served as the medical orderly for Nauruan deportees until 1945. He returned to Melbourne for a course in x-raying in 1950.
Political Career
In 1955, Audoa was elected to the Local Government Council from the Yaren Constituency. He was re-elected in 1959 and 1963. In 1964, he was appointed as a magistrate. When a new Legislative Council was established in 1966, he was elected to the new body while also remaining a member of the Local Government Council until his death. He participated in the 1967 Constitutional Convention that drew up Nauru's independence constitution. After being re-elected in 1968, he was elected to the Council of State and subsequently appointed Minister of Justice. During absences of President Hammer DeRoburt, he often served as Acting President.
He remained Minister of Justice until the 1976 elections, when DeRoburt lost the presidency to Bernard Dowiyogo. In May 1978, he returned to the cabinet when DeRoburt regained the presidency, and was appointed Minister for Education and Health. After the 1980 elections, he returned to his original portfolio of Minister of Justice, a post he held until resigning due to ill health in 1983.
Death
Audoa died in Melbourne, Australia, on 18 April 1984 at the age of 62.
