Dame Carol Kidu is an Australian-born Papua New Guinean former politician and advocate. Born in Shorncliffe, Queensland in 1948, she married Papua New Guinean student Buri Kidu at the Cromwell College Chapel in 1969, and moved with him to PNG.
Her husband became the first Indigenous chief justice of PNG and was knighted in 1980, while Dame Kidu worked as a teacher and authored school textbooks. Following the sudden passing of her husband in 1994, Dame Kidu entered parliament in 1997 as the member for Moresby South.
She remained in parliament until her retirement in 2012, and for the last decade of her service was the only female member of parliament. In addition to her role as member for Moresby South, she was minister for community development from 2002 until 2011. Throughout her time in politics, Dame Carol was seen as an advocate for women and social justice issues in PNG.
In 2005, Dame Kidu was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. The same year she was awarded Doctor of the University honoris causa from UQ. In 2009, she was the first citizen of PNG to be made a knight of the Légion d'honneur by France.