Class Notes

Janet completed a Bachelor of Arts at the Australian National University in 1974, majoring in psychology, politics and Australian history. A French speaker and keen skier, she combined both interests by skiing in France during a European trip in 1971.

Janet built an early career as a researcher with the Australian Government Department of Minerals and Energy before her interests turned toward conservation. In 1987 she joined the Australian Conservation Foundation as a volunteer with the Antarctic Action Group, where she helped drive a lobbying campaign, gathering 53,000 signatures calling for a ban on mineral activity in Antarctica. That campaign helped persuade Prime Minister Bob Hawke to veto the Minerals Convention in May 1989, a decision that gained international momentum and ultimately convinced Antarctic Treaty nations to abandon the convention altogether. The effort culminated in the adoption of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol) in 1991, one of the most significant environmental diplomatic achievements of the era.

Janet has also pursued a passion for photography, and in 2023 her exhibition Antarctica: A Frozen Moment in a Timeless Land was featured at the Ballarat International Foto Biennale, held at the Ballarat Observatory.

Updated June 2026

Bonita married fellow Burgmann alum Peter Maywald (1972–1975) and together they have a son and daughter, and now four grandchildren. While a resident at Burgmann Bonita pursued a Diploma of Education and TESL at the Canberra College of Advanced Education, later this was followed by Honours in Pacific History at the University of Adelaide, and a Master of International Relations at ANU.

Bonita went on to spend more than twenty years in the Australian Public Service between 1991 and 2013, working predominantly with AusAID. The highlight of that career came in 2000, when she was seconded as a Civilian Peace Monitor to Bougainville during the negotiation of a peace agreement with Papua New Guinea and the early arrangements for an independence vote, a process that continues to unfold to this day.

After leaving the public service, Bonita and Peter retired to Kiama on the New South Wales South Coast, where Bonita has remained actively involved in her local community, including contributing to the publication of community books.

Last updated June 2026