Papua New Guinea's daily Post-Courier newspaper is 50 this year, with a late birthday present arriving to cement its commitment to print.

The News Corp outpost - which turned the half-century at the end of June - gains extra flexibility and press capacity thanks to the addition of a second folder on its 18-unit Tensor printing press.

Established in 1969 through the merger of the South Pacific Post and the New Guinea Times-Courier, the paper had been part of the Melbourne, Australia-based Herald & Weekly Times Group for more than two decades when Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd finally gained control of HWT in 1989.

Today's paper - the first daily in Papua New Guinea, a former Australian territory - is a lively operation with a 41,000 circulation edition and a colourful website.

Since last November, publisher South Pacific Post has been chaired by News Australia veteran Rex Gardner, a former general manager of the Fiji Times and most recently managing director of News' The Mercury in Hobart. The changeover - and former chairman Don Kennedy's retirement after 33 years in PNG - was marked by a visit for which they were accompanied by News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller.

The 18-unit T1400 will gain added flexibility with the new H-50 folder - which includes a quarterfold facility - as main folder of the reconfigured newspaper press. Chicago based Tensor International handled the installation last month in cooperation with Simon Munday of Australian agent National Printing Equipment.

Tensor chief operating officer Mike Pavone says the new H50 folder will be the main folder of the two-folder press, "adding better performance and increased flexibility to their printing operations".