Earlier this year Lex McRae, 67, trekked the Black Cat Track in PNG with one of the two porters killed in Tuesday's attack.

Bandits attacked the group of Australian and New Zealand trekkers, injuring members of the party and hacking to death the two porters.

Mr McRae, a dairy technician, undertook the gruelling six-day trek in PNG as a tribute to his father who was wounded while fighting as a commando against the Japanese in the Black Cat Track area during World War II.

Mr McRae said one of the porters killed had escorted himself, his daughter Catriona and her husband Zac Muir on their trek in May.

The porter had been very attentive and worked hard to determine the location where Mr McRae's father was wounded , Mr McRae said.

Early reports suggest the attack might have been score-settling by locals aggrieved they were not receiving enough benefits for allowing tourists through their area.

Mr McRae said the murdered porter he knew was from Biawang, at the start of the track.

The trekking company his family went with was diligent in spending money in each of the villages on the route and the villagers were hospitable, he said.

They all felt safe during their walk and encountered no animosity.

"Everywhere we went, everyone was happy to shake our hands," Mr McRae said.

The Black Cat Track went through steep landslip-prone country and was not as developed for trekking as the Kokoda Track.

"The villagers were really depending on doing a good job with our trek. They were hoping it (trekking) would become a source of income.

"This (the attack) is a big setback for all the villages on the track."

Mr McRae said the trek had been an emotional one as they visited the places his father had mentioned in his wartime diary.

His father was part of a commando company whose mission was to harass the Japanese.

He was wounded in the leg after being caught in an ambush and had to survive on his own for three days before he was rescued and carried to safety by the local natives, known as the "Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels".

Mr McRae said the forebears of the murdered porter had probably been among those who carried his father to safety.

Mr McRae said Tuesday's incident would be a big setback to hopes to turn the Black Cat Track into a trekking drawcard similar to the Kokoda Track.

Media reports said six other porters in the group were stabbed in the attack on Tuesday, the first day of the trek.

The hikers were also robbed before the female trek leader guided them to a village where the alarm was raised.

ehimmelreich@fairfaxmedia.com.au

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