The Bougainville Crisis, 1991 update
Date
1992
Authors
Bougainville Conference
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Canberra, ACT : Dept. of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University
Bathurst, NSW : Crawford House Press
Bathurst, NSW : Crawford House Press
Abstract
The crisis in Bougainville has become the most serious issue in the
affairs of the western Pacific. Separatist sentiment has always been
significant, fuelled by perceived ethnic traits distinguishing
Bougainvilleans from other Papua New Guineans, exacerbated by
neglect of the region during most of the colonial period (until the
development of the mining complex in the 1960s), and promoted by the
remoteness of the islands from the rest of Papua New Guinea.
Secession was the greatest problem addressed by the independent state
of Papua New Guinea in 1 975. The resolution - autonomy for the
North Solomons Province - seemed to work until the late 1 980s when
younger and more militant people began to represent the landowners in
negotiations with the mining company, the provincial government, and
the national government.
The crisis has Australian dimensions : the Commonwealth
government cannot be neutral since it provides a declining but still
significant proportion of Papua New Guinea's revenue and logistic
support for the Papua New Guinea Defence Force; the closure of the
mine and Papua New Guinea's resulting fiscal difficulties will intensify
Papua New Guinea's financial dependence. Also, many of the relevant
aid agencies are based in Australia or organize their efforts here. It is
critically important therefore that Australians'be accurately informed of
events and conditions in Bougainville.
Media coverage is at best uneven. The blockade of the island has
made information scarce, erratic and unreliable; inevitably, information
is carried by individuals and organizations who are emotionally
involved in one way or another. Oarity is also obscured by the fact that
different policies are pursued by competing sections of the Papua New
Guinea cabinet, and different stances have been adopted by the
Bougainville Revolutionary Army, the Interim Government, and an
increasing number of smaller organizations in Bougainville. It is this
dearth of accurate information which provoked us to organize a second
Bougainville Update Conference. It is our fervent hope that the next
conference will be the last, and that it will be able to analyse a
successful and peaceful resolution.
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