The Bougainville Referendum Arrangements: Origins, Shaping and Implementation Part One: Origins and Shaping Anthony Regan Discussion Paper 2018/4
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The Bougainville Referendum Arrangements: Origins, Shaping and Implementation Part One: Origins and Shaping Anthony Regan Discussion Paper 2018/4 The Bougainville Peace Agreement (the BPA)1 is a These two linked Discussion Papers seek to provide complex agreement, produced by a succession of insights into the referendum arrangements, starting compromises made during more than two years with an historical overview of the development of of often intense negotiations (June 1999 to August support amongst Bougainvilleans for the separation 2001), directed towards permanently ending a deeply of Bougainville from PNG. This first paper points to divisive violent conflict and generally referred to in emergence of a pan-Bougainvillean identity during the Bougainville as ‘the crisis’. The agreement sought to 20th century and how it was that secession became transform violent conflict through provision of new a widely discussed possibility for Bougainville from constitutionally provided governance arrangements that the late 1960s, largely in reaction to decisions of the were acceptable to all the previously divided parties then Australian colonial government to permit the that participated in the negotiations. It is significant establishment of a large-scale mine in Bougainville. that it is not just the autonomy arrangements that It then briefly reviews the origins and impacts of provide a new governance framework applicable to the Bougainville conflict (1988–97) and highlights what is still a little known and understood fact of both Bougainville and the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Bougainville history: that the origins of the conflict do national government. The referendum arrangements not lie in the mining-related grievances and actions are also intended to be a part of the new governance of young landowners from the Panguna mine area, framework that are in large part designed to allow for but rather in the grievances and actions of a broad the peaceful management of disputes that once were coalition of Bougainville groups. The existence of such only dealt with through violent conflict. This is a vitally a coalition helps to explain the widespread response important perspective in relation to the referendum of Bougainvilleans to the violence of the PNG police given that, as the time when the referendum must mobile squads between 1988 and 1990, which saw be held approaches, there are voices both at the the separation of Bougainville from PNG becoming national level in PNG and amongst pro-secessionist the central demand of the Bougainville Revolutionary Bougainvilleans expressing doubts about aspects of Army (BRA) leadership. what the BPA provides in relation to the referendum. This paper also considers the divisions that Some in Port Moresby are still concerned that the developed amongst Bougainvilleans during the conflict existence of the referendum arrangements undermines including divisions about the possibility of secession. PNG sovereignty, while some in Bougainville It touches on the efforts made between 1988 and question the value of a referendum where the national 1995 to prevent escalation of the conflict or to end parliament retains the right to reject the outcome of the conflict, before turning to the beginnings of the the referendum, or claim that the referendum is not Bougainville peace process between 1997 and 1999. In necessary because Bougainville is already independent particular it discusses the origins and development of under the unilateral declaration of independence made the Bougainvillean demands for inclusion of provision by rebel leader Francis Ona on 17 May 1990. on a referendum on independence in the BPA, and dpa.bellschool.anu.edu.au Anthony Regan how a significantly modified version of those demands Hamnett 1977). Matriliny means that land and other was eventually included in the final version of the valuable property (and often leadership) descends BPA, signed almost 17 years ago on 30 August 2001. through the matrilineal line, that women tend to be This historical analysis provides the background to the seen as custodians of customary land and that they second Discussion Paper, which surveys the intent, sometimes have quite high status within their societies, content and implementation (to date) of the referendum though the extent of this varies between culture and arrangements contained in both the BPA and the PNG language groups. Under customary arrangements, constitutional laws that give effect to the BPA. however, women tend to have limited decision- making roles within the family and also tend to play Development of a distinct and unifying limited public roles, with maternal uncles and brothers Bougainville identity usually speaking on their behalf in public discussions, PNG and Bougainville sometimes even on land matters (although women’s views on customary land are usually regarded as Bougainville’s population in 2018 is approximately important). It is still far from easy for women to take 300,000, less than 4 per cent of PNG’s total population. on other public roles in Bougainville, although this Its 9438 square kilometres constitutes roughly 2 per situation is gradually changing. In part this is because of cent of PNG’s total land area. With 25 languages and the leadership roles that women took on in the origins a similar number of sublanguages and dialects (Tryon of the Bougainville peace process (1997–2005) that 2005), and many cultural differences even within the ended the Bougainville conflict, and in part because of larger language groups (Ogan 2005), Bougainville leadership roles that women are now playing in several reflects PNG’s pattern of linguistic and cultural Bougainville-based non-government organisations diversity. While in many ways Bougainville societies and as elected representatives in both the Autonomous are close culturally and linguistically to those in the Bougainville Government (ABG) (from 2005) and west of the neighbouring Solomon Islands, it is also Bougainville’s system of community governments true that many features of Bougainvillean cultures are established early in 2017 (in which each village assembly similar to those found elsewhere in PNG as well as in area elects both a male and a female representative). other countries of the Melanesian cultural area. The While Bougainville was under nominal German most distinctive feature shared by most (but not all) colonial control from 1884 to 1915, the first colonial Bougainvilleans is very dark skin colour, noticeably administrative centre was not established there until darker than most (though not all) people from other 1905. Hence, the engagement of Bougainville societies parts of PNG. with the outside world is comparatively recent, Pre-colonial Bougainvilleans were organised mainly something which helps to explain the continuing around tiny, stateless, clan-based societies. Despite major importance of pre-colonial social structures, including social and economic changes since colonial ‘rule’ began clans. Australia took control from 1914 until PNG’s in the late 19th century, the most significant social independence in 1975 (with a brief period of groups in Bougainville today continue to be nuclear and Japanese control during World War II). Some parts extended families, the localised clan-based landowning of mountainous Bougainville had little contact with lineages to which members of those families belong churches or the colonial regime until after 1945. (typically containing 50–150 members), and flexible The state in PNG (including Bougainville) has always groupings of such lineages. These structures continue to been relatively weak at all levels, with a limited impact on be heavily influenced by customary arrangements that local communities and difficulties in imposing policies remain strong today despite many significant changes on those determined to oppose them. There were no in Bougainville society associated with the colonial and formal pan-Bougainvillean political structures under post-colonial eras. the highly centralised colonial administrative structure A minority of societies have hereditary (‘chiefly’) until very late in the colonial period. Indeed, elected leadership, with the rest largely built around local-level governments were only established gradually performance-based leadership often with a hereditary from the late 1950s onwards, and in some areas were element. Most societies are matrilineal, but at the same resented and resisted (Connell 1977; Griffin 1977). time tend to be quite patriarchal (Eves et al. 2018; The first pan-Bougainville political structures were 2SSGM Discussion Paper 2012/1 http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/ssgm Department of Pacific Affairs DPA Discussion Paper 2018/4 the combined councils conference established in 1963, development of one of the world’s largest copper and followed by the interim provincial government set up gold mines in the mountains of central Bougainville in early1974 and given a constitutional basis in 1977 from the mid-1960s, under Australian colonial rule. as part of a settlement of Bougainville’s first attempted The mine was seen by many Bougainvilleans as secession in late 1975 (Ghai and Regan 2006). A group imposed by the colonial authority for the benefit of the of young educated Bougainvilleans took the lead in the rest of colonial PNG with little regard to detrimental 1973 debates about establishing the interim provincial social and environmental impacts on Bougainville government. They were supported by John Momis, then itself. There was particular resentment