Growing Bougainville's Future
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GROWING BOUGAINVILLE’S FUTURE: Choices for an Island and its peoples GROWING BOUGAINVILLE'S TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction to “Growing Bougainville's future”, Christina Hill, Dr Luke 4 FUTURE Fletcher and Dr Cathal Doyle This is a publication of the Jubilee Australia Research Centre. Chapter 1: The crisis began in 1886: A long view of Bougainville’s 13 Editors: Christina Hill and Luke Fletcher decolonisation struggle, Prof Kristian Lasslett Design by: Dina Hopstad Rui Published September 2018 Chapter 2: Women’s contributions to Bougainville’s past, present and 24 Some photos for this publication were sourced from International Women’s Development future, Dr Ruth Saovana-Spriggs Agency (IWDA) that works in partnership with the indigenous organisation Nazareth Centre for Rehabilitation (NCfR) from Bougainville. The views and options expressed in this publication Chapter 3: Mining and development: Is “good governance” really the 32 may not necessarily represent the views of IWDA and/or NCfR. cure?, Dr Catherine Coumans The information in this report may be printed or copied for non-commercial purposes with Chapter 4: The distorting effects of the resource sector on national 42 proper acknowledgement of Jubilee Australia. economies: A case study from Papua New Guinea, Paul Flanagan Acknowledgements Chapter 5: Can Panguna save Bougainville?, Dr Luke Fletcher and 50 Christopher Prince Jubilee Australia would like to thank all the contributors to this report. The authors of each pa- per generously shared their ideas and experience and gave their time to the project. We would Chapter 6: Towards a just and equitable economy, and a gender equal 60 also like to thank Dr Elizabeth Thurbon, Dr Kate Macdonald and Prof Kristian Lasslett for peer society, Helen Hakena and Kate Lappin reviewing the individual papers. Chapter 7: Free prior and informed consent, development and 68 Jubilee Australia would also like to thank The Christensen Fund whose support made this mining on Bougainville: Choice and the pursuit of self-determined project possible. development, Dr Cathal Doyle About Jubilee Australia Chapter 8: Land in Bougainville: The relationship between customary 77 land tenure and sustainable development in Melanesia, Catherine Jubilee Australia (formal name: the Jubilee Australia Research Centre) engages in research and Sparks and Joel Simo advocacy to promote economic justice for communities in the Asia-Pacific region and account- ability for Australian corporations and government agencies operating there. Chapter 9: Growing island exports: High value crops and the future of 87 Contacts us: agriculture in the Pacific, Dr Wesley Morgan Phone: (+61) 02 8286 9706 Email: [email protected] Chapter 10: Bougainville independence and its implications for 94 Mail to: PO Box 20885 World Square NSW 2002 fisheries: A fresh approach towards co-operative oceans management, www.jubileeaustralia.org Dr Transform Aqorau Chapter 11: From crisis to optimism: Building Bougainville’s future, 101 Theonila Roka-Matbob and Christina Hill Chapter 12: Continuing the struggle in Bougainville: Possibilities for 106 governance beyond the colonial-capitalist system, Anonymous Conclusion, Christina Hill and Dr Luke Fletcher 112 Cover photo: Theonila Roka-Matbob, a landowner from Panguna. Photo: Christina Hill. Appendices 115 (ABG), have argued that Bougainville needs The project’s intent is to offer a INTRODUCTION TO ‘GROWING mining, and in particular needs to reopen sober reflection on the possibilities Panguna, for the island’s development. and realities of an extractives-led Possible future mining on Bougainville is not BOUGAINVILLE’S FUTURE’ just limited to Panguna and minerals explo- development path for Bougainville as ration has already commenced elsewhere on well as examining the availably and AUTHORS: CHRISTINA HILL, DR LUKE FLETCHER AND DR CATHAL DOYLE Bougainville, with four exploration licences viability of an alternative path. Christina Hill is Jubilee Australia’s Bougainville 2020 Project coordinator and issued to Australian, Canadian and Filipino 2 editor of this publication. Her work focuses on human rights, gender and cor- mining companies as of February 2018. As nevertheless, Bougainville needed the reve- Bougainville plans for its long awaited inde- nues. The Island’s economic necessity, it was porate accountability. pendence referendum, the two questions said, overrode local concerns, sensitivities and of mining and independence have become impacts. Dr Luke Fletcher is Jubilee Australia’s Executive Director. He has been involved increasingly fused in the public discourse: with Jubilee Australia since 2005 in various staff and Board roles. He has independence requires economic self-suffi- This project was undertaken in response to co-authored many of Jubilee's major reports including Risky Business (2009), ciency and this is only possible through min- that criticism. Its primary aim is to examine Alternatives to Debtor's Prison (2011), Pipe Dreams (2012), Double or Nothing ing revenues. So the argument goes. the choice facing the people of Bougainville: the question of ‘to mine or not to mine’? The (2018) and On Shaky Ground (2018). Luke has a PhD from Cambridge in Poli- Based on the research conducted five years project’s intent is to offer a sober reflection tics and International Studies (2015) and a Masters from UC Berkeley (2009). ago, Jubilee and its partners published a on the possibilities and realities of an extrac- report in 2014 called Voices of Bougainville. tives-led development path for Bougainville as Dr Cathal Doyle is a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow at the School of Law, The report argued that many Panguna com- well as examining the availably and viability Middlesex University London. He has published a range of books, articles and munities were not ready for a return to large of an alternative path. Given the uniformity reports in the area of indigenous peoples’ rights and among other advocacy scale mining and its socio-economic, cultural of the official discourse in recent years, and and environmental impacts that had resulted the prevailing wisdom reflected in previous and research roles has worked as a researcher for the UN Special Rapporteur in a brutal conflict that caused so much pain debates that extractive-led development on the rights of indigenous peoples. and destruction. The work was criticised on a is necessary, it was considered important number of counts, but perhaps the most tell- to make the case that there is actually an Introduction ing was the criticism that even if the essence of alternative choice available to the people of the report was correct, and that the people of Bougainville. God created the land of Bougainville and since time immemorial the land of Bougainville, when Panguna were uneasy about the mine, God created it, it was isolated and separated from PNG, Australia and other islands by sea. It was It is somewhat unfortunate that the debate 2. Post Courier, Four Mining Exploration Licences about mining and the debate about complete with mountains of her own, valleys, rivers and other plains. Complete with ecosystems, Issued for Bougainville, 18 February 2018. fish and other aquatic wildlife, forests and other vegetation. Blaise Iruinu Papua New Guinea and Bougainville To survive, we looked within our culture, our traditional society and ourselves. In almost all areas of Bougainville, women traditionally own the land. The land is sacred and protected by men on behalf of the women. The men as guardians share leadership with women, taking the responsibil- ity in open debate to protect women from potential conflict; however, women have the power to veto decisions, and therefore are involved in the final consultative process. Women’s Lincoln Statement, Lincoln Peace Talks, 1998 Five years ago, Jubilee Australia and its partners conducted research in the villages located in and around the former Panguna mine.1 The mine was one of the largest operating copper-gold mines in the world until the Bougainville civil war forced its closure in 1989 (see below for a more detailed history). For some years now, it has been at the forefront of debates about Bougainville’s economic future. Many, including the Autonomous Bougainville Government 1. The research was a collaboration with the Papua New Guinean NGO Bismark Ramu Group and the International State Crime Initiative. 4 GROWING BOUGAINVILLE'S FUTURE/ INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION/ GROWING BOUGAINVILLE'S FUTURE 5 However, it is important to note that the Reading the papers, one is constantly From a hilltop position, two Bougainville Revolutionary Army guerrillas look down on summit lacked meaningful participation by struck by the importance of land in the Panguna mine site in central Bougainville, circa 1994 the Bougainvillean worldview and in most Bougainvilleans and as such did not result in broader public debate on the issues it Melanisian culture more generally. considered. independence have become conflated. These The question of ‘to mine or not to mine’ is two existential questions, while interrelated, a common thread running through many are not best addressed as a single binary of the contributions to this publication. choice. Doing so obscures important issues Nevertheless, important as this issue is, the and realities that need to be addressed for papers raise deeper questions, ones that both informed debate and rights-based deci- incorporate and even transcend the mining sion-making. Even if the referendum is debate. defeated and Bougainville remains part of Papua New Guinea (PNG), the pressure for Reading the papers, one is constantly mining is likely to continue and its resump- struck by the importance of land in the tion cannot be ruled out. In this scenario, Bougainvillean worldview and in Melanisian generating sufficient revenues will most culture more generally. Several authors likely continue to be a challenge – for exam- repeatedly refer to the importance and ple the disbursement of grants by the PNG centrality of the concept of custodianship Government to Bougainville is by some 3 when describing the relationship between accounts not consistent or timely. As this Bougainvilleans and their land.