Image credit: Parolan Harahap
The Australian Government through its agencies, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC) promotes Australian business interests overseas. But what of its accountability for the environmental and social impacts of those interests on local communities? Jubilee Australia through its research and lobbying shines a light on some of these activities.
One of its projects last year was the well-researched report “Voices of Bougainville: Nikana Kangsi, Nikana Dong (Our Land, Our Future).” Bougainville’s people endured a civil war that was triggered after mining was first introduced against the will of the local community in the 1960s. It is estimated that between 10,000 to 20,000 people were killed in the civil war and blockade that followed the mine’s closure. Today, twenty-five years later, the roles in this conflict of the Australian Government, Bougainville Copper Limited and its parent company Rio Tinto remain unexplained.
On March 26, 2015, the new Mining Act of Bougainville became law. The bill was drafted by Adam Smith International, a global business whose website says it “delivers real impact, value and lasting change through projects supporting economic growth and government reform.” It was supported by the Australian Government which is showing keen interest in Bougainville including of the proposed reopening of the Panguna mine. The Act is open to interpretation on landowner consent that could ignore local landowner communities. It also gives the Government the power to confiscate customary land and punish those who resist with fines and up to five years prison. https://goo.gl/OD2FBW This violates international conventions, allowing mining to happen without “free, prior and informed consent” and against customary law.
There is great pressure about the reopening of the Panguna mine because of the impending referendum on independence, without proper regard for local communities. The terms under the Mining law are not fair, equitable or sustainable. The Australian Government through its advisors is involved in this activity.
Many people in Bougainville are deeply worried about their children’s future, and their ongoing connection to land, community and culture. The Voices of Bougainville Report featured what some of the people from Panguna want for their future. One person said, “We have to use our own hands to work for our nation’s income. The moment we ask for foreign help, we are subjecting ourselves to destruction and bloodshed.” These people need assistance to look at Australia’s role in the unfair terms of the mining legislation and indeed whether reopening the Panguna mine is beneficial for Bougainville’s economy.
We work with Jubilee Australia to support its research and campaigning to change the Australian economic structures which are imposing unjust models of growth on the people of Bougainville and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region.
You can assist by supporting the work of Jubilee and by learning more about the issue.