Under the rich, black soil of Bougainville lie copper deposits worth close to US$60 billion.
It’s enough copper to create over 4000 jobs in an economy desperate to be free of Papua New Guinea and propel the world’s newest potential nation to the independence it has sought for decades.
In World War II, Japan occupied Bougainville as it extended its sphere of influence into the Pacific, hoping to acquire much needed natural resources. Bloody hand-to-hand combat in sweltering heat, thick mud, and malaria-infested jungle put an end to the Japanese push south and east.
United States troops supported by battalions of Australian, New Zealand and Fijian soldiers, killed 20,000 Japanese and lost 1000 of their own to turn the tide of the war in the Pacific.
The people of Bougainville had hoped to become part of the US at the end of World War II, according to freedom fighter and former presidential candidate, Martin Miriori.
“At that time, our people had worked under the Germans, Australians, the British – they did not like any of them,” Miriori said.
“But the Americans were different. They were more reasonable and generous. Our people hoped that Bougainville could become a US protectorate.’’
But as the superpowers divide the spoils of war, the US took for itself the Northern Pacific which provided vital links for its flights from California to the recently liberated Philippines, and the newly occupied Japan.
Small, insignificant Bougainville was returned to Australia which administered the territory as part of Administrative Union of the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea (see sidebar).
In today’s geo-politics as China races to implement its Belt and Road initiative, making friends with the Pacific, will the US reach out to create an alliance with an island in which it had no interest 70 years ago?
Bougainville’s President, Ishmael Toroama, has offered an open invitation to the US which has a giant tech industry in need of copper. And its military-industrial complex will devour copper in the construction of ships, aircraft and machinery.
Toroama knows that his island has the necessary harbour to accommodate US assets which would help control the ocean over which China wishes to exert influence.
In return, Toroama wants support for independence from Papua New Guinea. So, what happens if the US says yes and helps Bougainville achieve its elusive independence?
“Well, the Panguna mine is here. It’s up to you,” Toroama has been reported as saying.
For now, US President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs of up to 10% on Chinese imports for what he believes is its role in the trafficking of drugs.
It’s unclear whether that will translate into a dramatic policy shift on the creation of US bases or supporting independence in friendly, resource-rich states. Closer to home, Trump has spoken of Canada becoming part of the US, so there is reason to believe he may be open to negotiations with Bougainville.
It is unlikely that such a move will be welcomed by PNG where Prime Minister David Marape wants to see greater collaboration to revive Bougainville’s economy.
“We are also looking into [a] model to economically empower them further,” Marape said at a recent meeting in Australia. “This will take time, but it starts with these sorts of engagements, so I welcome any investors out there.’’
Toroama and Marape want investment for Bougainville for vastly different reasons. In PNG, Marape hopes for 40% of Bougainville’s revenue to help support Port Moresby. In Buka, Toroama hopes an alliance with the US will mean freedom at last.
Does Trump hold the key that will determine Bougainville’s future?
THE HISTORY OF BOUGAINVILLE
The Southern tip of Bougainville is 40 minutes by boat from Choiseul Island in Solomon Islands.
Short boat trips under the cover of darkness allowed dissidents to escape and for much needed rations,
weapons, and medical supplies to be shipped in during a 10-year war of independence which began in 1989.
Germany occupied Bougainville from 1886 until the outbreak of World War I when Australian and New Zealand troops on British orders seized German possessions. New Zealand took Samoa, Australia seized Bougainville and German Papua.
While Bougainville is geographically part of the Solomon Islands archipelago, it was effectively severed from the remainder of the group which became a British protectorate in 1893.
After World War I, Papua and Bougainville were administered by Australia under a League of Nations (now the United Nations) mandate. Australia granted Papua New Guinea independence in 1975 without consulting or informing the people of Bougainville.
The island and its resource-rich mine operated by BCL, a subsidiary of mining giant Rio Tinto, became part of PNG and provide employment and revenue for its new occupier.
More than a decade of unrest culminated in guerrilla attacks on the mine and later a secessionist war, which saw 20,000 people killed over a period of 10 years. The PNG Defence Force could not put down the uprising, despite using Australian helicopter gunships.
A South Pacific Peacekeeping Force was mobilised in 1994 to oversee a truce, and peace talks in 1997 in New Zealand led to an agreement on autonomous government, which included a set period for a referendum on independence.
The Autonomous Bougainville Government was established in 1999 at the official end of the civil war.
In 2019, Bougainville voted overwhelmingly for independence.
