PNGBLOGS

Rowan Callick The Australian THE Bougainville mine's development was fast-tracked by the Australian government. This occured when pressure built at the UN for Canberra to grant early independence to Papua New Guinea. The mine was intended to provide the new nation with solid income in addition to aid. In the 17 years from 1972 to 1989, it contributed about 44 per cent of PNG's exports, about 17 per cent of the government's revenue, and 10 per cent of PNG's gross domestic product. It employed 2800 people. The mine had been built by Rio Tinto in the face of landowner opposition. Women -- through whom land in much of Bougainville is inherited -- lay down in front of bulldozers. It took until 1980 for the original compensation package to be signed with 600 families. PNG's decentralisation to 20 provincial governments resulted from Bougainville's threat to pull of PNG in 1976, a fortnight before Australia was due to declare it independent -- threatening to rob the ne

Rowan Callick The Australian THE Bougainville mine's development was fast-tracked by the Australian government. This occured when pressure built at the UN for Canberra to grant early independence to Papua New Guinea. The mine was intended to provide the new nation with solid income in addition to aid. In the 17 years from 1972 to 1989, it contributed about 44 per cent of PNG's exports, about 17 per cent of the government's revenue, and 10 per cent of PNG's gross domestic product. It employed 2800 people. The mine had been built by Rio Tinto in the face of landowner opposition. Women -- through whom land in much of Bougainville is inherited -- lay down in front of bulldozers. It took until 1980 for the original compensation package to be signed with 600 families. PNG's decentralisation to 20 provincial governments resulted from Bougainville's threat to pull of PNG in 1976, a fortnight before Australia was due to declare it independent -- threatening to ro