Dec 5 2025

Bougainville News Alerts :Rio Tinto urged to accelerate action on remediation of Panguna mine disaster, one year on from investigation

One year on from the release of an independent investigation into Rio Tinto’s former Panguna mine in Bougainville, communities living with the ongoing environmental impact are calling on the company to urgently move towards funding solutions, particularly in areas identified as posing life-threatening risks.

Conducted by Tetra Tech Coffey, the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment found serious risks to local people from toxic chemical hazards, collapsing infrastructure and levees, and mine-related flooding.

The report made over 30 recommendations for action to address the hazards and other significant impacts on communities caused by over a billion tonnes of tailings waste left by the mine.

Traditional Owners of the area and supporters from the Human Rights Law Centre noted in a statement on Friday that since the report’s release, Rio Tinto has accepted its findings and committed to developing a remedy mechanism consistent with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

“Over the past year, the company has been working with communities, the Bougainville Government and its former subsidiary, Bougainville Copper Limited, to discuss ways forward, and has supported further investigations into some of the most critical risks posed by the mine,” the statement read.

“Despite these steps, leaders from affected communities have expressed concerns at the slow pace of progress towards addressing time-critical risks on the ground, some of which were first identified as early as August 2022.

“Communities are urging Rio Tinto to now move decisively towards addressing the mine’s impacts and establishing an independent fund for long-term remediation works and clean-up.”

‘Our people cannot wait indefinitely; too much is at risk’

Theonila Roka Matbob, traditional landowner and lead complainant, said residents were still at risk.

“A year on from the release of the report, our communities are still living with collapsing levees, polluted rivers, and dangerous chemicals. The mine’s impacts affect every aspect of our daily lives; from where we grow our food and collect our water to our ability to safely cross rivers to access schools and healthcare,” she said.

“The Impact Assessment confirmed the scale and severity of the disaster we are living with and highlighted many areas where people’s lives are at risk. We acknowledge Rio Tinto for coming to the table with communities and the company’s support for this process so far. What we need now is for solutions to be implemented quickly, in partnership with community leaders on the ground.

“Our people cannot wait indefinitely; too much is at risk. We urge Rio Tinto to now move quickly towards action to remedy the huge problems we are facing due to the mine”.

In March, Bougainville community leaders called for representation in discussions over the potential remediation of the former Panguna mine, which began in Port Moresby that month.

At the time, Ms Roka Matbob said community leaders “find ourselves shut out of the room”.

“This is not the way to rebuild trust with communities or design lasting solutions,” she said.

‘An ongoing environmental and human rights disaster’

Human Rights Law Centre legal director Keren Adams said on Friday that the Impact Assessment confirmed in “unequivocal terms” that communities in Bougainville are “living with an ongoing environmental and human rights disaster”.

“It found major impacts in every area assessed, including many life-threatening risks to communities,” she said.

“We welcome Rio Tinto’s public commitment to working with all stakeholders towards lasting solutions. Communities now need to see that commitment translate into tangible action on the ground to address risks and impacts identified in the report, and the establishment of an independent fund for clean-up and remedy, as they have repeatedly called for.

“Rio Tinto’s new leadership team have an important opportunity to move decisively to address the company’s legacy at Panguna and to rebuild trust with the people of Bougainville.”

A Rio Tinto spokesperson told National Indigenous Times the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment was “a critical step forward in building understanding of the long-term legacy impacts of the former mine in Bougainville”.

“Throughout 2025, we have continued to engage with the PMLIA Oversight Committee, and the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) and Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) through a Roundtable, to identify ways forward and key priority actions,” they said.

“Ongoing and continuing efforts by the Roundtable parties to address high and very high saliency impacts and imminent risks include: works on 4 structural sites that pose severe and imminent risks to nearby communities; removal of hazardous materials associated with a risk to life from Loloho Port; works to address the impact of flooding for Kuneka Creek communities; geo-technical monitoring and hazard awareness campaigns to ensure local communities and small-scale miners are made aware of potential risks; and additional investigations to address the most critical impacts identified in the PMLIA.

“We continue to support a water and sanitation project in Central Bougainville, in cooperation with the ABG, providing drinking water facilities and youth training to communities.”

A troubled history

Panguna was previously one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines. During its operation from 1972 to 1989, over a billion tonnes of mine waste was released directly into the Jaba and Kawerong rivers.

In 1989, an uprising by local people against this environmental destruction and inequities in the distribution of the mine’s profits forced the mine to stop operating and triggered a brutal decade-long civil war.

Rio Tinto remained the majority owner of the mine until 2016, when it divested and passed its shares to the PNG and Bougainville governments. No clean-up has ever been undertaken of the site.

The company agreed to fund the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment in 2021 in response to a human rights complaint brought by local communities, represented by the Human Rights Law Centre.

Phase 1 of the Impact Assessment, published in December 2024, confirmed extensive impacts and risks for local people are being caused by the abandoned mine, including: imminent, life-threatening risks posed by the collapsing mine pit, levees and infrastructure; ongoing contamination of the Jaba and Kawerong rivers and migration of waste into new areas; mine-related flooding, making river-crossings to access basic services life-threatening and affecting peoples’ access to drinking water, food gardens and sacred sites; and toxic chemicals stored in some locations and found in the soil in some areas.

Originally published by the National Indigenous Times

 


Oct 8 2025

Bougainville News Alerts : OBEC returns 45 writs, marks completion of 2025 ABG General Election

Bougainville Electoral Commissioner, Desmond Tsianai, today formally returned 45 writs comprising the Presidency, 38 single-member constituencies and the six reserved regional seats for women and Former Combatants.
Tsianai formally handed the election writs to the outgoing Speaker, Simon Pentanu, officially acknowledging the completion of the electoral process.
“In accordance with Sections 145 of the Bougainville Elections Act, and guided by the constitutional mandate vested in the Office I hold, I am proud to return these writs to you, Mr. Speaker, and to this Honorable House,” he said.
He reiterated the democratic spirit of the people of Bougainville as a testament to their unity and resilience.
“To every voter who stood in line with patience, dignity, and determination, we say thank you. You have proven once again that the heart of Bougainville beats strong with a belief in peaceful democratic choice and representation,” Tsianai said.
Commissioner Tsianai highlighted that the election was more than an administrative exercise, emphasizing the scale and achievements of this electoral exercise.
“We recorded a total of 408 candidates, including a growing and welcome number of women candidates. 21 women contested constituency seats, up from 14 in 2020. The Presidential race featured 7 candidates, reflecting a vibrant and competitive democratic environment.”
“The Final Electoral Roll included 238,625 registered voters which is the most inclusive and comprehensive roll in our history. 51% of enrolled were men, and 49% women. Notably, 14.3% of enrolled voters were aged 18 to 24 which is a significant increase from 8.9% in 2020, showing that our youth are claiming their place in shaping Bougainville’s future,” Commissioner Tsianai explained.
He acknowledged that there were challenges faced as is expected with large scale operations, however his team was able to respond swiftly within the law and in the best interest of the people.
“Our systems of verification, oversight, and accountability were tested and they held firm,” he said, noting that they will also begin their post-election review, listening to lessons from this cycle to improve the next.
May 8 2025

Bougainville News Alerts : Could tourism lead Bougainville into the future ?

Bougainville has gone through many turbulent periods over the past 100 years, not least the Civil War of the 1990s, which claimed as many as 20,000 lives.

The government is now looking to develop the economy and has its eye on mining as an immediate solution as it strives for independence.

However, for at least one Bougainvillean, tourism in the region is more than just a promise.

Zhon Bosco Miriona has been running his business Bougainville Experience Tours for years, and he spoke to RNZ Pacific about the sector now and its prospects.

https://bougtours.com/

 

Zhon Bosco Miriona: I started the company in 2010. But in 2002 the Bougainville government had sent me as a youth to represent Bougainville at the Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival in Fiji, so that is where got interested in tourism.

 

I was one of the people that had joined the rebels to fight against the system in the Bougainville War. So after that, I went down there [Fiji], and that way I got interested in the tourism after the mining had an issue with our people in Bougainville. So that is why I saw that tourism can help Bougainville better than mining.

 

Don Wiseman: What sort of tourism?

 

ZBM: At the moment we are running tourism for people that are coming for culture, history, World War Two and the Bougainville War, trekking, bird watching, and even people just want to come to take pictures on photography tours, and fish, game fishing. And also, we are looking after super yachts and small expedition vessels, like the New Zealand owned, Heritage Adventure, which comes once a year, but I think it’s going to be coming here twice a year.

 

DW: Now when you when you see photos and film at Bougainville – it’s a spectacular place, isn’t it?. You can see the appeal for tourists. But the problem, I guess, is getting people there. It’s difficult, isn’t it? 

 

ZBM: The main problem for people, especially Papua New Giuneans that want to come to Bougainville – and the biggest killer in the tourism industry – is the air fares. You will spend a big amount of money that you can do around the world, from maybe Australia [and] New Zealand, to travel around the world and back to your country. That is the amount of money that we spend from Port Moresby to reach Bougainville. Around 5000 kina (about NZ$2000) – too much.

 

But we have a airport that is coming up – our Kieta Airport, which is under construction now – maybe by end of 2026 it will open.

 

We will have flights coming in from the Solomon Islands so that will be a big bonus for our tourism industry in Bougainville. We will have clients coming to especially Fiji or Australia, come up to Honira or Munda, and it is like 30 minutes or 25 minutes flight from Munda to Kieta.

 

DW: How many of the tourists you get are from overseas?

 

ZBM: At the moment, we used to have, like, previously used to have, like, one or two every quarter, just after we started. But now we are getting, like, every month tourists coming in. Like, not really big numbers, but in a small way, but it’s increasing like five to 10 a month

.

DW: And there’s enough accommodation as numbers increase?

 

ZBM: No, that is one issue. But people are building more. We have a new hotel that’s this coming up in Arawa, built by a local company.

It is good that they are going to have a four storey accommodation in Arawa, and we need to build some more in Buka, because at the moment, accommodation is going to be the problem, along the years that we will be getting more people in.

 

Also we are trying to look to encourage our guest houses, or the lodges, to put more rooms into their accommodation.

 

Zhon Bosco Miriona says people visit Bougainville for a range of reasons, including the culture, history, World War Two and the Bougainville War, trekking, bird watching. Photo: Supplied

 

DW: Now Bougainville, of course, has had a turbulent history going back a long way, but I guess, most particularly the recent Civil War. 

 

ZBM: A lot of people that are coming in are interested about the history of Bougainville from the colonial era, or before the colonists came.

There were people that came up looking for gold and stuff like that. And lot of people are coming here for the history, about the war, about even why Bougainville went into war and how we stopped the war.

 

But I would like to thank the government and the people of New Zealand for your assistance from the troops and peace monitoring and all these things.

We also have New Zealand police still around here in Bougainville. So thank you very much the people of New Zealand for being with us after we went through this conflict.

 

DW: Bougainville is on the verge of independence, at least as far as your government’s concerned. We don’t quite know what the people in Port Moresby are thinking at this stage, do we? But how is that going to impact your business?

 

ZBM: I think the Bougainville people – we have had enough of the war and all this.

 

We are peace loving people so we do not want to have any war again. But the thing, especially for our independence, that is up to the politicians. We already voted for the referendum, we told the world that we want to go and have our own country.

 

It is now between our government and the Papua New Giunea government to give us what we have wanted. People might say, ‘Oh, I think if the referendum failed, people will go back to war’.

 

No, we do not want to go back to war. We want just the world to recognise us, and then we can have our own county.

But we will be with PNG, working together, like what Papua New Guinea is doing with Australia, after Australia gave them the independence. It is just a political thing, but the relationship will be always be there.

From Here

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/560212/could-tourism-help-lead-bougainville-into-the-future

 

Mar 17 2025

Independence 1 September 2027 :Opening Statement by ABG President Hon. Ishmael Toroama, MHR at the Joint Consultation Moderator Meeting

Opening Statement by ABG President Hon. Ishmael Toroama, MHR at the Joint Consultation Moderator Meeting
Sir Jerry Mateparae, Distinguished Moderator, the Honourable James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Foreign Missions, distinguished dignitaries, ladies and gentlemen.
First I would like to thank you Sir Jerry for this most unique opportunity to present our case in this very historical meeting. It is a historical event because you are here on our invitation to broker this dialogue. It is particularly significant as this is very much, the last leg of our journey.
Secondly, I welcome the presence of representatives of the international community especially the friends of Bougainville who stood behind us to bring about a truce and ceasefire and to pave the way for negotiations.
Many of us present here today have personal experience of those negotiations up to and including the signing of the Bougainville Peace Agreement.
I thank the National Government for inviting the signatories to the Peace Agreement to witness the opening ceremony of this moderation. As one of the key negotiators in those days, I still remember, we never argued to implement our part of the bargain, and I still remember I had to meet the BPA commitments as my part of the bargain. And in the same spirit, Honorable Prime Minister, I now expect your Government to take ownership and endorse independence in this 11th parliament.
Prime Minister, I appeal to you to take the Bougainville referendum results and pass it to the National Minister for Bougainville Affairs to present to the National Parliament for endorsement through this moderation process in the same manner the National Constitution was amended to give effect to the Bougainville Peace Agreement.
By this action of the Parliament of Papua New Guinea, to amend the Constitution in 2001, PNG was probably the first independent state anywhere to have accorded the UN Charter right and principle of self-determination of peoples to its own people under its domestic laws and regulations.
We recognize that the sessional order is a process that will happen in the national parliament and while we appreciate the engagement in this particular subject, it has diverted our attention from the core agenda of the political settlement on independence. The referendum Independence result must be endorsed. In the spirit of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, the two governments can jointly decide as part of the consultations to reach agreement on a bilateral relationship for independence for Bougainville outside of parliament.
Bougainville’s agenda is independence and in our post-referendum consultations we have made this clear, resulting in joint agreements such as the Wabag roadmap and the Era Kone Covenant. Therefore, it is my expectation that the moderation process will have to address the Bougainville independence issue.
I thank the signatory countries that witnessed the Peace Agreement, for your commitment. I trust that as the witnesses to the BPA, you will respect the Bougainville people’s democratic choice for Independence, decided through a constitutionally granted referendum for independence. I am aware that some countries are already implicated in pushing their neo-colonial interests in Bougainville and I ask that you refrain from interfering.
Sir Jerry, my people have set 1st September 2027, as the date for independence to take effect. This decision is consistent with the jointly agreed Referendum Results Implementation Roadmap, commonly known as the ‘Wabag Roadmap’, that set the window of ‘no earlier than 2025, no later than 2027’, for the declaration of independence. As President, I will uphold the decision of my people throughout these moderation consultations.
I look forward that this moderation process will conclude with an agreement on the independence package for Bougainville.
The Bougainville Peace Agreement is a political settlement that has three pillars; Weapons Disposal, Autonomy and Referendum. Out of the three pillars, the Referendum pillar was the key pillar that held the commitment of all Bougainvilleans to the peace process, by guaranteeing in the National Constitution, a choice of separate independence for Bougainville.
The definition of independence was defined by the Government of PNG as, ‘An independent nation state with sovereign powers and laws, recognized under international law and by other sovereign states to be an independent state, separate from the State of Papua New Guinea.’ The people voted for independence and to propose any other option in this moderation is detrimental to the peace process.
We all know Papua New Guinea is going to celebrate its 50 years independence anniversary. In the case of Bougainville, this marks more than 50 years of struggle for independence within Papua New Guinea. It is important to remember that Bougainville leaders have lobbied for Bougainville’s Independence well before PNG’s Independence without any recognition from international bodies.
In conclusion, Mr Moderator, as far as I am concerned, the process of negotiating independence was concluded with the referendum. My understanding is that this moderation is about reaching agreement on implementing the referendum result of independence. Therefore, my focus in this moderation is to define the new relationship between Bougainville and Papua New Guinea as two independent sovereign states. This relationship can be captured through an independence package for Bougainville.
Bougainville has done its part in this peace process. It is now your turn.
May God continue to bless Bougainville and Papua New Guinea.
His Excellency Hon. Ishmael Toroama, MHR
President
Feb 11 2025

Bougainville News Alerts : Speaker of the House of Representatives Simon Pentanu, has announced the official dates of the 2025 ABG General Election

Speaker of the House of Representatives Simon Pentanu, has announced the official dates of the 2025 ABG General Election
Mr Pentanu said that he would be issuing the writs for the 2025 ABG General Election of the Bougainville House of Representatives on Monday 7th July 2025 as Speaker in accordance with Section 107 of the Bougainville Constitution.
He said that the election dates were in accordance with the election schedule provided by the Bougainville Electoral Commissioner, Desmond Tsianai.
The dates for the 2025 5th ABG General Elections are;
Issue of writs -Monday 7th July 2025
Nomination Open -Tuesday 8th July 2025
Nomination Close -Thursday 10th July 2025
Polling Period Starts -Tuesday 2nd September 2025
Polling Day -Thursday 4th September 2025
Polling Period Ends -Monday 8th September 2025
Counting Starts -Tuesday 9th September 2025
Counting Ends -Sunday 21st September 2025
Return of Writs -Monday 22nd September 2025
Pentanu highlighted that the 2025 elections would include the new five single member constituency seats bringing the total number of seats in the fifth House to 46. This would include the seats for the new president and speaker.
Mr Pentanu emphasized that it was important that the election was conducted in a lawful manner and applauded the Office of the Bougainville Electoral Commission for their continuous dedication in ensuring that the election was free and fair throughout Bougainville despite the challenging circumstances faced during elections on Bougainville.
Meanwhile, Bougainville Electoral Commissioner Tsianai acknowledged all the stakeholders, the departments, Bougainville Police Service and other agencies for their continuous support thus far.
“On behalf of my office and the organisation, I thank all electoral stakeholders, key ABG Departments, the Office of Speaker for the Bougainville House of Representatives, the Bougainville Police Service, the Australian Government through DFAT and the New Zealand Government through MFAT for their continuous support in every election in Bougainville and IFES for the technical advice.”
“I look forward to your continuous support in conducting the 2025 5th ABG General Elections successfully.”
ENDS

 

Nov 24 2024

Bougainville News Alerts : Land Access Compensation Agreement signed with Panguna Landowners

Over 300 traditional landowners from Panguna today signed a Land Access and Compensation Agreement (LACA) with Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), marking a significant milestone in the project’s exploration phase.
 This signing follows the ABG’s decision to grant BCL with an exploration licence, EL01, in January of this year.
 His Excellency President Ishmael Toroama, who also serves as Minister for Mining and Energy Resources, acknowledged that another step in the Panguna project’s mining life cycle has now begun. He commended both the landowners and BCL for their efforts in reaching this stage.
 “I commend the Panguna landowners for reaching agreement with BCL and BCL for complying with the law towards undertaking its activities within the EL01 area. Once this LACA is signed, I trust that it will be registered by the Bougainville Chief Warden within the required legal timeframe to enable BCL to progress this project,” he said.
 President Toroama urged BCL to maintain cooperative relations with landowners, emphasizing the importance of these relations in ensuring the smooth progress of the Panguna project. He further encouraged all stakeholders to continue working together in unity and in compliance with the law to progress the project for the benefit of Bougainville.
 Secretary for the ABG Department of Mining and Petroleum, Peter Kolotein, outlined the importance of the Agreement, noting the significance of today’s signing ceremony.
 “This signing ceremony today is significant because it is a process per Bougainville mining law; which states that before entering the land the subject of an Exploration Licence to implement its work program, the licence holder must first enter into a land access and compensation agreement with the landowners. This means that the government may issue an exploration licence at the government level, but the licence holder cannot enter the land unless it gets the land access permission from the landowners”.
 Secretary Kolotein also highlighted that after 35 years since closure of the former Panguna mine, there is now tangible redevelopment progress being made through an all-inclusive, consultative process under the leadership of Hon. Ismael Toroama as Minister responsible.
 “It has also taken 9 to 10 months since grant of EL01 in January to get to this stage where the landowners and the company are now in agreement; culminating with signing of the LACA today. Various stakeholders have been involved in the process including BCL, Landowners, Ex-Combatants, the ABG, and others. In spite of the challenges along the way, the outcome we’re witnessing today is the result of that inclusive and consultative approach”.
Sep 2 2024

Bougainville News Alerts : Bougainville Peace Agreement – August 30th 2001 a brief history

The establishment of peace on Bougainville: After many attempts of unsuccessful peaceful settlements both within Papua New Guinea and overseas including Solomon Islands, New Zealand and Australia, an irrevocable ceasefire was signed in 1997 between the PNG Security Forces and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA).

The Bougainville Peace Agreement was signed on 30 August 2001 following about 10 years of a fragile peace negotiations process between the Bougainville leaders and the PNG National Government.
The Bougainville Peace Agreement’s three pillars are:
1. Autonomy: Bougainville to assume an Autonomous Bougainville Government to be operated under a home-grown Bougainville Constitution and a Parliament with a right to assume increasing control over a wide range of powers, functions, personnel and resources on the basis of guarantees contained in the National Constitution.
2. Weapons Disposal: whereby the agreed weapons disposal plan will proceed in stages, area by area, around Bougainville as soon as practicable.
3. Referendum: guaranteed by the National Constitution, among Bougainvilleans on their political future. The choices available include a separate independence option and to be held not prior to ten years, and not later than fifteen years, after the election of the first autonomous Bougainville Government.
The Bougainville peace Agreement is guided by the principle of Peace by Peaceful Means.
Key Points about the Bougainville Peace Agreement:
1. A divided Bougainville entered into the peace negotiations and shaped the spirit and intentions of the Peace Agreement through specific interpretations:
· Peace by peaceful means; weapons disposal; good governance
· Melanesian consensus and relations building
· Autonomy as a conduit for independence
2. In 2002, amendments were made to the PNG National Constitution that guaranteed Bougainville a constitutional means of restoring governance and peace by peaceful means. Section 276 of the PNG National Constitution explicitly states that Part XIV of the National Constitution is unique to Bougainville alone.
3. Autonomy was intended to be a transitional peace and restoration arrangement for ten to fifteen years until a referendum would determine Bougainville’s political future.
4. The Bougainville Peace Agreement is a joint creation therefore both parties have a joint responsibility to implement it jointly.
5. Key milestones under the Bougainville Peace Agreement have all been achieved: Weapons disposal, Autonomy with an independent parliament and a referendum conducted to international standards.
6. Papua New Guinea as a joint implementer of the Peace Agreement, is obligated to implementing the Peace Agreement by endorsing the 97.7% vote for Independence.

#BougainvillePeaceAgreement #PeaceByPeacefulMeans

 

Aug 24 2024

Bougainville News Alerts : BCPC expands consultations to Brisbane, Australia

Bougainville Constitutional Planning Commission (BCPC) will be extending its consultations to Brisbane, Australia this  week.

This will be the second international consultation to gather views from Bougainvilleans living in Australia; the first international consultation was done in June this year with Bougainvilleans living in the Solomon Islands.

Please note our Australian based Bougainville News Alerts editor Colin Cowell with be in attendance

The three chairs to the BCPC – President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville and BCPC Chairman, Hon. Ishmael Toroama, Alternate Chairman of BCPC and Vice President of AROB Hon. Patrick Nisira and Deputy Chairman of BCPC, Attorney General and Minister for Justice and Independence Hon. Ezekiel Masatt will be traveling with selected Commissioners and secretariat to attend this consultation.

Since the BCPC was established in April 2022, the first round of consultations to gather views from Bougainvilleans to draft a new autochthonous constitution were only conducted within Bougainville and various other provinces on mainland Papua New Guinea.

These views collected were used to provide a report that assisted constitutional lawyers Professor Anthony Regan and Dr Katy Le Roy, to engage with the commissioners in six consecutive meetings to receive drafting instructions to produce a draft constitution.

Following the six consecutive meetings, a first draft constitution was completed in March this year, which resulted in the second phase of consultations in May to present the first draft and collect more views to create the final draft.

The second phase consultation was conducted within Bougainville, the New Guinea Islands Region of mainland PNG, three provinces in Southern Region, and Morobe Province in the Momase Region of PNG. Other provinces in these regions and in the Highlands Region of PNG are yet to be conducted.

The BCPC consultations in Brisbane will be from the 31st of August to 1st September 2024. Those Bougainvilleans in neighbouring states can attend if they are able to, however, they can also email their submissions to bcpc.arob@gmail.com.

 

The copy of the first draft is also available on the ABG website.

https://abg.gov.pg/

 

Jun 26 2024

Bougainville News : #StateofOrigin beginnings in Bougainville PNG are to be celebrated at MCG in Melbourne tonight


State of Origin beginnings in Bougainville PNG are to be celebrated at MCG in Melbourne tonight

The pioneers of the State of Origin concept are set to be honoured at the MCG tonight with the trophy from the 1945 interstate matches between NSW and Queensland in Papua New Guinea on display at Origin II.

While it was widely considered that the Origin concept was adopted from AFL, sport’s greatest rivalry began on Medco Oval in Torokina at the end of World War II as Australian troops waited in Bougainville to be taken home.

The two matches, both won by Queensland, are now believed to be the first interstate clashes in which players were selected along State of Origin lines and represented their birthplace rather than where they had enlisted during the war.

The trophy from the series, made from a 120mm Japanese Naval shell casing with handles either side mounted on a three-tiered wooden base, has been rediscovered from a Brisbane Army Museum.

It will be taken from the museum in Caxton Street, near the venue of the first State of Origin in 1980, to Melbourne to be displayed alongside the current State of Origin Shield at the MCG on Wednesday night.

Rugby league historian David Middleton said the trophy, which has the names of the Queensland players and the scores – 10-9 and 20-13 – inscribed, confirmed that the genesis of State of Origin began in PNG on September 16, 1945.

“There’s always been debate about how State of Origin started and who came up with the concept,” Middleton said.

“But we now know through this incredible relic that State of Origin was in the minds of fans and players as long ago as 1945, and that they played after the war ended in Papua New Guinea along Queensland and New South Wales lines.

“There was already this incredible rivalry that existed between the states in rugby league, but we didn’t know about the fierceness of that tribalism at the time.”

Sport played a significant role in military life but was usually played as inter-regimental or inter-battalion competitions and as the battalions largely comprised of NSW and Queensland personnel they played an Interstate Rugby League Series.

You had a bloke like [Rabbitohs great] Jack Rayner, who was born in NSW, but enlisted in Queensland who was playing for Queensland battalion teams, and many Queenslanders were playing for NSW battalions,” Middleton said.

“Someone came up with the idea, and it may well have been warrant officer Ron Connor, who went to his superior officer and said we would like to play an interstate game based on where our players were born.

“Fortunately, his superior officer there was a rugby league man, as well, from Charters Towers, who agreed to the concept and the games went ahead.”

The teams comprised mostly of players from the Brisbane and Sydney competitions and Connor wrote a match report in which he said the standard “of this interstate match was better to watch than the one in Brisbane a few weeks ago”.

Among the players of note in the Queensland team were Brisbane half-back Bobby Williamson, Rockhampton fullback Jack Barnes and Ipswich hooker Kelly Brennan, who went on to play in the Interstate Series in Brisbane the following year.

The NSW team included St George centre Doug McRitchie, who was man-of-the-match in the 1949 grand final and played for Australia in 1950 when the Kangaroos won an Ashes series for the first time in 28 years.

“Doug McRitchie became the inspiration for Ron Coote when he started the Men of League [now Family of League],” Middleton said.

“He was lying in hospital on the South Coast of NSW when Ron went to visit him, and the thought struck him that the rugby league needs to do more to look after its former players
So not only does Doug McRitchie have a connection as an Australian Test player, and a connection to the start of Men of League but he also has this remarkable connection to the genesis of State of Origin.”

With the NRL considering a bid to include a Papua New Guinea team in the competition as part of a wider commitment to the game in the Pacific, Middleton said the connection between PNG and State of Origin was significant.

There had been stories during WWII about how the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, those famous Papua New Guineans who helped the Australian soldiers march up the Kokoda Track, loved rugby league,” Middleton said.

They loved watching the games played by the soldiers, and so this game – State of Origin played 35 years before Queensland and NSW did battle at Lang Park – has great significance historically and of course, there is the connection now with discussions about a possible team in the NRL.”

Teams
Queensland: J Barnes (Captain), J. Christopher, L. Ashmore, C. King, E. Lade; N. Hoare, R. Williamson; H. Bradshaw, M. Tresdon, T. Kraft, M. Thompson (Vice Captain), K. Brennan, F. McLennan.
NSW: H. Parkinson, W. Peachy, D. McRitchie, T. Briggs, H. Dhu; H. Majoribanks (Captain), R. Miller; H.Taylor, V. Love, C.Smith, J. Hobson (Vice Captain), D. Sinclaire, H. Freeman

Jun 16 2024

Bougainville News : By 2052, Bougainville will be high income, educated, healthy, peaceful and Christian sovereign nation.’

ABG Ministers and their Department Secretaries attended an induction program on the “Bougainville Long Term Vision 2052,” hosted by the Bougainville Strategic Research & Planning Secretariat.

The Vision states; ‘By 2052, Bougainville will be high income, educated, healthy, peaceful and Christian sovereign nation.’

ABG Acting President Hon. Robin Wilson in delivering the keynote address, emphasized the importance of the Long Term Vision for Bougainville as an emerging region.

“The Bougainville Long Term Vision 2052 is an important achievement by the Government in preparing Bougainville beyond political independence. It complements our efforts for nation building as it provides the way forward to glue us together as a nation,” he said.

“As we rebuild ourselves and negotiate towards being an independent nation, we must not simply bring back the same old way of doing things but set a future horizion for the new nation.”

He called on all Ministers and Secretaries for their undivided support in translating the Vision into implementation plans.

He added that the purpose of the induction is to induct and familiarize the leadership with the Bougainville Long Term Vision 2052.

The Induction covered detailed sessions on the key aspects of the Vision goals and objectives, the eight pillars that contribute to the description of the long term vision and the series of medium term plans through which the Vision will be achieved.

“Each of the leaders, ministers and heads of departments are duty bound to take onboard and implement the Bougainville Long Term Vision 2052. Through the Chief Secretary’s office, I will seek to entrench the Long Term Vision in legislation,” Wilson concluded.

The induction program today is the first of a series of induction workshops that will be held at both the headquarter and district level over the coming weeks to ensure that all leaders, public servants and the public fully understand the Bougainville Long Term Vision 2052.

A copy of the Bougainville Long Term Vision 2052 can be downloaded here.

Click to access Bougainville_Vision_2052_final.pdf

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