When straddling a barbed-wire fence, shifting your feet risks a wound ranging from hurt to horrendous. Shift carefully, not carelessly or inadvertently. For two decades, Australia has been doing a delicate straddle between Papua New …
Tag Archive for: "Bougainville"
It seems that the overwhelming outcome of the referendum on Bougainville, with over 97% of eligible voters supporting independence, surprised even seasoned observers. Still, as is well known, the vote is not binding. Under the …
Bougainville knows far better than Britain that a referendum vote to go or to stay is only the first mountain. Then the second mountain must be climbed—the negotiation to turn the outcome into a reality. …
Trouble is returning to the island of Bougainville and Australia must be prepared. With the 2019 independence referendum looming, Australia will be called on to help support the peace process, whatever the referendum’s outcome. Australia …
In my earlier post I argued that, notwithstanding the strong legal underpinning of the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, it’s possible that Bougainville and Waigani may be on a collision course. What would such a collision …