'Melanesian Relationship Agreement' Endorsed At Bougainville Independence Talks

Friday, 13 June 2025, 8:45 pm
Article: RNZ

Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific Senior Journalist

Delegates to this week's deliberations at Burnham Army base in New Zealand over Bougainville's quest for independence from Papua New Guinea placed emphasis on shared values and commitments.

Bougainville's Government has stated that it wants to be independent by September 2027.

The critical issue going into these talks centred on the difficulties the autonomous province has faced getting the results of its independence referendum tabled in the PNG parliament.

That referendum vote was overwhelmingly in favour of independence.

The meeting was closed to media.

This week's talks, held at what the PNG Prime Minister James Marape dubbed the "spiritual home of the Bougainville peace process" led to a recognition of a need for a 'pathway to peace by peaceful means'.

In a statement, the parties reveal they want a solution that is homegrown and maintains a close, peaceful and enduring familial relationship between PNG and Bougainville.

The delegates called this a 'Melanesian Partnership'.

"Parties agreed on core elements of the proposed future political relationship and how to work with parliament for taking their agreement forward, including the integral role to be played by the bipartisan parliamentary committee on Bougainville."

The talks concluded with the endorsement of a proposed 'Melanesian relationship agreement' that will be taken to the leaders of PNG and ABG during the last week of June.

The parties and the independent moderator, former New Zealand Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae, expressed deep appreciation for the support of the government and people of Aotearoa New Zealand and the United Nations.

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