PM Marape: ‘JSB meeting reached important step for PNG-Bougainville future today’

Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape says a historic threshold has been reached in relations with Bougainville, following the formal end of joint consultations on the region's 2019 independence referendum.

At a meeting of the Joint Supervisory Body [JSB] at Melanesian Haus in Port Moresby, Mr Marape and Autonomous Bougainville Government President Ishmael Toroama endorsed the Joint Consultation Report and a new Melanesian Framework.

The agreement clears the way for the referendum results to be formally tabled on the floor of PNG's National Parliament on August 27.

Nearly 98 per cent of Bougainvilleans voted for independence from Papua New Guinea in the non-binding 2019 vote. Under the terms of the 2001 Peace Agreement, PNG's parliament retains the final decision on whether to grant full sovereignty.

Marape said the national government had met all its constitutional obligations and that MPs must now vote on the outcome according to conscience and the national interest.

"While we cannot rewind history, we must construct our future as a people," Marape said.

"The work since 2001 has seen many JSBs, many meetings, many exchanges, that has culminated in the implementation of Section 338 of our National Constitution as far as calling a referendum is concerned."

He emphasised that the upcoming parliamentary vote would not mark an end to ties between PNG and the autonomous region, but represented the next phase in a 25-year peace process.

As part of the resolutions reached at the summit, the JSB agreed to hand over all locally generated revenue including taxes from fisheries, mining, forestry, and land, to the Bougainville government by December 31 this year to build the region's fiscal capacity.

Future political and administrative cooperation between Port Moresby and Buka will be managed under the Melanesian Framework.

Marape paid tribute to the patience of Bougainvilleans and urged calm across both regions as the matter moves into its parliamentary phase.

"The Peace Agreement clearly says parliament will determine the final result," he said.

"Section 342, subsection 2 says parliament will make this decision. Whatever that decision is to the people of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea, we must respect the parliament process.

"And that is not the end... the Speaker of the National Parliament then will pass the result and the decision to the Speaker of the Bougainville Parliament."

The Prime Minister called on citizens to pray for wisdom and unity, adding that PNG had demonstrated to the world how complex national questions could be resolved peacefully through constitutional democracy.