Ben Bohane
Ben Bohane is Vanuatu-based journalist and policy analyst who has reported the Pacific for nearly 30 years.
Opinion
Indonesia
Kidnapped pilot a frightening reminder of forgotten war on Australia’s doorstep
Some see West Papua as “the Ukraine of the Pacific”. So it’s ironic that Australia is helping faraway Ukraine, but not the one next door to us.
- by Ben Bohane
Latest
Tim Page, legendary Vietnam War photographer, dies at 78
Tim Page was a humanist first and foremost, always alive to the power of photography.
- by Ben Bohane
Opinion
Pacific diplomacy
Pacific’s delicate dance with China is fraught with danger. Australia must reclaim the floor
China has shown its hand with its latest offering to 10 Pacific nations. We must be ready to defend Melanesian interests as our own.
- by Ben Bohane
Analysis
Pacific diplomacy
From the ocean to the east, it looks like Australia's Pacific policy is all at sea
Tension on the Pacific's only land border with Asia poses strategic challenges for Australia, but there's a simple path to good relations in the region.
- by Ben Bohane
Bougainville: the journey to the 2019 independence vote in pictures
Ben Bohane draws on his archive of photos spanning 25 years of Bougainville's history in times of war and peace and more recently, their vote for nationhood.
- by Ben Bohane
Bougainville votes overwhelmingly for independence from PNG
The final say will now go to lawmakers in the Papua New Guinea Parliament.
- by Ben Bohane
Australian love story at the heart of Bougainville's push for independence
Marilyn met her husband Moses in 1967. From that moment her fate was fixed to Bougainville's fight for freedom.
- by Ben Bohane
'Where is Australia?' China makes a bold play for the south Pacific's 'Treasure Islands'
China is on the front foot across the south Pacific, as allegations of bribery emerge in the Solomon Islands and a leader on Bougainville reveals a Chinese “masterplan”.
- by Ben Bohane
Can Bougainville rebuild on the broken corporate dreams of the colonial age?
An Anglo-Australian copper and gold mine helped trigger a deadly civil war 30 years ago. Now Bougainville is poised to vote for independence.
- by Ben Bohane
Exclusive
Bougainville independence
This derelict mine caused a bloody war. Now Aussie companies are fighting over it again
The people of Bougainville are poised to vote for independence and already Australians, including Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest, are hoping to exploit their resources.
- by Sarah Danckert and Ben Bohane
Vanuatu volcano pollutes drinking water, forces Dunkirk-style evacuation
Australia has sent the amphibious Bay Class landing ship HMAS Choules to help move the entire population of Ambae island.
- by Alison Bevege and Ben Bohane
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/by/ben-bohane-p5369e