Bougainville votes to cut ties with PNG

The world’s newest nation is born as a referendum delivers a 97 per cent endorsement to break away.

A Bougainville Referendum Commission returning officer, left, leads an Upe man to men-only polling station in the Bougainville referendum in Teau last month. Picture: AP

Bougainville’s people have overwhelmingly voted for the autonomous Papua New Guinea province to become the world’s newest nation.

The result of the long-awaited Bougainville referendum result delivered a massive 97 per cent endorsement for the province to break away from PNG, with 176,928 voting for independence, and 3043 for greater autonomy, from 181,067 voters.

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There was spontaneous cheers and singing when the result was announced by Bougainville Referendum Commission chairman Bertie Ahern on Wednesday afternoon.

The non-binding vote puts the heat on PNG’s parliament, which will now have to decide whether to grant the province its wish, which could encourage other separatist provinces.

The result also places pressure on Australia, which has a strategic interest in ensuring a unified PNG, and – as the region’s biggest aid donor – could be called on to ratchet up support for Bougainville if it becomes independent.

Strategic analysts have pointed to the risk that an independent Bougainville would present an opportunity for China to establish a new foothold in Australia’s immediate region.

The referendum was a condition of the 2001 peace agreement that ended the Bougainville Conflict – a bloody decade-long civil war in which at least 15,000 people died.

ANU researcher Gordon Peake said there was no clear path towards what would happen next.

“The result is non-binding and the Peace Agreement says that the two governments must ‘consult’ over the outcome,” Mr Peake told The Australian from Buka.

“Then it goes to the PNG parliament for decision. But there’s no timeline prescribed for how long that process should take.

"The level of detail about what the two government could potentially consult on is dizzying: banking, boundaries, movement of peoples and goods. The process could take years.”