Transcript Bougainville - Missy-P

The sad history
Occupation
 1885: Controlled by the “German New Guinea”
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company. Purpose was exploitation of mineral
resources.
World War I: Australia occupied Bougainville.
1920: The League of Nations placed the territory under
Australian mandate (administered by Australia on
behalf of Britain).
1942: Bougainville occupied by the Japanese.
1943: USA routed the Japanese and established
airfields and drained swamps for troops to use as a
base. The Japanese tried to re-take the island and were
“starved out” by the Americans.
Occupation continued
 1945: Australia regained control over the island
with administration centred in Papua New
Guinea. This meant PNG had military and
political control.
 1960s: Independence movements began.
 1972: Landowners around the Panguna Copper
Mine protested, sabotaged and ultimately shut
the mine down.
 The PNG government sent a defence force to the
island. In 1989 a blockade was enacted by PNG,
effectively cutting Bougainville off from help.
Alliances
 Although Bougainville has been administered
from Papua New Guinea for years it is not part of
the New Guinea mainland and is separated from
it by the Solomon Sea.
 http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?client=firefoxa&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&hl=en&tab=wl
 The people of Bougainville are culturally and
ethnically related to the Solomon Islanders. They
are part of the Solomon archipelago and their
skins are a similar colour (the PNG islanders are
lighter/redder in skin colour).
Slavery and Exploitation
 Another sad episode in the history of Bougainville
is the exploitation of islanders for the slave trade.
Australians known as “Blackbirders” took
islanders from their homes and forced them to
work in Queensland, Fiji and Samoa.
 Copper, gold and other mineral deposits have
made Bougainville a desirable resource for
Australian and British mining interests. The
Panguna copper mine was the catalyst for the
independence movement.
From the people:
 “...to Bougainvilleans, land is like the skin on the
back of your hand. You inherit it, and it is your
duty to pass it on to your children in as good a
condition as, or better than, that in which you
received it. You would not expect us to sell our
skin, would you?” These words were told to Sir
Maurice Mawby, Chairman of CRA when he tried
to negotiate for the land to build his company
port.
 http://www.cpa.org.au/booklets/bougainvillelong-struggle-freedom.pdf
Mr Pip
 Dolores, Matilda and her mother are caught in the
struggle between the Redskins (soldiers from the
PNG army, charged with maintaining the
blockade) and the indigenous militia (known as
the ).
 Mr Watts and his wife choose to stay on the island
after all other “foreigners” have left. Mr Watts’
wife is Bougainvillean.
 The blockade is affecting the villagers’ way of life
– medicine, education. The war is affecting their
safety.