Bougainville’s rocky path to independence
Bougainville’s rocky path to independence  
Podcast: Full Story
Published On: Wed Jul 02 2025
Description: In 2019, the people of Bougainville overwhelmingly voted in favour of independence. Once controlled by Britain, Germany, Japan, Australia and Papua New Guinea, some see the reopening of a massive copper and gold mine known as Panguna as the key to the new nation’s success. But it was only three decades ago that Bougainvilleans went to war to shut it down.Nour Haydar speaks with Ben Doherty about the road to independence for Australia’s Pacific neighbour and the risk of repeating mistakes from the past