Patrick Nomos | 21/04/2026
Both the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) and the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government concede that a major constraint to Bougainville’s political independence aspirations is Bougainville’s lack of economic independence. In December 2024, while addressing the PNG Investment Week Conference, PNG Prime Minister James Marape stated, “Bougainville needs to be economically strong to support its bid for independence”, suggesting that that the internal revenue supporting Bougainville’s recurrent and development budgets, currently at 7 per cent, needs to be raised to over 50 per cent. Ironically, during the twenty-five years since the signing of the Bougainville Peace Agreement (BPA) the PNG Government has been patently derelict in its commitment to promote the generation of economic activity in Bougainville.
Speaking at the same conference, ABG President, Ishmael Toroama, said that the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB) is open for business, being blessed with abundant mineral and energy resources. He stated that these resources had the potential to be sustainably developed to grow Bougainville’s economy. This glowing statement, however accurate, sits at odds with President Toroama’s own designation of 1/09/2027 as the deadline for Bougainville’s political independence from Papua New Guinea. This deadline looms as a major issue given Mr Marape’s reticence to moving expeditiously towards revised political relations between PNG and the AROB. While these two political leaders continue to bicker about the pace, or lack of it, towards political independence, young Bougainvilleans are faced with the reality of a moribund Bougainville economy, with few economic opportunities open to them.
A promising avenue to economic advancement for Bougainvilleans is the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme that allows eligible Australian businesses to hire workers from nine Pacific Island Countries and Timor-Leste where there are insufficient local workers available. Launched as the Pacific Seasonal Worker Pilot Scheme in 2008, the PALM scheme allows approved employers to recruit from two cohorts of workers – short-term workers (up to nine months) and long-term workers (between one and four years). Benefits of the PALM scheme flow both ways, assisting Australian businesses to address workforce shortages while providing employment for Pacific and Timor-Leste workers, enabling them to develop skills, earn income and support their families and communities back home.
In 2023, thirty-two Bougainvilleans, 22 men and 10 women, between the ages of 20 and 40 travelled to Australia for seasonal work under the PALM scheme. The women in this group were recruited by Hillwood Berries Farm located near Launceston, Tasmania while the men were employed by Redlea Citrus farm, situated west of Bundaberg, Queensland. At a ceremony farewelling the group, the Regional Member for the AROB, Hon. Peter Tsiamalili Jnr said, “This is a life-changing opportunity for Bougainvilleans and has huge potential to contribute to economic development for the region. We look forward to the economic benefits this will provide for families and communities in Bougainville”.
Participants for the seasonal work placements are selected through a transparent process closely coordinated with local churches. A list of potential candidates is submitted to owners of fruit farms in Australia, who make the final selection of workers to work on their respective farms. According to the office of Australian Development Assistance, Bougainville, the demand by and for Bougainvilleans under the PALM scheme has been high and the numbers travelling to work in Australia is expected to increase in the future.
On Buka Island, AROB the economic benefits to individuals and communities from the PALM scheme is on full display at Koheno Village, where a solar lighting scheme providing light for several houses and a two-tonne truck were funded by remittances from villagers working at Skybury Tropical Plantation, Mareeba, far north Queensland. Skybury Plantation, producing coffee and tropical fruit on the Atherton Tablelands, joined the Seasonal Worker Programme in 2018 and has since signed on to the PALM scheme. Jason, the owner-driver of Koheno Village’s two-tonne truck that carries passengers and cargo to and from central Buka Island to Buka town each day, told me that he has completed two contracts at Skybury Plantation and intends returning there for another contract very soon.