Bougainville Mining Bill 2014 puts ABG and Rio Tinto firmly in control
John Momis, the ABG and their Australian Consultants have done it again – smuggling a draft Mining Bill before Parliament without publicly releasing the document to allow full consultation with the people.
Mining Bill
The Bill contains over 200 Clauses and is more than 100 pages long but ABG members are expected to read, digest and debate within just a few hours.
The legislation is again a blue print for large-scale foreign-owned mining across the island.
For example Section 8:
(1)The Autonomous Bougainville Government must as soon as practicable undertake or facilitate the undertaking of a geological survey of the whole of Bougainville.
(2) The results of the geological survey may be used to prioritise areas that are to be made available for competitive tenders for exploration licences under section 44 or the grant of exploration licences under section 51 or 52.
Then you have the usual feel good Sections like Section 13:
13.CUSTOMARY LAND – PROPERTY IN MINERALS
All minerals existing on, in or below the surface of any customary land in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville are the property of the owners of the customary land”.
But property means nothing unless you have a way of enforcing that right. You can own the universe, but so what, if you can’t enforce that right then it means nothing. So what type of rights of enforcement do landowners have?
Effectively none!
Only Section 15(a) which states landowners have a right
to be consulted about the grant of an exploration licence under section 51 over the land and to withhold consent to any such grant”
After that, the ABG has all the power. Of course the rest of Section 15 talks about rights to employment, compensation etc, but that has always been the case.
Nothing new there. And there is no formula included, so what landowners get would vary with their negotiating power (which is low compared to the ABG/Rio Tinto).
Section 18 and 19 are where the detail is:
S.18(1): The Autonomous Bougainville Government has exclusive power to grant tenements under this Act because of the multiplicity of landholders’ interests mentioned in subsection (2) that are, or are likely to be, affected directly or indirectly by the grant of a tenement.
S.19 The Autonomous Bougainville Government has exclusive power to determine the amount, and the distribution, of revenue from mining developments
And as section 21 says:
To avoid doubt, customary rights, other than the right to withhold consent to an exploration licence or a small-scale extraction lease, do not in any way affect the exclusive powers of the Autonomous Bougainville Government under sections 18 and 19.
In other words, big miners, rest assured.
And like before the ABG has the power to decide which landowners are representative! See section 22(1)
(1)Subject to subsection (3), the Bougainville Executive Council may from time to time approve one or more organisations to represent all or some of the owners of customary land.
That needs to be read in light of Section 20. Here we have ABG/Rio Tinto/Australian propaganda, enshrined in law.
S.20 The Autonomous Bougainville Government in exercising its exclusive powers under section 18 or 19 may take into account the following:
(f) the need to broaden the economy in Bougainville so as to provide employment and other opportunities to as many Bougainvilleans as practicable;
(g) the need to develop the autonomy of the Autonomous Bougainville Government and for the Autonomous Bougainville Government to achieve fiscal self-reliance;
(h) the need to develop the capacity of the Autonomous Bougainville Government to the point where real choices are available to Bougainvilleans when the referendum on independence is conducted;
So which landowners will the government choose to recognise the ones for, or against, Section 20 (f), (g), and (h) This is pretty much confirmed by section 22(3)(d) which notes
The [landowner] organisation would be able to perform satisfactorily the functions of representing the landowners in consultations, negotiations and mediations (if any) for the exploration or development of minerals, including at any Bougainville Mineral Resources Forum.
Would the PLA under Perpetua Serero meet this criteria?
Oh and if the whole thing goes belly-up don’t go suing Ministers etc.
208. IMMUNITY OF MINISTER AND OFFICIALS.
No liability attaches to the Minister or any other member of the Bougainville Executive Council, a Bougainville Warden or any other officer of the Department, a member of the Bougainville Mining Advisory Council, or a member of the Bougainville Police Service in the exercise of a power, or in the discharge or purported discharge of a duty under this Act.
At the end of the day, it is what it is. It is legislation designed to facilitate large-scale mining on Bougainville; and it looks like it will do this quite well. The ABG has all the power it needs, and all the control it needs over landowner communities.
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