The Peace Monitoring Group (PMG) on Bougainville in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

was brought about by the civil unrest on the island in 1989. The PNG government requested the Australian and New Zealand governments to provide a monitoring group to oversee the cease fire on the island. This group was made up of both civilian and defence personnel from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

and

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

. Both sides of the conflict welcomed the group being on Bougainville. This support remained strong throughout the PMG's deployment. The PMG played a role in facilitating the peace process on 30 April 1998 and took over from the New Zealand Truce Monitoring Group which then departed. The Bougainville Peace Agreement decreed that all personnel should be withdrawn from the island by December 2002. However, the group's presence was extended by the applicable governments and withdrew completely by 23 August 2003. A much smaller Bougainville Transition Team (with orange T-shirts) succeeded the PMG but has now also withdrawn. Australian police and civilian advisers have subsequently served on Bougainville as part of Australian government assistance to Papua New Guinea. The PMG was unarmed and had no specific legal power (though it did have a mandate under the Lincoln Agreement). It remained definitively neutral at all times. In the early stages of its deployment, it acted primarily as a ceasefire monitoring group and spread information about developments in the peace process. Following the Bougainville Peace Agreement, the PMG focused primarily on facilitating the weapons disposal program, in co-operation with the small UN Observer Mission on Bougainville (UNOMB). There was also some logistical support given to the constitutional consultation and drafting process from 2003. Support was provided to the group via use of the Loloho wharf on the eastern side of the island by naval vessels from Australia and New Zealand as well as the

Kieta Kieta is a port town located on the eastern coast of the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, near the township of Arawa. After extensive destruction during the 1990 Civil Uprising on Bougainville, Kieta has few inhabitants now, and is kno ...

airfield by

RNZAF The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...

and four RNZAF Bell

UH-1 Iroquois The Bell UH-1 Iroquois (nicknamed "Huey") is a utility military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace company Bell Helicopter. It is the first member of the prolific Huey family, as well as the first turbine-powered helico ...

. Additional helicopters were also

supplied by the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

, which were painted bright red for visibility, were utilised to ferry personnel to inland villages inaccessible by foot or vehicle. Later, air mobility was outsourced to Hevilift, which provided two

Bell 212 The Bell 212 (also known as the ''Twin Two-Twelve'') is a two-blade, medium helicopter that first flew in 1968. Originally manufactured by Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, production was moved to Mirabel, Quebec, Canada in ...

helicopters. PMG Personnel wore bright yellow shirts and hats so that everyone on the island was aware of their presence. A Logistics Cell at Loloho also provided such services as catering, dental, medical, vehicle transport and communications to the outer lying sites such as Tonu and Wakunui.

Notes

References

* Adams, Rebecca (Editor, former senior PMG personnel) (2001)
''Peace on Bougainville: Truce Monitoring Group''
Victoria University Press in association with the Centre for Strategic Studies, New Zealand. *Hegarty, David (2003) 'Peace Interventions in the South Pacific: Lessons from Bougainville and Solomon Islands'. ''State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Project'' *http://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=jfadt/bougainville/bv_chap5.pdf

External links

Bougainville Peace Process on DFAT website

Full text of Bougainville Peace Agreement

Full text of Arawa Agreement

All peace agreements for Papua New Guinea

Peace organizations by country History of Papua New Guinea Foreign relations of Papua New Guinea

Notes

References

Further reading

External links