The governments of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville have agreed for the Bougainville Referendum results to be tabled in Parliament later this month.
A Joint Supervisory Body (JSB) meeting in Port Moresby on Wednesday endorsed 27 August as the date Parliament will debate the Bougainville Referendum results.
The Joint Supervisory Body (JSB) has also endorsed the Melanesian Framework and the Joint Consultation Report (JCR).
The meeting, held at the Melanesian Haus in Port Moresby, was co-chaired by Prime Minister James Marape, and Autonomous Bougainville Government President Ishmael Toroama,
The Melanesian Framework and the Joint Consultation Report were jointly developed by the ABG and the National Government in accordance with the resolutions of the Melanesian Agreement signed by both governments on 26 June 2025.
Together, the two documents provide an agreed pathway for progressing Bougainville’s political future through a peaceful, stable and Melanesian-led process that is consistent with the Constitution of Papua New Guinea while continuing an enduring relationship between Papua New Guinea and an independent Bougainville.
Addressing the Joint Supervisory Body, President Toroama described the Joint Consultation Report as the culmination of years of engagement between the two governments.
“The Joint Consultation Report is a record of facts and an account of everything we have consulted over since the 2019 Referendum, culminating in the defining Melanesian Agreement. They capture jointly-agreed resolutions of both our governments.”
In its resolutions, the JSB endorsed the Melanesian Framework as the agreed pathway jointly designed by the two governments to give effect to an affirmative decision by the National Parliament should it endorse the Bougainville Referendum Results.
The meeting resolved that the Bougainville Referendum Results, together with the Joint Consultation Report and the Melanesian Framework, will be tabled in the National Parliament on 27 August 2026 for Parliament’s consideration. The Prime Minister and the President will jointly determine the date on which Parliament will consider the question arising from the Referendum Results.
The JSB also directed the Independent Facilitator and the Joint Technical Team, supported by the Joint Ministers, to conduct awareness for Members of the National Parliament on both the Joint Consultation Report and the Melanesian Framework before the matter is debated.
President Toroama said the two documents now provide the agreed roadmap for the next phase of the peace process.
“Combined with the Melanesian Framework, this is the institutional pathway to Bougainville’s self-government and ultimately, to full sovereignty. This pathway reflects Bougainville’s Final Position on our timeline for self-government and for political independence” he said.
The Joint Consultation Report, Melanesian Framework and the Referendum Results will be tabled in the National Parliament on 27 August 2026 by the National Minister for Bougainville Affairs.
