President Ishmael Toroama has laid out a comprehensive vision for Bougainville’s new parliamentary term, centred on three key pillars — political independence, economic independence, and good governance.
Delivering his inaugural address at the second sitting of the Fifth Bougainville House of Representatives, President Toroama said, “Let me now focus on what I stand for in this new term of parliament — I campaigned to pursue three main goals in this new term of parliament, which are political independence, economic independence and good governance.”
He reaffirmed Bougainville’s determination to achieve full political independence, saying the region’s path forward was already defined by its referendum result. “Bougainville voted for independence as provided for in Part 14 of the PNG Constitution,” he said. “Three years was spent consulting as if Bougainville did not know about its future political status. The real question is whether PNG is ready to accept the Bougainville people’s choice.”
President Toroama said he expected the “Melanesian Agreement and the Sessional Order to be the conduit through which the PNG Parliament will endorse the people’s choice.”
He further stated that Bougainville must evolve into a true Republic, not a “hybrid of Presidential system mixed within a Westminster system of government,” stressing that the President — being directly elected by the people — “should not have to negotiate with Ministers in the exercise of his mandate.”
On economic independence, President Toroama said the journey towards self-reliance must be pursued “at all levels — the family level, the community level, and Bougainville as a whole.” He added, “At the government level, my government will first of all ensure that Panguna quickly progresses to the next stage of development.”
Under his government’s economic development agenda, President Toroama announced a series of key initiatives, including the commencement of operations at the Bougainville Gold Refinery in Arawa, the commercialisation of customary land, and support for downstream processing of cocoa and copra.
“Land is fundamental in economic development, and the Toroama/Masatt government will explore ways of bringing more customary land into commercial production,” he said, adding that “the private sector needs to be ready to take advantage of such opportunities.”
He also emphasised the need to revitalise the fisheries sector. “Fisheries continues to be a sleeping giant but needs to be awakened, and if PNG is serious about economic independence for Bougainville, then it must immediately transfer the foreign investment powers and functions,” he said.
Turning to governance reforms, President Toroama said the third agenda — good governance — would underpin Bougainville’s nation-building efforts. “Institutional reform, both in structure and function, are necessary to ensure that the administration is aligned with the Republican political system,” he said, adding that the new Bougainville Constitution must reflect this alignment.
“Good governance is not just talk only, we leaders must lead in practising good governance — compliance is absolute,” he declared. “Leadership must lead by example, and the people will follow.”
In his concluding remarks, President Toroama reiterated that the transformation he envisioned through his three core agendas could be achieved through cooperation and collective responsibility among leaders and citizens.
He also reaffirmed his government’s 100-day plan, saying, “I urge the administration through the Chief Secretary and the relevant Heads of Departments to take note of the priorities for the next 100 days as well as the broader priorities stated in this speech and undertake necessary tasks required to achieve all of these during this term of government as we head towards being a sovereign Bougainville.”
