Burnham Camp - the spiritual home of Bougainville peace process
ABG President Ishamel Toroama, sitting front (2nd left), with Sir Jerry Mateparae and PNG Prime Minister James Marape at the Joint Consultation Moderator Meeting. 17 March 2025
Photo:
Autonomous Bougainville Government
The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, says next week's meeting involving the governments of PNG and Bougainville is a milestone in the ongoing post referendum consultations.
In 2019 an overwhelming percentage of Bougainvilleans, 97.7 percent, voted for independence from PNG.
The referendum, though mandated by the 2001 Peace Agreement, was not binding.
The week of meetings is being held at New Zealand's Burnham army camp, near Christchurch.
In a statement Marape said Burnham is widely regarded as the spiritual home of the Bougainville peace process, after the role it played in hosting talks in 1997 that led to a cease fire in the civil war and the eventual Peace Agreement.
PNG Bougainville Premier Gerard Sinato signs the "Burnham Declaration" in 1997, which set in motion an end to the civil war.
Photo:
AFP
He said the Burnham talks will focus on finalising the process to bring the referendum results before the National Parliament.
Marape said the Era Kone Convenant committed both governments to present the referendum before parliament in 2025.
He said these steps will determine how that happens and what constitutional steps must be followed and that this will be grounded in mutual respect, dialogue and the spirit of reconciliation.
Teams of officials from both the PNG and Bougainville Governments were expected to arrive in Christchurch today.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
'Kick in the guts': Government knocks back most of Christchurch council's housing plans
Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger says the government's knock-back of the council's housing plans is a "kick in the guts". Photo: RNZ/Nathan Mckinnon The mayor of Christchurch says a government knock-back on it's three year battle to create a custom carve-out of national housing intensification rules feels like a "kick in the guts", but others are welcoming the certainty of the move. On Friday, Minister for Resource Management Act Reform Chris Bishop issued a final decision on 17 of 20 recommendations the city council had referred after rejecting recommendations from an independent panel on the council's plan to shape a bespoke Christchurch response to national housing density policy). Minister Bishop rejected the bulk of the council's proposals. In 2021, the then-government released its National Policy Statement on Urban Development, a plan to ramp up housing intensification across most urban areas but focused on the five high growth centres of Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch, amid bi-partisan support for the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Bill, though the National Party would later withdraw its backing . The bill contained Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), which detail what development can occur without the need for resource consent, public notification and consultation in the areas identified as most in need of housing intensification. Those rules were intended to apply across all residential zones in those identified cities, unless "qualifying matters" made intensification inappropriate. In 2022, the council voted to reject the standards , despite warnings a commissioner could be appointed . Instead, the council began several years of consultation, submissions and hearings on Plan Change 14 - its proposed changes to the district plan that would give effect to the Medium Density Residential Standards, but in a way it claimed better acknowledged the character and context of the city. The council temporarily halted the process following the last election, and was later granted an extension until the end of this year on some aspescts of the plan change. Minister Bishop declined a further extension request last month. The council's stance culminated in an Independent Hearing Panel (IHP), which reported back in the middle of last year. The council accepted the majority of the IHP's recommendations, which were incorporated into the district plan. But it rejected various aspects of the proposed plan, making twenty counter-recommendations that went to the Minister. The minister announced on Friday he had rejected 14 of the council's recommendations, accepted three and deferred his decision on three more. Minister for Resource Management Act Reform Chris Bishop has rejected the bulk of the council's proposals. Photo: VNP/Louis Collins The decision means some parts of the city will be zoned higher-density housing and taller buildings, while the council will not be allowed to use several different "qualifying matters" to refuse consents even in high density zones - most controversially, one that hinged on the impediment of sunlight and proposed the Garden City should get an exemption because its southern location meant sunlight angles differ. Bishop's announcement locks in changes for areas in and around the CBD, and the "town centres" of Riccarton, Hornby and Linwood, which will be zoned high density residential. Taller buildings will be allowed within 600 metres of shopping areas in some suburbs - 32m (around ten storeys high) for the Hornby shopping area, 14m for high density residential zones surrounding the shopping area, 22m (around six storeys) for Linwood's town centre, and 14m for high density residential zones around it. The council's bids to create qualifying matters on the basis of sunlight access, recession planes (a line or plane which limits how close a building can be to a property boundary), or by location - such as 'the City Spine' (major transport routes) or Riccarton Bush - also failed. Nor did the minster accept areas around Peer Street in Ilam or the Papanui War Memorial Avenues should be excluded from density rules or allowed special consideration. The council proposals the minister did accept were Local Centre Intensification Precinct - intensification around eight of the city's commercial centres, including Barrington, Prestons and Wigram; increasing the building height overlay for the former stock yards site on Deans Avenue (a prime spot adjacent to Hagley Park, currently used as car parking for the Christchurch Hospital shuttle service) to up to 36m; and allowing high density residential zoning for Milton Street (the site of the Milton St substation, which Fletchers plans to build 80 homes on). All other council alternative recommendations were rejected in favour of the hearing panel recommendations. The minister has deferred decision-making for the heritage listing for Daresbury - a historic home in Fendalton; Antonio Hall - a derelict historic home on Riccarton Rd; and Piko Character Area - a Riccarton residential neighbourhood made up of many original state houses from the 1930s - until the council decided on the underlying zoning. "In putting these decisions forward to the government, we obviously wanted to get all of our alternative recommendations approved. So to only have three of them get the tick is a kick in the guts," mayor Phil Mauger said. "This plan change has been a huge undertaking for our city, and we've said right the way through that we want to get the best outcome we possibly can. This doesn't feel like the best outcome. "To that end, we'll keep working hard as a council, and there are still major decisions yet to be made when it comes to housing density and planning across much of Christchurch, so watch this space." The decisions come into effect immediately and cannot be appealed to the Environment Court. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon New Zealand has one of the most unaffordable housing markets in the OECD. Urbanist collective Greater Ōtautahi welcomed the minister's decision. Chairperson M Grace-Stent said the decision finally brought some certainty after years of delays, decision making, submissions and hearing panels. "What we're most excited about is that Ōtautahi Christchurch is set up for the future, it has certainty around where it can grow and where it can continue to develop in the future." The decision will not mean apartment buildings spring up overnight, they said. "It's still going to be a slow developing process, just as our cities always continually change. This is just another step." The city also needed to turn its attention to improving public transport. "Ōtautahi Christchurch definitely needs a reevaluation of its transport system. We've been calling for the introduction of mass rapid transport across the city to support and facilitate the kind of growth and development that needs to happen, and to make sure that everyone has a choice about how they're getting around the city and aren't forced to just pick cars." Grace-Stent said the debate touched on ideas embedded in the national psyche about how and where New Zealanders live. They said the quarter-acre dream of a stand alone house on a large section is unsustainable and doesn't not always produce greater social outcomes. "Not everyone wants to live the exact same lifestyle - allowing more housing to be built allows people to make that choice for themselves. So if people want to be living on 1/4 acre block, they're allowed to, and if people want to be living in an apartment close to their friends and amenities and where they work, they also have that choice." They acknowledged that some medium and high density housing is not built to high standards, but said some of that was due to limitations of the current zoning process, which can mean the lowest bidder builds on these sites. "This is just the first step into assuring that everyone has a home that is liveable and that works for them, and is good quality. There also needs to be changes throughout the way that we are think about housing and building houses across the country," Grace-Stent said. The decisions, which come into effect immediately, are final and cannot be appealed to the Environment Court. The council has until the end of the year to decide on density rules for the rest of the city. It was unable to confirm by deadline how much it had spent fighting the density rules, but had budgeted for $7 million dollars between 2021 and the middle of this year. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- RNZ News
Burnham Camp - the spiritual home of Bougainville peace process
ABG President Ishamel Toroama, sitting front (2nd left), with Sir Jerry Mateparae and PNG Prime Minister James Marape at the Joint Consultation Moderator Meeting. 17 March 2025 Photo: Autonomous Bougainville Government The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, says next week's meeting involving the governments of PNG and Bougainville is a milestone in the ongoing post referendum consultations. In 2019 an overwhelming percentage of Bougainvilleans, 97.7 percent, voted for independence from PNG. The referendum, though mandated by the 2001 Peace Agreement, was not binding. The week of meetings is being held at New Zealand's Burnham army camp, near Christchurch. In a statement Marape said Burnham is widely regarded as the spiritual home of the Bougainville peace process, after the role it played in hosting talks in 1997 that led to a cease fire in the civil war and the eventual Peace Agreement. PNG Bougainville Premier Gerard Sinato signs the "Burnham Declaration" in 1997, which set in motion an end to the civil war. Photo: AFP He said the Burnham talks will focus on finalising the process to bring the referendum results before the National Parliament. Marape said the Era Kone Convenant committed both governments to present the referendum before parliament in 2025. He said these steps will determine how that happens and what constitutional steps must be followed and that this will be grounded in mutual respect, dialogue and the spirit of reconciliation. Teams of officials from both the PNG and Bougainville Governments were expected to arrive in Christchurch today.
RNZ News
19 hours ago
- RNZ News
Chris Bishop rejects Christchurch City Council's intensification rules
Chris Bishop. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The government has issued its final decision on Christchurch City Council's bid to carve its own path out of national housing intensification rules. Minister Chris Bishop rejected 14 of the council's 17 recommendations and deferred his decision on three more, after the council refused to accept all of the recommendations of an independent panel. The minister's decision will mean some parts of the city will be zoned higher-density housing, and the council won't be allowed to refuse consents based on sunlight access. Mayor Phil Mauger says the decision feels like a kick in the guts. The council has until the end of the year to decide on density rules for the rest of the city.
