Original upload date: Thu, 21 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT
Archive date: Sun, 28 Nov 2021 11:26:24 GMT
Australia could soon have a new nation right on its doorstep, as the people of Bougainville start to cast their votes in a referendum on whether they should seek independence from Papua New Guinea.
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he referendum is an important step in the long-running peace process between groups on Bougainville and Papua New Guinea, a process agreed upon following the bloody Bougainville Civil War.
That 10-year conflict, which raged from 1988 until 1998, saw the deaths of up to 20,000 people, or around 10 per cent of Bougainville's population at that time.
People voting in the referendum will be given two options to choose from: even greater autonomy from Papua New Guinea, or complete independence.
A result in favour of independence is widely expected, but what happens after is far from clear.
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