An Australian non-government organisation and the government in the Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville are still at loggerheads over the merits of the region's new mining laws.
Arawa, Bougainville Photo: RNZI
Jubilee Australia was highly critical of the Bougainville Mining Act earlier this year and it has now put forward a series of recommendations for changes that it says need to be made.
Jubilee Australia's chief executive Brynnie Goodwill says landowners have very uneven bargaining power, despite reports they have the power to block the moves.
"In the end if the land is desired for mining and the company or the government wants to mine on that land, mining is considered a public purpose, which allows the government to take the land any way."
The president of Bougainville, John Momis, says Jubilee Australia's criticism is untrue and based on faulty research.
He says he believes Bougainville's legislation ensures the landowners are the most protected in the world.
