A Bougainville parliamentary committee wants controversial legislation on mining to be delayed until after the autonomous Papua New Guinea region's independence referendum.
Panguna mine in Bougainville Photo: Wellington Chocolate Factory
The Bougainville government wants to amend the Mining Act, and two other bills, to give it greater control over mining activity.
The autonomous government said these changes would give landowners more control over their resources but there has been widespread opposition across Bougainville.
The plan to set up a company called Bougainville Advance Mining in association with newly set up Australian business, Caballus, sparked an outcry.
The Speaker of the ABG Parliament referred the matter to a Committee on Legislation, which undertook public consultations, before reporting back this week.
The committee says the Mining bill raised a lot of issues around landowners' rights.
It worried about the creation of monopolies and the impact of the bills on the Constitution and the Peace Agreement.
It said all three measures needed further consultation before being re-drafted and submitted after October's referendum.
