An academic's view of the Bougainville independence vote

Academic and former diplomat, James Batley, has long taken an interest in Bougainville affairs.

Mr Batley, who is at the Australian National University's Department of Pacific Affairs, had earlier served two terms with the monitoring groups set up on Bougainville after the truce and before the Peace Agreement came into force in the early part of this century.

In about 18 months Bougainville is set to hold a referendum on independence from Papua New Guinea, allthough there are questions over how much significance might be attached to the outcome by the government in Port Moresby

Don Wiseman asked Mr Batley just what the vote, scheduled for June in 2019, means.