Banner image: The Jubilee team with conference speakers and attendee from across the Pacific on the red carpet at the premiere of Sukundimi Walks Before Me. Credit: Sydney Film Festival. And Theonila Roka Matbob speaking at the conference.
The Pacific Mining Conference hosted by Jubilee Australia Research Centre, Human Rights Law Centre and Sydney Environment Institute concluded with a strong emphasis on community power, corporate accountability and alignment between communities facing major mining justice struggles across the Pacific.
From June 10-12th 2026, the landmark event in Sydney created a space for environmental defenders, community leaders, activists, lawyers, researchers, policy makers and filmmakers from across the Pacific region and Australia to share firsthand experiences, struggles, and strategies under the theme: “Extracting Justice: Mining, Accountability and Community Power in the Pacific”.
The event as described by Theonila Roka Matbob Bougainvillean activist and winner of 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize comes at a crucial time. She expressed that, “this event is unique, because it is created for us and we feel that we’re part of that space where our fellow pacific leaders can come together, and begin telling our stories, struggles and find renewed hope and healing from each other”. That’s the aim of this conference – “to share first-hand stories and experiences from communities on the ground, unpack systemic issues of corporate power and accountability gaps, and create safe spaces for communities and environmental defenders across the region to exchange insights, strategies, and experiences.” Many of these environmental defenders, community leaders and legal practitioners expressed feelings like they’re fighting their battles in isolation, despite working on similar campaigns or issues. For some, this conference was the first time they gathered, and such an event like this was not only important for them individually but also created cross-regional solidarity and healing.
Day 1 discussions focused on storytelling, personal reflections and a deep dive into specific cases of decades-long environmental and social devastation caused by mining activities in Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Solomon Islands. A recurring theme was the long-standing battles faced by many communities and activists in the Pacific to protect their lands, rivers, and seas. Many fights were described as a “battle of David and Goliath.” For many of these environmental defenders and community leaders who lead these campaigns, it is a relentless battle fighting major corporates, companies and the government who enable mineral resource extraction on their lands.
Renowned human rights defender and environmental justice activist Emmanuel Peni of Project Sepik shared personal reflections on the fight to Save the Sepik River - the Amazon of the Oceania - from the Frieda copper and gold mine in Papua New Guinea.
For Emmanuel “the Sepik River is my river and the river is me. we are only the custodian of the river and river belongs to the world, that’s why we’re working toward its world heritage, so that the world can know that it has a river, it’s still alive, dreams and sleeps”.
However, in the case of activist and defenders like Theonila Roka from Bougainville, it’s their life-time experience, and struggle, living through the decades of environmental and social devastation caused by the Panguna mine disaster in Bougainville. She is the powerhouse behind the campaign that forced the world’s second-largest mining corporation, Rio Tinto, to begin addressing the remediation of the environmental impacts and accessibility to clean water.
Ben Doherty from (The Guardian), moderator, from left Theonila Roka Matbob & Emmanuel Peni in the (middle) and Luke Fletcher, Executive Director & Board Member (right) on day two of the conference.
Among the esteemed speakers at the conference were Mrs Sharon Uhiaro - GIS Specialist from Islands Knowledge Institute (IKI) who are our new partners in the Solomon Islands. She shared the significance of the Remoto monitoring tool - a tool developed to detect and monitor logging and mining activities in the Solomon Islands. For Sharon, this was her first-time travelling to Australia and presenting at a conference. The event brought her hikuha, which in her dialect, means ‘unity’, it brings a space to share and learn from her brothers and sisters doing similar work in neighbouring Pacific Islands. Joining Sharon from Solomon Islands was Mr William Kadi - a lawyer from Pacific Legal Networks- who brought a wealth of experience in criminal defence, family law, environmental law, mining law and commercial law in Solomon Islands. Both William and Sharon spoke on the intersections between logging and mining in Solomon Islands; highlighting the groundbreaking Waghena case study and the impacts from oil spills from bauxite mining in Rennel Island in Solomon Islands.
Mahealani Delaney, director of Tropical Forest Program at Jubilee Australia (left), moderator of the mining & issues facing Solomon Islands session with William Kadi (M) and Sharon Uhiaro (R) at the conference.
Day 2 focused on action. Discussions centred on non-judicial remedies and strategies. In one of the sessions, Emily Price, Director of mining program from Jubilee Australia and activist Shayanne Waide from Project Sepik reflected on their experiences using the mechanisms and strategies such as the Australian National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct and the use of UN processes such as UN Special Rapporteurs and the UN Human Rights Council.
Other discussions were around Laws and Legal Action in Host and Home State Courts like Papua New Guinea. Evelyn Wohuinangu principal lawyer from Centre for Environmental Law & Community Rights Inc. (CELCOR) shared about her involvement in Papua New Guinea discussing Free, Prior and Informed Consent and using PNG courts to advocate for communities affected by mining; as well drawing from lessons learnt from cases in Australian and international courts for litigating overseas mining cases.
The highlight of the two days conference was premiere of the film screening of Sukundimi Walks Before Me, where all conference participants including friends and families of the Pacific attended the screening at its Australian premiere at Sydney Film Festival. The film was awarded the “Sustainable Future Award” of the year. It was a night were all of us Pacifika came together in solidarity to show our support for the ongoing fight against the Frieda copper and gold mine in PNG.
Group photo with conference participants, Pacific friends, Jubilee Australia & Human Rights Law Centre staff celebrating with Shayane Waide & Emmanuel Peni from Project Sepik at the Red Carpet, Sydney Film festival in Sydney.
The conference ended with strong commitment for collective action, and a clear message:
“protect our land, our ocean and river systems that our lives depend on”. “I will never give-up, I will keep fighting until my last breath” - powerful words by Sipi, a strong environmental defender who has been fighting mining pressure for over 20 years with LAMA in Fiji.
There was also a renewed call for stronger justice and accountability in the corporate space and a unified Pacific community to fight together.
“It’s no longer one person’s battle - it is our battle, and we’re in together” – Theonila Roka Matbob
The two-day conference also marked Jubilee’s 25th anniversary, celebrating the milestones and remarkable work achieved over the years and recognising long-standing partnerships through research and advocacy work.
Standing together in Solidarity after the Civil Society Break-Out Day session on day 3 after the conference.
Author: Tommy Esau
Pacific Outreach Specialist