From 10 – 12 June 2026, Jubilee Australia Research Centre, together with the Human Rights Law Centre and the Sydney Environment Institute, hosted our inaugural conference, Extracting Justice: Mining, Accountability and Community Power in the Pacific at the University of Sydney. This landmark conference brought together community leaders, environmental defenders, legal experts and advocates from across the Pacific and Australia.
What unfolded over the two days was more than a conference. It was a powerful coming together of lived experience and shared purpose, grounded in justice and driven by community leadership.
Bougainvillean activist and this year’s Goldman Environmental Prize winner Theonila Roka Matbob opened the conference, speaking about the deep connections between land, identity and justice, and what it means to understand one’s place across generations. Emmanuel Peni, known to many as Manu, from the Save the Sepik campaign carried that momentum forward, grounding discussions in Indigenous guardianship, sovereignty and accountability.
Across the conference’s conversations, a clear pattern emerged: communities across the Pacific are facing similar challenges against extractive industries. Environmental destruction, threats to livelihoods and culture, and systems that allow corporate impunity to continue to repeat across contexts.
In the session on the Save the Sepik campaign, Emmanuel Peni and Shayanne Waide shared how communities along the Sepik River are organising to resist a proposed mining project that threatens one of the world’s great river systems. Their stories made clear that this is not only about environmental protection. It is about culture, identity and survival.
In resisting mining in Fiji, Tevita Evo and Sipiriano Nariva spoke about grassroots organising and the strength of communities standing together to challenge extractive projects.
In mining and issues facing Solomon Islands, William Kadi and Sharon Uhiaro explored how legal tools and community knowledge can work together to push back against harm and demand accountability.
And in the session on deep sea mining and ocean tailings dumping, participants reflected on the growing threats to oceans and the communities who depend on them, with powerful contributions from across Papua New Guinea and the Pacific.
All these discussions demonstrated people standing up in the face of great injustice and often, against large corporations. The dominant feeling in the room was not despair, but one of hope, authority, unity and resilience. Land, culture and connection are central, and they continue to guide resistance.
Building connections and solidarity
A key outcome of the conference was the strengthening of relationships across the region.
Throughout the sessions, and in the spaces between them, participants connected, exchanged ideas and began to imagine future collaboration. One moment captured this perfectly. Jotham Fuba Keleino, an advocate from the Huon Gulf, and Manu stood together for a photo, smiling as they spoke about what they called “the new campaign”. It was a simple moment, but it reflected something much bigger. Movements are built through relationships.
Shared dinners, conversations and time together outside the formal program helped deepen these connections. We launched our exhibition with Project Sepik: Heniemba Avisak – The River of Stories, a multidisciplinary photographic exhibition presented as a companion installation to the documentary film The Sukundimi Walks Before Me. Developed through nearly a decade of collaboration with Sepik communities and advocacy organisations, the exhibition extends the film’s narrative into a spatial and immersive experience. The exhibition invited audiences to engage more deeply with the cultural, ecological, and political significance of the Sepik River. Trust was built, and with it, the foundations for future collaboration.
From stories to strategies
Day two focused on what comes next. How do stories of harm translate into accountability, reform and justice?
The session on rivers, culture and conflict brought together voices including Manu Peni, Luke Fletcher and Theonila Roka Matbob to reflect on the past, present and future of mining in the Pacific. It reinforced how long-standing struggles continue to shape today’s movements.
The session on Non-judicial remedies and strategies explored the lived experience of Save the Sepik’s Shayanne Waide speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, and Jubilee Australia’s engagement in two complaints to the Australian National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct.
In Laws and legal action in host and home state courts, we were honoured to hear from legal representatives in history-making cases. John Gordon spoke to his work representing communities of the Fly River in the Ok Tedi litigation against BHP. And lawyers from Pogust Goodhead spoke to their experience of representing thousands of people in landmark litigation in the UK – also against BHP - regarding the Samarco dam collapse.
A standout moment came among discussions of the Samarco litigation and Ok Tedi case, as barrister for the Ok Tedi case. The Samarco and Ok Tedi Dam collapses are examples of some of the worst environmental disasters which had catastrophic impacts to communities and the environment. linked to Australian mining corporation BHP. John Gordon reflected: strategies used to intimidate communities decades ago are still being used today. The session coincided with the 30th anniversary of the Ok Tedi settlement, a moment that underscored both progress made and the long road that remains.
In Australian policy changes that can make a difference, speakers focused on the role Australia must play as a home state to many mining companies operating across the Pacific. Stronger laws, regulation and accountability mechanisms are essential to closing the gap between harm and justice.
The session on Guardianship, Justice and Self-Determination brought the conversation back to a central truth. Pacific communities are not waiting for solutions, they are already leading them, grounded in culture, stewardship and sovereignty.
Participants also came together for the Australian premiere of Sukundimi Walks Before Me at the Sydney Film Festival. The film, which centres the Sepik River and the communities resisting the proposed mine Frieda River gold and copper mine, deeply resonated with conference themes. Bringing Pacific speakers together in this space created a powerful shared moment that honoured both struggle and strength, and Conference attendees were photographed together on the red carpet.
Shifting the direction of influence
As the conference moved toward its conclusion, a key question emerged, how does change happen, and who leads it?
Participants reflected on the need to challenge the assumption that change flows from the Global North to the Global South, sharing examples of Pacific leadership shaping global outcomes, including the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on climate change, which was brought by the Pacific to the world stage.
This shift from South to North reflects a broader truth. Communities on the frontlines are not only resisting harm. They are leading solutions, shaping law and redefining what accountability looks like.
Turning momentum into action
The momentum from Extracting Justice must now translate into action.
Across the Pacific, communities are continuing to lead campaigns for justice, and there are clear ways to stand alongside them.
Stand with communities protecting the Sepik River
Communities are working to stop a destructive mining project that threatens the Sepik River and the livelihoods, cultures and futures it sustains.
Add your support to the campaign here.
Call for justice for Panguna
Communities in Bougainville are still seeking justice for decades of environmental harm caused by the Panguna mine.
Add your name to the Justice for Panguna campaign here.
Looking ahead
Extracting Justice reinforced the urgent need for stronger corporate accountability, particularly given Australia’s role as a home state for many mining companies operating in the Pacific.
More importantly, it reaffirmed the leadership, strength and vision of Pacific communities.
By centring lived experience, building solidarity and sharing strategies across regions, the conference created momentum for ongoing collaboration and collective action.
It also created a very special space of hope, unity and healing, as environmental defenders realised that they were not alone in their fights – but found new energy, courage and connections across the Pacific to continue to drive their determination.
We are deeply grateful to all who contributed. The speakers who shared their stories, the partners who made the event possible, and the communities whose leadership continues to drive this work forward.
This gathering was a reminder that change is already happening, now is the time to stand with those leading it.
Author: Katja Phutaraksa Neef
Research and Advocacy Specialist