explore the island's resources: CRA Exploration, a subsidiary of Australian company Rio Tinto Zinc, began drilling in the Panguna area. The Panguna mine opened in 1969 under their subsidiary, Bougainville Copper Ltd. The first independence movement emerged in the late 1960s, at a time when other colonial governments were being dismantled in Asian and African nations. The local indigenous people began to air their grievances against the Australian colonial government over the handling of the Panguna mine and protested the inadequate sharing of revenues being generated from mining on their land. Australian External Territories Minister Charles Barnes was accused of telling the Bougainvillean people they would "get nothing". The local people sued for compensation and the case went to the High Court of Australia. It found that the compensation was inadequate under ordinary federal Australian law. But, as an external territory, Papua New Guinea was not guaranteed the same standards that applied to mainland Australia. In 1972, Australia granted Bougainville some degree of autonomy, but this did not end the secessionist movement. Relations between Bougainville and the government of Papua New Guinea deteriorated after the murders of two senior Bougainvillean public servants in December 1972. This was rumored to be retaliation for a road accident in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Islanders were outraged by the murders, and the events helped to consolidate the independence movement. As a result, the Bougainville Special Political Committee (BSPC) was set up to negotiate with the Papuan government on the future of Bougainville within PNG. By 1974, the BSPC had reached a compromise with a Special Committee of the Papuan Parliament, which would have given the island greater autonomy. The Special Committee did not agree to providing a defined share of the profits from the Panguna mine to the people of Bougainville. The conservative Papuan government declined to follow key sections of the committee's report, and in May 1975, negotiations between the two parties collapsed completely. Republic of North Solomons On 28 May 1975, the Interim Provincial Government in Bougainville agreed to secede from Papua New Guinea. This caused a three-way impasse between the Government of PNG, the legislature in PNG, and the authorities in Bougainville. The PNG government attempted to resolve the situation through June and July, but failed. The Interim Provincial Government announced that they would declare independence on 1 September, ahead of Papua New Guinea's own planned independence day of