Sustainable Minerals Institute

Dr John Burton

Senior Research Fellow
CSRM
+61 7 3346 4085
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Dr John Burton

Biography

I have 30 years of research experience on the social impacts of resource extraction, including a cumulative four and a half years of consultancy fieldwork at extractive industry sites in PNG, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and West Papua, as a private consultant, as a research fellow at the Australian National University, and in my last position at Divine Word University in PNG, on sites operated by BHP, Rio Tinto, Newcrest and Freeport McMoRan, among others.

In addition to my work on extractives, I have practised as a Native Title anthropologist in Australia for 20 years. I was Senior Anthropologist in the Torres Strait Regional Authority, 2001-2004, and have contributed to a range of successful Native Title determinations for the Jirrbal, Babaram, Muluridji, Warrungu and other peoples in North Queensland (2005-2019).

Collaborations 

From 2015 to the present I have been a member, with Akuila Tawake and Pierre-Yves Le Meur, of the steering group for the Pacific Network for Social Responsibility and Natural Resources (PacSen) hosted jointly by the Geoscience Division, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Nouméa. An active project is ‘Community-Company Agreements (CCAs) in the Pacific’ for which a funding application from European Union sources is in process.

A recently completed collaboration involved researchers from the Institut agronomique néo-Calédonien, Nouméa, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Nouméa, with a grant from the Centre National de Recherche Technologique, Paris, on the Petites et Moyennes Entreprises Minières en Nouvelle-Calédonie project (‘Small and medium mining enterprises in New Caledonia’), 2016-2018. A Pacific inter-university collaboration, for which I was the representative of Divine Word University, Papua New Guinea, 2016-2019 is the Pacific Islands Universities Research Network (PIURN).

Key Publications: 

Bainton, N., Owen, J., Kenema, S., Burton, J. (2020). Land, labour and capital: small and large-scale miners in Papua New Guinea. Resources Policy 68, Oct. 2020, p. 101805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101805.

Bouard. S., Levacher, C., Bencivengo, Y., Decottigny, L., Demmer, C., Le Meur, P-Y., Blaise, S., Burton, J., Enjuanes, F. Grochain, S. (2019). Petites et moyennes entreprises minières en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Note de Synthese. Pouembout, New Caledonia: Consortium IAC, IRD, CNRS, UNC, DWU https://cnrt.nc/uncategorized/2-rapports-scientifiques-lies-au-projet-pme-minieres-en-nouvelle-caledonie/

Burton, John E. (2018). The reasonableness of leaders and the gaming of mining incomes in Papua New Guinea. In L. Dousset & M. Nayral (Eds.), Pacific Realities. Changing Perspectives on Resilience and Resistance (pp. 132–150). New York: Berghahn Books.

Burton, John E., & Yuambari Haihuie (2017). Corruption Risks in Mining Awards: Papua New Guinea Country Report. Port Moresby: Transparency International Papua New Guinea. Retrieved from https://www.transparencypng.org.pg/png-mining-licences-risks/

Burton, John E. (2014). Agency and the ‘Avatar’ narrative at the Porgera gold mine, Papua New Guinea. Journal de La Société des Océanistes, 138–139, 37–51.

Publications

Book Chapters (8)
Journal Articles (14)
Data Collection (1)
Working Paper (1)
Research Reports (3)

Book Chapters

Bainton, Nicholas and Burton, John (2024). The use of social impact assessment in mining projects. Handbook of social impact assessment and management. (pp. 81-96) edited by Frank Vanclay and Ana Maria Esteves. Cheltenham, Glos, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781802208870.00013
Burton, John and Levacher, Claire (2021). The state that cannot absent itself: New Caledonia as opposed to Papua New Guinea and Australia. The absent presence of the state in large-scale resource extraction projects. (pp. 313-346) Canberra, ACT Australia: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/ap.2021.10
Burton, John (2019). The reasonableness of leaders and the gaming of mining incomes in Papua New Guinea. Pacific realities: Changing Perspectives on Resilience and Resistance. (pp. 132-150) edited by Laurent Dousset and Mélissa Nayral. Brooklyn, NY, United States: Berghahn Books. doi: 10.2307/j.ctvw04bg3.10
Burton, John and Onguglo, Joyce (2017). Disconnected development worlds: responsibility towards local communities in Papua New Guinea. Large-scale mines and local-level politics: between New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea. (pp. 261-289) edited by Colin Filer and Pierre-Yves Le Meur. Acton, ACT, Australia: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/lmlp.10.2017.09
Burton, John (2012). Evidence of the ‘new competencies’?. Dilemmas of development: the social and economic impact of the Porgera gold mine, 1989-1994. (pp. 280-301) edited by Colin Filer. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/dd.12.2012.09
Filer, Colin, Burton, John and Banks, Glenn (2008). The fragmentation of responsibilities in the Melanesian mining sector. Earth matters: Indigenous peoples, the extractive industries and corporate social responsibility. (pp. 163-179) Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. doi: 10.4324/9781351279680-10
Burton, John (2007). Determinacy of groups and the ‘owned commons’ in Papua New Guinea and Torres Strait. Customary land tenure and registration in Australia and Papua New Guinea: anthropological perspectives. (pp. 175-198) edited by James F. Weiner and Katie Glaskin. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/cltrapng.06.2007.09
Burton, John (2005). Knowing about culture: the handling of social issues at resource projects in Papua New Guinea. Culture and Sustainable Development in the Pacific. (pp. 98-110) edited by Antony Hooper. Canberra, ACT, Australia: ANU Press. doi: 10.22459/csdp.04.2005.07

Journal Articles

Burton, John, Kemp, Deanna, Barnes, Rodger and Parmenter, Joni (2024). Mapping critical minerals projects and their intersection with Indigenous peoples' land rights in Australia. Energy Research and Social Science, 113 103556, 103556. doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103556
Burton, John, Kemp, Deanna, Barnes, Rodger and Parmenter, Joni (2024). A socio-spatial analysis of Australia's critical minerals endowment and policy implications. Resources Policy, 88 104448. doi: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2023.104448
Hamago, Joel, Burton, John, Owen, John and Bainton, Nicholas (2023). Multidimensional poverty and small-scale mining in the shadow of large-scale mines in Papua New Guinea. Journal of Rural Studies, 101 103045, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103045
Kemp, Deanna, Kochan, Kathryn and Burton, John (2023). Critical reflections on the Juukan Gorge parliamentary inquiry and prospects for industry change. Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, 41 (4), 379-402. doi: 10.1080/02646811.2022.2156202
Sharma, Vigya, Heynen, Anthony P., Bainton, Nicholas and Burton, John (2021). The Papua New Guinea Electrification Partnership: Power and diplomacy in the Pacific. Energy Research and Social Science, 79 102186, 102186. doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2021.102186
Bainton, Nicholas, Burton, John and Owen, John R. (2021). Land relations, resource extraction and displacement effects in island Papua New Guinea. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 49 (6), 1-21. doi: 10.1080/03066150.2021.1928086
Bainton, Nicholas, Owen, John R., Kenema, Simon and Burton, John (2020). Land, labour and capital: Small and large-scale miners in Papua New Guinea. Resources Policy, 68 101805, 101805. doi: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2020.101805
Burton, John (2018). Life expectancy of Kokoda Track Authority communities in Central Province, Papua New Guinea. Contemporary PNG Studies, 29, 34-50.
Burton, John (2018). Are the people of Manda in Middle Fly poor? A development assessment using the Oxford Multidimensional Poverty Index. Contemporary PNG Studies: DWU Research Journal, 28, 84-98.
Burton, John (2014). Agency and the «Avatar» narrative at the Porgera gold mine, Papua New Guinea. Journal de la Societe des Oceanistes, 138-139 (1), 37-51. doi: 10.4000/jso.7118
Burton, John (2007). The anthropology of personal identity: intellectual property rights issues in Papua New Guinea, West Papua and Australia. Australian Journal of Anthropology, 18 (1), 40-55. doi: 10.1111/j.1835-9310.2007.tb00076.x
Burton, John (2003). Fratricide and inequality: things fall apart in Eastern New Guinea. Archaeology in Oceania, 38 (3), 203-216. doi: 10.1002/j.1834-4453.2003.tb00546.x
Burton, John (1984). Quarrying in a tribal society. World Archaeology, 16 (2), 234-247. doi: 10.1080/00438243.1984.9979930
Burton, John (1983). A dysentery epidemic in New Guinea and its mortality∗. The Journal of Pacific History, 18 (4), 236-261. doi: 10.1080/00223348308572471

Data Collection

Burton, John, Kemp, Deanna, Barnes, Rodger and Parmenter, Joni (2024). INDIGENOUSESTATE2023. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/e79f928

Working Paper

Burton, John and Banks, Glenn (2020). The Porgera mine in PNG: some background. Development Policy Blog. Development Policy Centre, The Australian National University.

Research Reports

Skrzypek, Emilka, Bainton, Nicholas, Burton, John and Lèbre, Eleonore (2022). The justice dimensions of extracting energy transition metals from the Pacific. London, United Kingdom: The British Academy. doi: 10.5871/just-transitions-s-i/e-s
Burton, John (2022). Just Transitions and the Pacific: Commodity flow analysis: nickel from New Caledonia. Just Transitions and the Pacific St Andrews, Scotland: University of St Andrews.
Burton, John (2022). Just Transitions and the Pacific: Case Study 2: Nickel in New Caledonia. Just Transitions and the Pacific St Andrews, Scotland: University of St Andrews.