In 1949, following administrative reforms by the Australian government, Bougainville was incorporated into the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. The Panguna mine was established in 1969 and soon become a source of conflict. The Bougainville independence movement established the Republic of the North Solomons in 1975, but by the following year the newly independent PNG government had re-established control. Tensions continued, and the subsequent Bougainville Civil War (1988–1998) resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, as the Bougainville Revolutionary Army sought to secure independence and was resisted by the Papua New Guinea Defence Force. A peace agreement was reached in 2001, by which it was agreed that an autonomous region would be established and an independence referendum would be held; the latter was held in 2019.