Indonesia’s most eastern provinces enjoy special autonomy status but still suffer from the highest poverty level in the entire nation. Using the Williamson index to test the Simon Kuznets theory, this study examines development equality at pre-and post-special autonomy in the provinces of Papua and West Papua. It uses gross domestic products per capita and population from 29 regencies/cities in Papua and 13 regencies/cities in West Papua to measure the Williamson index in addition to in-depth interviews with legislative members and document analysis to validate the findings. The study found that the regional development gap before special autonomy is relatively smaller than that existing after special autonomy. The Kuznets’ curve is not proven in the special autonomy era, meaning that the imposition of autonomy status has led to the creation of a higher development gap in these provinces. Although the special autonomy status has prompted an increased opportunity for political participation by the indigenous people, greater challenges are posed by the lack of human resources, poor government administration, difficult geographical access and the issue of land acquisition. Continuous development initiatives followed up with adequate supervision, greater transparency and law enforcement from government bureaucrats and legislatures are recommended to reduce the inequality.