Indigenous futures and sustainable development in northern Australia: Towards a framework for full Indigenous participation in northern economic development Discussion Paper
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- Gaps in government priorities
- Policy change for Indigenous social and economic development
Shaping northern development for Indigenous social and economic development Prevailing strategies, policies and investments of public funds for northern development are not designed around Indigenous social and economic development. We regard this omission as inconsistent with the Mary River Principles and the international conventions on which they draw. This situation cannot continue given patterns of demography and land ownership in northern Australia, and continuing Indigenous disadvantage. Approaches to northern development designed to meet Indigenous needs and aspirations must:
Gaps in government priorities The North Australian Ministerial Forum (NAMF) has identified infrastructure investment, growth in the beef industry, water and energy, improved service delivery and deepening community engagement as areas of government focus. Whilst the IEP supports work in all of these areas, it also believes that the considerations above highlight important gaps, including:
Policy change for Indigenous social and economic development Contemporary debate regarding Indigenous dependence on public funds confounds the distinct effects of public investments at different scales. Dependence on public outlays will remain a key feature of remote and regional economies, despite the disproportionately large contribution that the regions' resources make to national production. Dominant industries operate in ways that generate comparatively little local wealth but have substantial local costs: benefits flow mostly to larger centres in southern Australia or overseas, and into public revenues. But immediate and often marked environmental and social effects are felt mostly locally. Increasing the proportion of revenues re- invested in the north will be an essential feature of any useful and equitable strategy for northern development. Increased investments need to be about more than just infrastructure to increase rates or lower costs of resource extraction. They must directly address improvements in human and social capital that go beyond the basics of health and education, to encourage innovation in livelihoods based on ownership of land and use and management of their resources. Local people must be directly involved in generating wealth to reduce individual dependence on income support. Investments are also required to help offset the well-documented environmental and social costs of the coming and going of extractive industries. Government interventions of this positive sort are entirely consistent with both the support already offered to the pastoral industry and proposals to invest in infrastructure to support extractive industries and agricultural development. Well targeted investments in people will be integral to any long term strategy to reduce welfare dependence. Key shifts in policy for Indigenous development in northern Australia must include:
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