Kimberley
Appropriate economic development for the Kimberley
The launch of the Kimberley Appropriate Economies Roundtable Report in Broome, Western Australia, on 29 June was the latest in a series of steps conservation and Indigenous groups are taking to find solutions to the challenges of economic development in remote communities.
The report is a powerful statement from community leaders in the Kimberley that they will not accept the image of remote Aboriginal communities as dysfunctional and directionless and will instead actively work towards environmentally and culturally appropriate development options for the region.
The Kimberley Appropriate Economies Roundtable Report is the end product of a two-day meeting organised by ACF, the Kimberley Land Council and Environs Kimberley and held in Fitzroy Crossing in October last year.
The landmark meeting saw more than 100 Australian and international participants - traditional landowners, pastoralists, environmentalists, financiers and others - get together to discuss options for economic development that are sustainable and supported by local people.
A key message weaving throughout the multi-authored report is that people in the Kimberley want the globally significant natural and cultural values of the region supported, not diminished, by future economic development.
Natural & cultural assets
"This report shows the people of the Kimberley want their region to develop in a way that balances economic, community, cultural and environmental needs," said ACF Executive Director Don Henry at the report launch in Broome.
"The Kimberley has all the vital ingredients for a sustainable future - tourism, arts and culture, bush tucker, fishing and local people - these need the support of State and Federal Governments and the private sector.
"This report will be a valuable document for people in the government, finance, environment, business and research sectors seeking to understand what the people of the Kimberley believe is possible in their region.
"The natural and cultural assets of the area should form the foundation of the regional economy, not industries that clear land, dam water and negatively impact on Indigenous communities."
Background
The meeting in Fitzroy Crossing in October 2005 was held against a backdrop of speculation the Western Australian Government would approve plans to take water from the Fitzroy River and transport it to Perth via a 3000km canal or by large tankers.
The WA Government has since rejected these ideas as too expensive. In rejecting the proposals the Government noted concerns raised by Kimberley Roundtable participants that such ideas were inappropriate because of the limited hydrological knowledge of the Fitzroy River and because of the potential impact the water extraction would have on important Indigenous cultural sites.
Aboriginal people at the Roundtable reaffirmed their desire for development that will allow them to maintain connections to their traditional lands and engage in mainstream economic opportunities.
Inspiring presentations by Ian Gill of Ecotrust Canada, a non-profit funding and business advisory organisation that provides high risk, non-bank loans to Indigenous communities in British Columbia, and by First Nations Chief Leah George-Wilson, made Kimberley Roundtable representatives consider the possibilities of establishing a similar model in northern Australia.
To this end ACF, the Kimberley Land Council and Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation (a Cairns based Indigenous business advisory organisation) invited bankers, lawyers and philanthropists to a meeting in Darwin in May 2006. At the Darwin meeting a steering committee was formed to investigate how a body similar to Ecotrust Canada might fund appropriate development in Australian Indigenous communities. The steering committee will release its findings before the end of 2006.
Examining overseas models
In early June 2006 representatives of ACF, the Kimberley Land Council and Balkanu travelled to Canada to study the Ecotrust Canada model and examine the feasibility of establishing a similar body for northern Australia.
Rosemary Hill of ACF, Desmond Hill of the Kimberley Land Council and Annie Bandicoothca, a Balkanu board member, met with staff of Ecotrust Canada. Ecotrust Canada's mission is to build the 'conservation economy'. To date Ecotrust Canada has helped establish more than 50 successful businesses, a third of which are Indigenous owned, since it began loaning funds in 1999.
They visited was the remote Hesquiaht First Nations community in Hot Springs Cove on western Vancouver Island. This community has worked with Ecotrust Canada to develop a thriving tourism business, complete with a tourist lodge and water taxi service.
The Australians also visited the traditional lands of Tsleil-Waututh Chief Leah George-Wilson, who was a guest speaker at the Kimberley Appropriate Economies Roundtable in 2005.
The group also heard how Ecotrust USA, a sister organisation to Ecotrust Canada, developed its Natural Capital Fund through links with Shorebank, a pioneering commercial bank that provided access to capital for residents of poorer suburbs in Chicago as part of a plan to restore neighbourhood economies.
A 'new and innovative regional economy'
The Kimberley Appropriate Economies Roundtable Report should be a valuable document for people in the government, finance, environment, business and research sectors seeking to understand what the people of the Kimberley believe is possible in their region.
The release of the report is timely given the recent focus on the economic viability of remote Indigenous communities.
The report's papers show certain industries that are prevalent in northern Australia - like mining and irrigated agriculture - are having a generally detrimental effect on the environment and Indigenous cultures. The papers tend to support the development of industries like arts and tourism, as well as fire, land and sea management, that can foster economic growth at the same time as protecting the natural and cultural values of this unique part of the world.
ACF will continue to support local moves to develop a 'new and innovative regional economy' for northern Australia.
