based on parity , mutual understanding and a degree of equilibrium between competing approaches to economic development ( Wensing , 2019:5 ).
THE PROPER ROLE OF THE STATE There is an urgent need for state support for Indigenous economic development . However , there are some key questions that need to be asked : What is the proper role of the state ? What has the state been doing in recent times ? And why do their contributions continue to fail ?
James C Scott in ‘ Seeing like a state ’ ( 1998 ) offers some key insights on the role of the state . He suggests the following ‘ rules of thumb that , if observed , could make development planning less prone to disaster ’: Take small steps , stand back , observe and then plan the next step ; Favour reversibility , if they turn out to be mistakes , then reverse the decision ; Plan on surprises , design in some flexibility for accommodating changes ; and Plan on human inventiveness , proceed on the assumption that people have or will develop experience and insight to make improvements ( Scott , 1988:345 ).
Governments have committed to the pursuit of sameness , which they will likely never be able to fully deliver ( Altman , 2022 ). Governments also fail to deliver equitable needs-based recurrent funding in many areas of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing , let alone provide any compensation for the historical legacies that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities have to contend with , especially capital backlogs including housing , schools , roads , telecommunications , etc .
The right of Indigenous people to participate in the economy on their terms is supported by various international human rights instruments . Including , but not limited to , the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ( UN , 1948 ), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( ICCPR ) ( UN 1966a ), the International Covenant on Economic , Social and Cultural Rights ( ICESCR ) ( UN , 1966b ), the Declaration on the Right to Development ( UN , 1986 ) and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ( UN DRIP ) ( UN , 2007 ).
What the state can do , is to recognise the pursuit of difference as a legitimate alternative and so enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to attain forms of development they desire ( Altman , 2013:123 ). Altman ( 2022 ) maintains that well targeted state support can generate a great deal of beneficial activity and appropriate forms of development ( from an Indigenous perspective ). Obvious examples include supporting ranger groups , carbon farming or cultural industries like the visual arts and tourism . Such actions would not just benefit Indigenous Australians , but will have much wider spinoff benefits to the rest of the nation , and arguably globally as well .
The stumbling block for governments is their inability to accept that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a legitimate right to participate in the economy on their terms and at their choosing ( Wensing , 2019:3 ). To do so would be consistent with the principles of selfdetermination in the U . N Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ( UN , 2007 ).
REFERENCES
Altman , J . ( 2013 ) ‘ Developing the Aborigines ’, Journal of Indigenous Policy , Issue 14 , pp . 120-124 .
Altman , J . ( 2022 ) Personal correspondence with the author , 22-24 February .
Altman , J . and Dillon , M . ( 2004 ) A Profit-Related Investment Scheme for the Indigenous Estate . Discussion Paper No . 270 / 2004 , Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research ( CAEPR ), ANU , Canberra . https :// caepr . cass . anu . edu . au / sites / default / files / docs / 2004 _ DP270 _ 0 . pdf
Altman , J . and Markham , F . ( 2021 ) Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia Inquiry into the Opportunities and Challenges of the Engagement of Traditional Owners in the Economic Development of Northern Australia . Submission Number 55 . https :// www . aph . gov . au / Parliamentary _ Business / Committees / Joint / Northern _ Australia / TraditionalOwners46P / Submissions
Australian Government ( 2011 ) Indigenous Economic Development Strategy 2011-2018 . https :// www . ilo . org / dyn / youthpol / en / equest . fileutils . dochandle ? p _ uploaded _ file _ id = 500
Dillon , M . ( 2020 ) ‘ A steep climb ahead , but the landscape has become clearer for Closing the Gap ’, Inside Story , 8 September . https :// insidestory . org . au / a-steep-climb-ahead-but-the-landscape-hasbecome-clearer-for-closing-the-gap /
Dillon , M . ( 2022 ) ‘ Indigenous land and economic development in northern Australia ’, A Walking Shadow : Observations on Indigenous public policy and institutional transparency . https :// refragabledelusions . blogspot . com / 2022 / 02 / indigenous-land-and-economic . html # comment-form
Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia ( 2022 ) The engagement of traditional owners in the economic development of northern Australia . Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia . https :// www . aph . gov . au / Parliamentary _ Business / Committees / Joint / Northern _ Australia / TraditionalOwners46P / Report
National Indigenous Australians Agency ( NIAA ) ( 2020 ) National agreement on Closing the Gap . July 2020 . Available at : https :// www . closingthegap . gov . au / national-agreement-closing-gap-glance
National Indigenous Australians Agency ( NIAA ) ( 2021 ) National Roadmap for Indigenous Skills , Jobs and wealth Creation . https :// www . niaa . gov . au / sites / default / files / national-roadmap-with-cover . pdf
Pratt , M . L . ( 1991 ) ‘ The Arts of Contact Zone ’, Profession , Volume 91 , pp . 33-40 .
Scott , J . C . ( 1998 ) Seeing Like A State : How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed , Yale University Press , New Haven .
Stanner , W . E . H . ( 1958 ) Continuity and Change among the Aborigines , republished in 2009 in W . E . H . Stanner . The Dreaming & Other Essays with an introduction by Robert Manne , Black Inc . Melbourne .
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- ( 1948 ) Universal Declaration of Human Rights . http :// www . un . org / en / universal-declarationhuman-rights /
- ( 1966a ) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( ICCPR ), General Assembly resolution 2200A ( XXI ) of 16 December 1966 . http :// www . ohchr . org / en / professionalinterest / pages / ccpr . aspx
- ( 1966b ) International Covenant on Economic , Social and Cultural Rights ( ICESCR ), General Assembly resolution 2200A ( XXI ) of 16 December 1966 . http :// www . ohchr . org / EN / ProfessionalInterest / Pages / CESCR . aspx
- ( 1986 ) Declaration on the Right to Development , www . un . org / en / events / righttodevelopment /
- ( 2007 ) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ( DRIP ), General Assembly Resolution 61 / 295 . http :// undesadspd . org / IndigenousPeoples / declarationontheRightsofIndigenousPeoples . aspx
Wensing , E . ( 2016 ) The Commonwealth ’ s Indigenous land tenure reform agenda : Whose aspirations , and for what outcomes ? AIATSIS Research Publications , AIATSIS , Canberra . http :// aiatsis . gov . au / sites / default / files / products / report _ research _ report / thecommonwealths-indigenous-land-tenure-reform . pdf
Wensing , E . ( 2019 ) Land justice for indigenous Australians : how can two systems of land ownership , use and tenure coexist with mutual respect based on equity and justice ? PhD Thesis , The Australian National University . DOI : 10.25911 / 5c9208e0d898a . http :// hdl . handle . net / 1885 / 157200
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DR ED WENSING Ed Wensing is an experienced planner , policy analyst and academic . Ed has worked in government , the private sector , non-government organisations , professional associations and has engaged in teaching and research in several universities around Australia . Ed has extensive knowledge and understanding of the statutes in every jurisdiction around Australia relating to land administration , land use and environmental planning , Aboriginal land rights , native title rights and interests , environmental protection , natural resource management , cultural heritage protection and local government . Ed has a long track record of academic publications in a wide range of fields . His current research interests are in the intercultural contact zone between Indigenous peoples ’ rights and interests ( however defined by them ) and the Crown ’ s land tenures and land use planning and environmental management systems .
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