Truth telling or economic development? To deliver for Indigenous people, the government must do both

In August, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended the Garma Festival and announced the government’s new Indigenous policy direction. This agenda rises from the ashes of the Voice to Parliament referendum, almost a year after it was voted down.

Alongside continuing to address Closing the Gap measures, the new direction emphasises economic empowerment and development. Albanese connected closing the gap with the “new opportunities” arising in the global economy, including in sectors such as defence, security, critical minerals and renewable energy.

At the same time, he seemed to distance himself from establishing a truth-telling commission, or Makarrata, as the government had promised to do. Instead, he spoke about doing things that “make a practical difference”.

But economic development and truth telling are not mutually exclusive. In fact, truth telling is crucial for the success of any economic plan for Indigenous people.

Not one without the others

The Uluru Statement from the Heart had three main components: Voice, Treaty and Truth. The latter two remain open for government action.

In what appears to be a reversal of the government’s earlier commitment to reforms, Treaty is now viewed as a state and territory responsibility. Treaty negotiations are progressing at different rates across the country.

Truth telling, on the other hand, has been recast by the federal government as a community-led healing and shared histories project.

Describing truth telling and Treaty as the concept of “coming together of people through engagement”, as Albanese did, risks the economic empowerment agenda repeating the mistakes of past. Truth and Treaty are vital to address economic empowerment of First Peoples.

Albanese has acknowledged this. But avoiding the exploitation and injustices of the past requires more than just words.

There need to be mechanisms to ensure fair negotiations, access to information and informed decisions. A Makarrata Commission could assist in this process.

Makarrata is a Yolngu concept describing resolving disagreement and settling on future peace. It offers a process of engaging as equals to settle our differences. It could be a useful forum to establish the framework and standards for fair negotiation on economic matters.

New-old approach

Government support for Aboriginal economic development after colonisation is not new.

The first initiative of the Commonwealth after the 1967 referendum was to establish a fund to support Aboriginal enterprise development.

In fact, the shift from authoritarian welfare administration to greater autonomy was conceived in terms of economic development.

But First Peoples had not only been dispossessed within traditional economies, but also in the colonial and settler economies in the cities, bush and in more remote areas.

The remaking of Aboriginal economies in vastly different settings has been underway since. How best to support and advance this has been the focus of debate.

Public intellectual Noel Pearson has argued that collective approaches to Aboriginal economic development, as advanced from the 1970s, lack the necessary conditions for the market to thrive.

Others say there are alternate economic models that accommodate market and traditional economies, while others have pointed to the opportunities for First Nations peoples partnering with the resources industry.

Countering this claim are studies of the power imbalance often at play. Where agreements are struck and royalties negotiated, there is often no improvement in the material conditions of Traditional Owners whose lands have been impacted by mining.

An example of efforts to support the rebuilding of Aboriginal economies includes land rights laws, particularly in New South Wales. Since 1983, recognising Aboriginal ownership of land has been central to realising Aboriginal self-determination.

There are several examples of successful land council enterprises that create jobs, put Aboriginal people back on country, and generate benefits for land council members. Significantly, the land council estate is increasingly stitched into wider planning and development agendas.

But NSW is just one state, and the results have been uneven.

The most significant development in First Peoples economic empowerment has been achieved by policies to support individual Aboriginal small businesses. Indigenous procurement policies, including at a federal level, have seen large numbers of Indigenous enterprises emerge. These are making significant contributions to the economy and jobs for First people.

Indigenous rights central

The government’s new approach draws heavily from recent work done at the Australian National University.

The university’s First Nations Portfolio has led a series of dialogues over the past two years to advance the economic empowerment of First Nations people. Its final report, Murru waaruu, says there needs to be a “paradigm shift” from a transactional relationship that First Nations peoples have with governments and industry, to one of genuine partnership. This would involve an equity stake in economic projects.

The final report argues:

[…] an economic self-determination agenda is about providing First Nations communities and enterprises with opportunities to engage in the Australian economy and to share in wealth creation opportunities on their own terms.

While there has been a range of programs and institutions to support Indigenous business, there has never been a comprehensive economic policy framework for First Nations people in Australia.

But the leading and crucial recommendation arising from the report is the need for any economic development plan to be rooted in Indigenous rights. The best rundown of these rights is the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Australia is a signatory to the declaration. This means any plans should include free, prior and informed consent from First Nations people. If done this way, we can prevent harm and Indigenous communities can take up opportunities safe in the knowledge that they support and sustain their peoples’ self-determination.

In this way, Treaty and truth telling continue to be relevant and necessary to advance economic security.

Truth telling raises awareness and addresses structural factors that create the conditions of disadvantage.

Treaties and other agreements are important mechanisms for establishing the principles and framework for advancing economic empowerment.

Land councils and Traditional Owner groups can spend years in costly litigation to secure their rights and interests. If the government wants to avoid this and make doing business easier for Indigenous people, we need baked-in institutions. Truth and Treaty are an unavoidable part of that.

Heidi Norman, Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, Convenor: Indigenous Land & Justice Research Group, UNSW Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.