This is the first of two articles exploring the international human rights framework as it relate... more This is the first of two articles exploring the international human rights framework as it relates to Indigenous peoples’ land rights and interests, with a focus on Australia. Over the past 30 years, the international community has increasingly recognised that special attention needs to be paid to the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, as they are among the world’s most marginalised peoples. For a long time, the Indigenous peoples of the world have used the international human rights system to tackle discrimination and abuses of their rights, and the United Nations has increasingly become a place for them to voice their concerns. In Australia, there has been a long-running debate about the lack of recognition of the First Peoples in Australia’s Constitution. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are increasingly demanding that the full suite of international human rights norms and standards are applicable to their affairs and to dealings with them, inclu...
Since the early 1990s there has been a global trend towards governmental devolution. However, in ... more Since the early 1990s there has been a global trend towards governmental devolution. However, in Australia, alongside deregulation, public–private partnerships and privatisation, there has been increasing centralisation rather than decentralisation of urban governance. Australian state governments are responsible for the planning, management and much of the funding of the cities, but the Commonwealth government has on occasion asserted much the same role. Disjointed policy and funding priorities between levels of government have compromised metropolitan economies, fairness and the environment. Australia’s Metropolitan Imperative: An Agenda for Governance Reform makes the case that metropolitan governments would promote the economic competitiveness of Australia’s cities and enable more effective and democratic planning and management. The contributors explore the global metropolitan ‘renaissance’, document the history of metropolitan debate in Australia and demonstrate metropolitan g...
Since the Reeves Review of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) in the ... more Since the Reeves Review of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) in the late 1990s, the Commonwealth has been pursuing an Indigenous land tenure reform agenda, the underlying premise of which is that traditionally grounded, communal forms of land title are a barrier to wealth creation and that communally owned lands should give way to individualised and alienable rights in land. Drawing on a considerable body of background research and analysis, my Research Paper argues that weak links are being made between increasing opportunities for economic development (including private home ownership) and the need for Indigenous land tenure reform.
Our traditional management plan was: don't be greedy, don't take more than you need and respect e... more Our traditional management plan was: don't be greedy, don't take more than you need and respect everything around you. That's the management plan-it's such a simple management plan, but so hard for people to carry out.
This chapter explores how planning theories and methods applied to the creation of regional devel... more This chapter explores how planning theories and methods applied to the creation of regional development plans for remote regions in Australia and Canada reinforce the socio-economic disadvantages of the Indigenous populations in those regions. The literature regarding planning for economic development in remote regions highlights the inadequacies of top-down sectoral-based approaches in favour of a place-based approach, yet the practice of place-based planning remains elusive. This chapter highlights the need for a place-based approach to regional planning through an analysis of implications of contemporary practice upon the social and economic well-being of the Indigenous peoples1 of Cape York Peninsula in Australia and Nunavut in Canada. In this chapter we use the term ‘regional planning’ to mean planning over very large geographical regions that are sparsely populated with several small settlements or villages.
How can two systems of land ownership, use and tenure coexist with mutual respect based on parity... more How can two systems of land ownership, use and tenure coexist with mutual respect based on parity and justice?
The authors would also sincerely acknowledge the very helpful contribution and comments on drafts... more The authors would also sincerely acknowledge the very helpful contribution and comments on drafts of this report and the Positioning Paper from the Director of the Urban Frontiers Program, Dr Bill Randolph, and two former colleagues of UFP, Brendan Gleeson now at Griffith University and Catherine Robinson now at UTS. We also greatly appreciate Julie Savage's contribution to putting the finishing touches to the document.
This paper examines the links between emergency management and land use planning in four remote I... more This paper examines the links between emergency management and land use planning in four remote Indigenous communities in tropical northern Australia and the extent to which such linkages produced better disaster resilience in these communities. The case study communities were chosen because they are in locations likely to experience increased frequency and/or intensity of extreme weather events, both slow (sea level rise, drought) and rapid onset (storm surges, cyclones, floods) as a consequence of climate change. We compared land use planning legislation, state level planning policies, statutory planning schemes, property registration systems and emergency management systems. We found a clear disjuncture between understanding the likely impacts of climate change and the collection of emergency management data and the consideration of hazards and risks in land use planning systems. We conclude that the land use planning systems in tropical northern Australia are still geared toward promoting and facilitating development and have not evolved sufficiently to take account of climate change impacts, including sea level rise. This disjuncture is particularly evident in the context of remote Indigenous communities in Australia and reforms to land use planning systems are urgently required to address this disjuncture.
My first duty is always to acknowledge the Traditional Owners on whose country we meet today and ... more My first duty is always to acknowledge the Traditional Owners on whose country we meet today and to pay my respects to their elders past and present. My second duty is to express my gratitude to Dr Sharon Harwood of James Cook University for giving me this opportunity to talk to you today. My third duty is to acknowledge the support of my wife, Kerry, who has tolerated my many absences from home over many years.
The Right to Landscape is a timely and valuable contribution to the relevance of landscape to hum... more The Right to Landscape is a timely and valuable contribution to the relevance of landscape to human rights and, in particular, to important questions about what kind of rights are at stake and what kind of landscape. These are important practical, as well as philosophical, questions for planners who are directly involved in shaping and influencing land-use decisions. This book is a remarkable endeavour, if for no other reason than it seeks to explore, in some detail and across many diverse political and cultural contexts, a discourse on the role of landscape in working towards justice and human wellbeing. This volume of 21 chapters is intentionally both international and interdisciplinary, as it documents and critiques the right to landscape in a wide variety of political, legal, administrative and cultural settings in many different parts of the world, including Australia. Two of the editors Shelly Egoz, from Lincoln University in New Zealand, and Jala Makhzoumi, from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon are landscape architects and the third editor Gloria Pungetti, from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom is a scholar of holistic landscape. In this book, they sought to bring together a collection of papers that would explore the interface between landscape and human rights. As practitioners and academics, they are intimately involved in research and actions that influence the form and function of the landscape, and their passion, research interests and practice revolve around ethics and social justice related to the design of space and place. The contributors explore a wide range of topics, which include urban, rural, spiritual, legal, environmental, political and art-related themes. The authors draw on their respective backgrounds, including landscape architecture, landscape ecology, architecture, urban planning and design, anthropology, history, geography, economic planning, cultural heritage, law and political science. The authors ‘employ their academic and professional experience to offer a wide range of alternative intellectual premises for their arguments’, and ‘the range and diversity of contributions therefore reflect the versatility of the concept of the right to landscape as a medium for discourse on human rights’ (16). As we know from the struggles by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia for over 200 years for recognition of their pre-existing cultural rights to land, the discourse in this book also discusses the competing demands over land and natural resources and contestations over identities and polities in many different contexts around the world, including the United States and various places in Europe, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Cyprus, Israel, Bahrain, Lebanon, Cambodia, Rwanda, Kenya, New Zealand and Australia. In Chapter 1, the editors outline their approach to the rights to landscape, noting that within official international organisations, such as the United Nations and the International Association for Landscape Ecology, the value of the ordinary landscape as an everyday human habitat was not recognised until the turn of the century, when the Council of Europe introduced the European Landscape Convention (ELC). The ELC defines ‘landscape’ as ‘an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of action and interaction of natural and/or human factors’ (ELC Article 1a). Positioning the role of human perception is the critical dimension, because it moves landscape from a scientific realm to a realm that is in a state of flux and is an acknowledgement of the complicated nature of the concept, which inevitably raises questions of potential ideological tensions and an association between landscape protection and matters of social justice (39). Olwig and the editors also argue that, in Western culture, landscape has been dominated by its visual interpretation and an entitlement to ownership in an unequal manner, whereas an interpretation of the land in landscape as shaped by people implies customary-use rights and opens the discussion on the right to landscape (8). Human rights discourses have diffused over recent decades and now underpin a moral imperative for aspiring to social justice in a challenging physical and political environment. This book explores how landscape as an overarching concept can form a new context to address such contemporary challenges (3). Reference
Future change in ancient worlds: Indigenous adaptation in northern Australia, National Climate Ch... more Future change in ancient worlds: Indigenous adaptation in northern Australia, National Climate Change Adaptation Research facility, Gold Coast, 257 pp. Acknowledgements This work was carried out with financial support from the Australian Government (Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) and the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility. The role of NCCARF is to lead the research community in a national interdisciplinary effort to generate the information needed by decision-makers in government, business and in vulnerable sectors and communities to manage the risk of climate change impacts. Grateful thanks go to all of the residents, key informants, community members, and public servants who gave their valuable time to participate in this research. The research team also wishes to thank the following people, communities and organisations who assisted and supported this project:
Contemporary Australian planning has for too long ignored its fundamental responsibilities in its... more Contemporary Australian planning has for too long ignored its fundamental responsibilities in its relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in urban and regional Australia. Australian land-use planning and development processes do not have a good track record of taking account of the rights and interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, or of adequately involving them, especially in our capital cities and major regional centres where the larger proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples live and the where the extent of dispossession is perhaps at its greatest. It is a sad indictment of our planning system that more than 30 years after the High Court of Australia's landmark decision in Mabo (No. 2), that most of the planning statutes around Australia still do not require prior consultation with or the direct involvement of registered native title holders or claimants during plan formulation or decision-making about land uses for an area of land or waters. This paper examines the current state of affairs with respect to how well or otherwise our planning statutes still fail to give adequate recognition to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' rights and interests in contemporary statutory planning processes.
The Australia Institute is an independent public policy think tank based in Canberra. It is funde... more The Australia Institute is an independent public policy think tank based in Canberra. It is funded by donations from philanthropic trusts and individuals and commissioned research. We barrack for ideas, not political parties or candidates. Since its launch in 1994, the Institute has carried out highly influential research on a broad range of economic, social and environmental issues. OUR PHILOSOPHY As we begin the 21st century, new dilemmas confront our society and our planet. Unprecedented levels of consumption co-exist with extreme poverty. Through new technology we are more connected than we have ever been, yet civic engagement is declining. Environmental neglect continues despite heightened ecological awareness. A better balance is urgently needed. The Australia Institute's directors, staff and supporters represent a broad range of views and priorities. What unites us is a belief that through a combination of research and creativity we can promote new solutions and ways of thinking. OUR PURPOSE-'RESEARCH THAT MATTERS' The Institute publishes research that contributes to a more just, sustainable and peaceful society. Our goal is to gather, interpret and communicate evidence in order to both diagnose the problems we face and propose new solutions to tackle them. The Institute is wholly independent and not affiliated with any other organisation. Donations to its Research Fund are tax deductible for the donor. Anyone wishing to donate can do so via the website at https://www.australiainstitute.org.au or by calling the Institute on 02 6130 0530. Our secure and user-friendly website allows donors to make either one-off or regular monthly donations and we encourage everyone who can to donate in this way as it assists our research in the most significant manner.
This is the first of two articles exploring the international human rights framework as it relate... more This is the first of two articles exploring the international human rights framework as it relates to Indigenous peoples’ land rights and interests, with a focus on Australia. Over the past 30 years, the international community has increasingly recognised that special attention needs to be paid to the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, as they are among the world’s most marginalised peoples. For a long time, the Indigenous peoples of the world have used the international human rights system to tackle discrimination and abuses of their rights, and the United Nations has increasingly become a place for them to voice their concerns. In Australia, there has been a long-running debate about the lack of recognition of the First Peoples in Australia’s Constitution. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are increasingly demanding that the full suite of international human rights norms and standards are applicable to their affairs and to dealings with them, inclu...
Since the early 1990s there has been a global trend towards governmental devolution. However, in ... more Since the early 1990s there has been a global trend towards governmental devolution. However, in Australia, alongside deregulation, public–private partnerships and privatisation, there has been increasing centralisation rather than decentralisation of urban governance. Australian state governments are responsible for the planning, management and much of the funding of the cities, but the Commonwealth government has on occasion asserted much the same role. Disjointed policy and funding priorities between levels of government have compromised metropolitan economies, fairness and the environment. Australia’s Metropolitan Imperative: An Agenda for Governance Reform makes the case that metropolitan governments would promote the economic competitiveness of Australia’s cities and enable more effective and democratic planning and management. The contributors explore the global metropolitan ‘renaissance’, document the history of metropolitan debate in Australia and demonstrate metropolitan g...
Since the Reeves Review of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) in the ... more Since the Reeves Review of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) in the late 1990s, the Commonwealth has been pursuing an Indigenous land tenure reform agenda, the underlying premise of which is that traditionally grounded, communal forms of land title are a barrier to wealth creation and that communally owned lands should give way to individualised and alienable rights in land. Drawing on a considerable body of background research and analysis, my Research Paper argues that weak links are being made between increasing opportunities for economic development (including private home ownership) and the need for Indigenous land tenure reform.
Our traditional management plan was: don't be greedy, don't take more than you need and respect e... more Our traditional management plan was: don't be greedy, don't take more than you need and respect everything around you. That's the management plan-it's such a simple management plan, but so hard for people to carry out.
This chapter explores how planning theories and methods applied to the creation of regional devel... more This chapter explores how planning theories and methods applied to the creation of regional development plans for remote regions in Australia and Canada reinforce the socio-economic disadvantages of the Indigenous populations in those regions. The literature regarding planning for economic development in remote regions highlights the inadequacies of top-down sectoral-based approaches in favour of a place-based approach, yet the practice of place-based planning remains elusive. This chapter highlights the need for a place-based approach to regional planning through an analysis of implications of contemporary practice upon the social and economic well-being of the Indigenous peoples1 of Cape York Peninsula in Australia and Nunavut in Canada. In this chapter we use the term ‘regional planning’ to mean planning over very large geographical regions that are sparsely populated with several small settlements or villages.
How can two systems of land ownership, use and tenure coexist with mutual respect based on parity... more How can two systems of land ownership, use and tenure coexist with mutual respect based on parity and justice?
The authors would also sincerely acknowledge the very helpful contribution and comments on drafts... more The authors would also sincerely acknowledge the very helpful contribution and comments on drafts of this report and the Positioning Paper from the Director of the Urban Frontiers Program, Dr Bill Randolph, and two former colleagues of UFP, Brendan Gleeson now at Griffith University and Catherine Robinson now at UTS. We also greatly appreciate Julie Savage's contribution to putting the finishing touches to the document.
This paper examines the links between emergency management and land use planning in four remote I... more This paper examines the links between emergency management and land use planning in four remote Indigenous communities in tropical northern Australia and the extent to which such linkages produced better disaster resilience in these communities. The case study communities were chosen because they are in locations likely to experience increased frequency and/or intensity of extreme weather events, both slow (sea level rise, drought) and rapid onset (storm surges, cyclones, floods) as a consequence of climate change. We compared land use planning legislation, state level planning policies, statutory planning schemes, property registration systems and emergency management systems. We found a clear disjuncture between understanding the likely impacts of climate change and the collection of emergency management data and the consideration of hazards and risks in land use planning systems. We conclude that the land use planning systems in tropical northern Australia are still geared toward promoting and facilitating development and have not evolved sufficiently to take account of climate change impacts, including sea level rise. This disjuncture is particularly evident in the context of remote Indigenous communities in Australia and reforms to land use planning systems are urgently required to address this disjuncture.
My first duty is always to acknowledge the Traditional Owners on whose country we meet today and ... more My first duty is always to acknowledge the Traditional Owners on whose country we meet today and to pay my respects to their elders past and present. My second duty is to express my gratitude to Dr Sharon Harwood of James Cook University for giving me this opportunity to talk to you today. My third duty is to acknowledge the support of my wife, Kerry, who has tolerated my many absences from home over many years.
The Right to Landscape is a timely and valuable contribution to the relevance of landscape to hum... more The Right to Landscape is a timely and valuable contribution to the relevance of landscape to human rights and, in particular, to important questions about what kind of rights are at stake and what kind of landscape. These are important practical, as well as philosophical, questions for planners who are directly involved in shaping and influencing land-use decisions. This book is a remarkable endeavour, if for no other reason than it seeks to explore, in some detail and across many diverse political and cultural contexts, a discourse on the role of landscape in working towards justice and human wellbeing. This volume of 21 chapters is intentionally both international and interdisciplinary, as it documents and critiques the right to landscape in a wide variety of political, legal, administrative and cultural settings in many different parts of the world, including Australia. Two of the editors Shelly Egoz, from Lincoln University in New Zealand, and Jala Makhzoumi, from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon are landscape architects and the third editor Gloria Pungetti, from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom is a scholar of holistic landscape. In this book, they sought to bring together a collection of papers that would explore the interface between landscape and human rights. As practitioners and academics, they are intimately involved in research and actions that influence the form and function of the landscape, and their passion, research interests and practice revolve around ethics and social justice related to the design of space and place. The contributors explore a wide range of topics, which include urban, rural, spiritual, legal, environmental, political and art-related themes. The authors draw on their respective backgrounds, including landscape architecture, landscape ecology, architecture, urban planning and design, anthropology, history, geography, economic planning, cultural heritage, law and political science. The authors ‘employ their academic and professional experience to offer a wide range of alternative intellectual premises for their arguments’, and ‘the range and diversity of contributions therefore reflect the versatility of the concept of the right to landscape as a medium for discourse on human rights’ (16). As we know from the struggles by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia for over 200 years for recognition of their pre-existing cultural rights to land, the discourse in this book also discusses the competing demands over land and natural resources and contestations over identities and polities in many different contexts around the world, including the United States and various places in Europe, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Cyprus, Israel, Bahrain, Lebanon, Cambodia, Rwanda, Kenya, New Zealand and Australia. In Chapter 1, the editors outline their approach to the rights to landscape, noting that within official international organisations, such as the United Nations and the International Association for Landscape Ecology, the value of the ordinary landscape as an everyday human habitat was not recognised until the turn of the century, when the Council of Europe introduced the European Landscape Convention (ELC). The ELC defines ‘landscape’ as ‘an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of action and interaction of natural and/or human factors’ (ELC Article 1a). Positioning the role of human perception is the critical dimension, because it moves landscape from a scientific realm to a realm that is in a state of flux and is an acknowledgement of the complicated nature of the concept, which inevitably raises questions of potential ideological tensions and an association between landscape protection and matters of social justice (39). Olwig and the editors also argue that, in Western culture, landscape has been dominated by its visual interpretation and an entitlement to ownership in an unequal manner, whereas an interpretation of the land in landscape as shaped by people implies customary-use rights and opens the discussion on the right to landscape (8). Human rights discourses have diffused over recent decades and now underpin a moral imperative for aspiring to social justice in a challenging physical and political environment. This book explores how landscape as an overarching concept can form a new context to address such contemporary challenges (3). Reference
Future change in ancient worlds: Indigenous adaptation in northern Australia, National Climate Ch... more Future change in ancient worlds: Indigenous adaptation in northern Australia, National Climate Change Adaptation Research facility, Gold Coast, 257 pp. Acknowledgements This work was carried out with financial support from the Australian Government (Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency) and the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility. The role of NCCARF is to lead the research community in a national interdisciplinary effort to generate the information needed by decision-makers in government, business and in vulnerable sectors and communities to manage the risk of climate change impacts. Grateful thanks go to all of the residents, key informants, community members, and public servants who gave their valuable time to participate in this research. The research team also wishes to thank the following people, communities and organisations who assisted and supported this project:
Contemporary Australian planning has for too long ignored its fundamental responsibilities in its... more Contemporary Australian planning has for too long ignored its fundamental responsibilities in its relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in urban and regional Australia. Australian land-use planning and development processes do not have a good track record of taking account of the rights and interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, or of adequately involving them, especially in our capital cities and major regional centres where the larger proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples live and the where the extent of dispossession is perhaps at its greatest. It is a sad indictment of our planning system that more than 30 years after the High Court of Australia's landmark decision in Mabo (No. 2), that most of the planning statutes around Australia still do not require prior consultation with or the direct involvement of registered native title holders or claimants during plan formulation or decision-making about land uses for an area of land or waters. This paper examines the current state of affairs with respect to how well or otherwise our planning statutes still fail to give adequate recognition to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' rights and interests in contemporary statutory planning processes.
The Australia Institute is an independent public policy think tank based in Canberra. It is funde... more The Australia Institute is an independent public policy think tank based in Canberra. It is funded by donations from philanthropic trusts and individuals and commissioned research. We barrack for ideas, not political parties or candidates. Since its launch in 1994, the Institute has carried out highly influential research on a broad range of economic, social and environmental issues. OUR PHILOSOPHY As we begin the 21st century, new dilemmas confront our society and our planet. Unprecedented levels of consumption co-exist with extreme poverty. Through new technology we are more connected than we have ever been, yet civic engagement is declining. Environmental neglect continues despite heightened ecological awareness. A better balance is urgently needed. The Australia Institute's directors, staff and supporters represent a broad range of views and priorities. What unites us is a belief that through a combination of research and creativity we can promote new solutions and ways of thinking. OUR PURPOSE-'RESEARCH THAT MATTERS' The Institute publishes research that contributes to a more just, sustainable and peaceful society. Our goal is to gather, interpret and communicate evidence in order to both diagnose the problems we face and propose new solutions to tackle them. The Institute is wholly independent and not affiliated with any other organisation. Donations to its Research Fund are tax deductible for the donor. Anyone wishing to donate can do so via the website at https://www.australiainstitute.org.au or by calling the Institute on 02 6130 0530. Our secure and user-friendly website allows donors to make either one-off or regular monthly donations and we encourage everyone who can to donate in this way as it assists our research in the most significant manner.
The Planning Institute of Australia is currently (May 2016) reviewing its accreditation criteria ... more The Planning Institute of Australia is currently (May 2016) reviewing its accreditation criteria for recognition of education for the planning profession. This submission was prepared in response to a draft policy that was circulated for comment in April 2016. The revised draft education accreditation policy included for the first time recognition of the rights and interests of Australia's first peoples, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but there is room for improvement. This submission makes the case for mandatory inclusion of content about Australia's first peoples in planning education in Australia. I have deliberately identified this as a draft document because the policy review process is still underway.
Introduction
This chapter explores how planning theories and methods applied to the creation of r... more Introduction This chapter explores how planning theories and methods applied to the creation of regional development plans for remote regions in Australia and Canada reinforce the socio-economic disadvantages of the Indigenous populations in those regions. The literature regarding planning for economic development in remote regions highlights the inadequacies of top-down sectoral based approaches in favour of a place-based approach, yet the practice of place-based planning remains elusive. This chapter highlights the need for a place-based approach to regional planning through an analysis of implications of contemporary practice upon the social and economic wellbeing of the Indigenous peoples of Cape York Peninsula in Australia and Nunavut in Canada. In this chapter we use the term ‘regional planning’ to mean planning over very large geographical regions that are sparsely populated with several small settlements or villages.
Ever since the Reeves Review of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) in... more Ever since the Reeves Review of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) in the late 1990s, the Commonwealth has been pursuing an Indigenous land tenure reform agenda, which has continued to gain momentum. Although a clear policy on Indigenous land tenure reform has not been articulated, the underlying premise is that traditionally grounded, communal forms of land title are a barrier to wealth creation and that communally owned lands should give way to individualised and alienable rights in land. This paper argues that weak links are being made between increasing opportunities for economic development (including private home ownership) and the need for Indigenous land tenure reform. The research highlights the frustration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with the nature and direction of the Commonwealth’s Indigenous land tenure reform agenda and their strong opposition to any diminution of their estate. The paper concludes that what is required is an implicit recognition of the prior and continuing ownership of all land and waters in Australia by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples under their traditional laws and customs to embed the genuine consideration of their rights, interests, knowledges, values, needs and aspirations in all conventional land tenure and contemporary land use planning systems.
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Papers by Edward Wensing
This chapter explores how planning theories and methods applied to the creation of regional development plans for remote regions in Australia and Canada reinforce the socio-economic disadvantages of the Indigenous populations in those regions. The literature regarding planning for economic development in remote regions highlights the inadequacies of top-down sectoral based approaches in favour of a place-based approach, yet the practice of place-based planning remains elusive. This chapter highlights the need for a place-based approach to regional planning through an analysis of implications of contemporary practice upon the social and economic wellbeing of the Indigenous peoples of Cape York Peninsula in Australia and Nunavut in Canada. In this chapter we use the term ‘regional planning’ to mean planning over very large geographical regions that are sparsely populated with several small settlements or villages.
This paper argues that weak links are being made between increasing opportunities for economic development (including private home ownership) and the need for Indigenous land tenure reform. The research highlights the frustration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with the nature and direction of the Commonwealth’s Indigenous land tenure reform agenda and their strong opposition to any diminution of their estate.
The paper concludes that what is required is an implicit recognition of the prior and continuing ownership of all land and waters in Australia by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples under their traditional laws and customs to embed the genuine consideration of their rights, interests, knowledges, values, needs and aspirations in all conventional land tenure and contemporary land use planning systems.