For the first time an alliance of Indigenous Australians and leading academics has been created to boost the economic power of the nation’s original inhabitants. Academics at the Australian National University have argued that Australia has never pursued a comprehensive macro-economic policy for Indigenous peoples, who are, by far, its most disadvantaged people.
The First Nations Economic Empowerment Alliance is a collaboration between the Australian National University and Indigenous experts, including specialists in business, investment and land rights.
The alliance is calling on Australia’s territory, state and federal governments “to forge a new policy approach” to improve the economic well-being of the nation’s original inhabitants.
A “new fiscal relationship” would be based on Indigenous wealth creation, not welfare.
Aboriginal Australians make up about 3.8% of the national population, according to official data.
They have disproportionately high rates of poverty, unemployment and imprisonment. Their life expectancy is more than 8-years less than non-Indigenous Australians.
Professor Peter Yu, the vice president (First Nations) at the Australian National University, told VOA that Indigenous disadvantage runs deep.
“We are in the 21st century and we still have the unacceptable position of being comparable to some developing countries in respect to health and well-being, incarceration rates. You can name every social indicator of well-being and we are at the bottom rung in what is a first nation OECD country,” he said.
The alliance has identified Australia’s transition to green energy as a key area of opportunity.
About a third of the nation’s energy currently comes from renewable sources. An 82% target has been set for 2030.
Yu says mining on Indigenous land, especially in northern Australia, will play an important part in the transition.
“We have accumulated [land] assets to the value of about 60% plus nationally and across northern Australia that is 80%. So, if Australia talking about becoming a global superpower in respect to renewables then you have to ask yourself where is the activity in terms of accessing critical and other minerals and more than likely be sure it is going to happen on Aboriginal land. We need to unlock the economic potential of these assets,” he said.
Leah Armstrong, an alliance member and the co-founder and former chairperson of First Australians Capital, an organization that provides new sources of capital and support for Indigenous businesses, said the lives of First Nations Australians “are characterized by the absence of economic opportunities to address our marginalization and exclusion.”
She said the new alliance would build an “equitable fiscal relationship between government and First Peoples” in Australia.
