tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/indigenous-values-51585/articlesIndigenous values – The Conversation2020-02-27T18:05:33Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1324272020-02-27T18:05:33Z2020-02-27T18:05:33ZIndigenous civil rights blockades should be met with a new diplomacy, not violence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317618/original/file-20200227-24655-1ms50ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C142%2C4970%2C3106&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A man carries an eagle feather as police prepare to enforce an injunction against protesters who were blocking a road used to access to the Port of Vancouver during a demonstration in support of Wet'suwet'en Nation hereditary chiefs on Feb. 25, 2020. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canada is at a critical crossroads. The <a href="https://aptnnews.ca/wetsuweten/">Wet’suwet’en conflict</a> brings us to a deciding moment in Canada, one that will shape the future of the nation. The divisive conflict is about land, Indigenous law, human rights and the nature of civil disobedience.</p>
<p>Many Canadians feel <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/canada-tipping-point-wet-land-dispute-200221164735909.html">inconvenienced, some outraged, by protests and national blockades</a>. Efforts to resolve the conflict have highlighted the longstanding tensions between Canadian law and Indigenous land rights. </p>
<p>The national support for the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs includes the support of an increasing number of First Nations and non-Indigenous Canadians from coast to coast to demand the removal of the RCMP presence on Wet’suwet’en territory. </p>
<p>Indigenous resistance to encroachment on their own lands is being viewed as unlawful rather than as a conscientious act of <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/civil-disobedience/">civil disobedience</a>, similar to historical figures like Rosa Parks, M.K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Peaceful demonstrations by Indigenous Peoples and allies are acts of conscientious objection to laws that need to be re-examined if we are to move to peaceful co-existence, joint resource governance and wealth management. </p>
<p>Indigenous protesters and allies are standing up against unjust laws by making injustice visible to a larger public.</p>
<p>Increasing numbers of non-Indigenous people are demonstrating their support for the hereditary chiefs across Canada. Those people have been viewed by the premier of Alberta as <a href="https://dailyhive.com/calgary/kenney-addresses-rail-blockade-edmonton">creating “anarchy”</a>, and by the leader of the Conservative Party as needing to “<a href="https://globalnews.ca/video/6552199/scheer-says-protesters-behind-blockades-need-to-check-their-privilege">check their privilege</a>” rather than as people of conscience engaging in the right to protest. </p>
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<span class="caption">Drummers share a moment during a rally in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs opposed to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline, in Ottawa on Feb. 24, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
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<p>Civil disobedience is a time-honoured practice: a public act to bring attention to injustice when all other legitimate means to communicate and address the issue have failed. </p>
<p>I am a non-Indigenous scholar whose research focuses on the impacts of colonial trauma and the internationalization of Indigenous rights. I am concerned about the way this conflict is being discussed, framed and handled by the Canadian government, mainstream media and everyday Canadians. </p>
<h2>Canada not following UNDRIP</h2>
<p>The landmark 1997 Supreme Court ruling <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/1569/index.do">Delgamuukw vs. British Columbia</a> recognized the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs as the ones who affirm Wet’suwet’en territorial rights. </p>
<p>Therefore, the hereditary chiefs are the cultural and legal representatives of their nation. They have consistently protected their territory in the courts and on their land. </p>
<p>In this vein, they offered an alternative pipeline route to Coastal GasLink that the hereditary chiefs felt could have prevented conflict. The company did not accept the alternate route because of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/wetsuweten-coastal-gaslink-pipeline-alternative-path-1.5464945">time delays, cost and environmental issues</a>.</p>
<p>Since the hereditary chiefs did not sign the agreements signed by the band councils, Coastal GasLink did not meet the standards of Articles 18 and 19 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which affirms that “<a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2019/01/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">states shall consult and co-operate in good faith with Indigenous Peoples through their own representative institutions</a>.”</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-road-to-reconciliation-starts-with-the-un-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples-122305">The road to reconciliation starts with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>
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<p>Chief Alexander McKinnon from Nak'azdli First Nation, one of the elected band chiefs of the twenty band councils along the pipeline route,
<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/coastal-gaslink-nak-azdli-whut-en-agreement-1.5238220">told CBC</a> that in his community three councillors voted for the pipeline and three against it. </p>
<p>Chief McKinnon decided to vote in favour of the agreement despite a community referendum in which 70 per cent voted against the pipeline. He said his reasons for signing included both pressure from Coastal GasLink as well as his intention to ensure his community would have a voice on environmental decisions. </p>
<h2>Echoes of Oka</h2>
<p>This is not the first time Canadians have been divided by complex federal, provincial and Indigenous relations. Blockades were also set up in Oka, Québec in 1990, as well as in Ontario and British Columbia in support of the Mohawk resistance to a golf course being built over a burial site.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/oka-standoff-mohawk-barricades-went-up-25-years-ago-1.3140085">1990 conflict</a> caused intense frustration resulting in Québec police storming the Mohawk barricade at Oka with tear gas and concussion grenades. The attack on the Mohawk barricade resulted in a gun battle and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/a-sister-s-grief-bridges-a-cultural-divide-1.971486">the death of Corp. Marcel Lemay</a>. </p>
<p>The 78-day-standoff ended when the Canadian army forcefully removed Mohawks and their supporters from the land. Waneek Horn-Miller, a 14-year-old Mohawk girl, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/waneek-horn-miller">was critically injured by a soldier’s bayonet</a>. </p>
<p>Following the extreme act of using the Canadian army against Canadian citizens, the federal government established the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) from 1991 to 1996 to improve <a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/royal-commission-aboriginal-peoples/Pages/introduction.aspx">national understanding of Indigenous issues.</a> </p>
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<span class="caption">Ellen Gabriel was a spokesperson in 1990 for the land defenders in Oka, Que. Here she is in 2020 joining protesters blocking the highway in Kanasatake Mohawk Territory, near Oka on Feb. 24, 2020, in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en Nation hereditary chiefs attempting to halt construction of a natural gas pipeline on their traditional territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span>
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<p>A lot has happened since Oka. We must ask how far have we come and what have we learned. </p>
<p>In 1990, few Canadians were aware of the residential school policies that sparked the <a href="http://www.trc.ca/">Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2008-15)</a>, and UNDRIP <a href="https://www.leg.bc.ca/parliamentary-business/legislation-debates-proceedings/41st-parliament/4th-session/bills/first-reading/gov41-1">had neither been signed, nor Bill 41 passed in the B.C. legislature.</a>. </p>
<p>As an increasing number of Canadians stand together with Indigenous peoples to support reconciliation and the rights of Indigenous Peoples, we must look at this as a civil rights movement. </p>
<h2>A path forward</h2>
<p>Respectful dialogue with Indigenous leadership is essential for social and political stability. </p>
<p>It is also necessary for the Canadian resource industry. The failure of Canada to meet the requirements of the duty to consult and the international rights standards of the United Nations has <a href="https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/indigenous-rights-risk-report-quantifies-social-risks-extractive-companies">created an unstable environment for companies</a> that are looking to invest in development on Indigenous lands.</p>
<p>A number of <a href="https://www.teck.com/news/news-releases/2020/teck-withdraws-regulatory-application-for-frontier-project">large companies have even withdrawn</a> from significant Canadian resource <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/kinder-morgan-canada-shareholders-vote-sale-trans-mountain-pipeline-1.4804503">development projects</a>. </p>
<p>Should the Canadian government decide to break down the barricades as they did at Oka, they would support the claim that “reconciliation is dead,” as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgfVO6U5QuA">recently asserted by Wet’suwet’en matriarch Molly Wickham</a>. </p>
<p>Alternatively, the government can remove the RCMP presence on Wet’suwet’en territory and begin to engage in nation-to-nation dialogue as requested by the hereditary chiefs.</p>
<p>Canada’s civil rights movement is awakening the country. Our resource-dependent nation must begin a new relationship with Indigenous Peoples: one that honours Canadian common law, Indigenous law and the international Indigenous rights standards our country has agreed to implement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132427/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Mitchell receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council</span></em></p>Canada is at a critical crossroads. The Wet’suwet’en conflict brings us to a deciding moment in Canada, one that will shape the future of the nation.Terry Mitchell, Professor; Director, Indigenous Rights and Resource Governance Research Group; Faculty at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1260312019-10-29T19:24:32Z2019-10-29T19:24:32ZProposed Indigenous ‘voice’ will be to government rather than to parliament<p>Two prominent Indigenous Australians, Tom Calma and Marcia Langton, have been appointed to chair a senior advisory group to oversee an extensive process for developing options for an Indigenous “voice to government”.</p>
<p>The process will also develop ways to get more Indigenous input to state and local decisions, especially on the issue of service delivery. </p>
<p>Announcing details, Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said Indigenous people throughout the country would be able to have their say. </p>
<p>But the government is already under criticism because Scott Morrison has rejected the proposal in the Uluru Statement from the Heart for a voice to parliament to be put into the constitution.</p>
<p>Instead the government plans to legislate the voice. It is notable that it is calling it a “voice to government” rather than a voice to parliament.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/an-evening-in-conversation-with-michelle-grattan-tickets-77950737755"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299097/original/file-20191029-183116-hryjas.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=111&fit=crop&dpr=2" alt="Join The Conversation in Melbourne" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>Calma is the chancellor of the University of Canberra and was formerly the Race Discrimination Commissioner and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.</p>
<p>Langton was a member of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians (2012) and is Associate Provost at the University of Melbourne.</p>
<p>Models will be developed over the next year, in two stages.</p>
<p>In the first stage, two groups – a local and regional group and a national group – will work up models to improve local and regional decision-making and to identify how the views and ideas of Indigenous Australians can best be captured by the federal government.</p>
<p>The groups will have a majority of Indigenous members.</p>
<p>In the second stage, consultations will be held with Indigenous leaders, communities and stakeholders to refine the models.</p>
<p>“We need to get it right,” Wyatt said. “Models will be workshopped with communities across urban, regional and remote Australia.</p>
<p>"The best outcomes are achieved when Indigenous Australians are at the centre of decision-making. We know that for too long decision-making treated the symptoms rather than the cause. </p>
<p>"It’s time that all governments took better steps to empower individuals and communities and work in partnership to develop practical and long-lasting programs and policies that both address the needs of Indigenous Australians and ensure that Indigenous voices are heard as equally as any other Australian voice. </p>
<p>The senior advisory group will have up to 20 leaders and experts, with a range of skills and experience.</p>
<p>While the federal government cannot dictate outcomes to other governments, it hopes they will welcome the opportunity to hear directly from Indigenous people and react to what comes out of the process. </p>
<p>Apart from developing the voice, the government has said it will run a referendum this term to recognise Indigenous people in the constitution "should a consensus be reached and should it be likely to succeed”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126031/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two prominent Indigenous Australians have been appointed to chair a senior advisory group to oversee an extensive process for developing options for an Indigenous “voice to government”.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1040602018-10-31T04:48:35Z2018-10-31T04:48:35ZTraditional culture may help Indigenous households manage money better<p>Few areas of public policy are as hotly debated as how to close the income gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. There are some uncontroversial goals, such as improving job opportunities and reducing the high rate of Indigenous unemployment. But other ideas to better target welfare are bitterly divisive.</p>
<p>The cashless credit card, for example, has been described as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-cashless-debit-card-trial-is-working-and-it-is-vital-heres-why-76951">vital response to the problem of welfare policies</a> that systemically enable illicit drug use, alcohol abuse and gambling. It has also been called the epitome of <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-costs-mount-the-government-should-abandon-the-cashless-debit-card-88770">neocolonial and punitive policy</a> implemented for some imagined political gain at the expense of vulnerable people.</p>
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<p>Both assessments may be valid, given the context. One of the problems with Indigenous welfare policy is an oversupply of assumptions and a lack of detailed information about the realities of lived experience.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-get-a-better-bang-for-the-taxpayers-buck-in-all-sectors-not-only-indigenous-programs-64296">How to get a better bang for the taxpayers' buck in all sectors, not only Indigenous programs</a>
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<p>It is generally assumed, for example, that the patterns of why people in Australia are poor, and how they manage the money they have, are largely the same for Indigenous and non-Indigenous. But this might be incorrect.</p>
<p>We decided to dig into the statistics and compare the experience of financial stress in Indigenous and non-Indigenous households. </p>
<p>Our findings surprised us. </p>
<p>While financial stress is much more common in Indigenous households, we found evidence of substantial capacity to manage scarce resources. Indigenous households in remote areas seem to manage better than those in urban areas. Large Indigenous households do better than non-Indigenous ones.</p>
<p>We are hesitant to draw any grand policy conclusions, except to underline a clear truth: those in the field of Indigenous policy need to base their decisions on accurate information, lest they undermine the capabilities and strengths that people already possess.</p>
<h2>Defining financial stress</h2>
<p>Financial stress is a relative experience. It’s not just about income level, but how individuals or households cope. The degree of stress can be different for two people on the exact same income, depending on the choices they make. </p>
<p>The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines a range of indicators to determine financial stress. Spending more than your income is one. Being unable to pay power and phone bills is another. Going without meals and not having money to heat your home are two others.</p>
<p>We split financial stress into “cashflow” (inability to pay housing costs or utilities or borrowing from friends) and “hardship” (missing meals, pawning something, not being able to pay to heat the home or applying for welfare) problems. These two types of problems are fundamentally different. Hardship problems are rarer and more likely to be associated with severe disadvantage.</p>
<p>We then devised a method to better compare the experience of these two forms of financial stress in Indigenous and non-Indigenous households. For this we use two large surveys covering more than 12,000 households: the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) and the 2014-15 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS). </p>
<h2>Cashflow stress</h2>
<p>Indigenous households experience more cashflow problems than comparable non-Indigenous households, even when we control for income and other household characteristics. </p>
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<p>That is, an Indigenous household with the same income as an average non-Indigenous household is more likely to experience cashflow problems – in some cases substantially so. </p>
<p>There is evidence this financial stress is exacerbated by the widespread demand-sharing custom known as “humbugging”. An Indigenous person is more likely, for example, to let someone else use their ATM card. </p>
<h2>Hardship</h2>
<p>Yet when it comes to the more extreme form of financial stress, Indigenous households are at least as effective as non-Indigenous households at avoiding hardship. </p>
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<p>That is, while Indigenous households experience more financial stress – because they have, on average, much lower incomes – our model indicates an Indigenous household with the same income as the average non-indigenous household has the same or smaller probability of experiencing financial hardship. </p>
<h2>Remote households</h2>
<p>Our modelling also shows Indigenous households in remote and very remote areas appear to do better at avoiding financial stress than counterparts in non-remote areas. </p>
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<span class="caption">The ABS uses five classes of remoteness based on relative access to services.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/home/remoteness+structure">ABS</a></span>
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<p>Again, while remote households have, on average, much lower incomes – and therefore more financial stress – our method is able to show that a remote household is less likely to experience financial stress than a non-remote household with the same income. </p>
<p>This suggests there is value in traditional practices for Indigenous households. </p>
<h2>Large households</h2>
<p>Finally, large Indigenous households seem to manage better than large non-Indigenous households. As household size grows, Indigenous households need less extra income to have the same probability of experiencing financial stress. </p>
<p>This is significant because it suggests policies that encourage better sharing of resources among large extended family groups could be a highly efficient social insurance mechanism.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the presence of multiple families in a household has no significant effect on the probability of experiencing financial stress. This contradicts the policy assumption that multiple families in a house makes things worse. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-is-30-billion-spent-every-year-on-500-000-indigenous-people-in-australia-64658">FactCheck Q&A: is $30 billion spent every year on 500,000 Indigenous people in Australia?</a>
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<p>Overall our research suggests Indigenous people, particularly those in remote areas, have substantial capacity to manage scarce financial resources. Policy makers need to leverage these capabilities through implementing policies that support and enhance them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We decided to dig into the statistics and compare the experience of financial stress in Indigenous and non-Indigenous households.
Our findings surprised us.Robert Breunig, Professor of Economics and Director, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National UniversityBoyd Hunter, Senior fellow, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/983902018-06-20T20:06:49Z2018-06-20T20:06:49ZNew river council will give traditional owners in the Kimberley a unified voice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223510/original/file-20180618-85863-8vx9gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Fitzroy River in flood in 2017. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Luke Bevan</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Traditional owners in Western Australia’s Kimberley region have formed a new organisation to help manage the Fitzroy River. The Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council could set a precedent in WA for collaborative planning between government, industry and the native title holders of an <a href="https://www.klc.org.au/kimberley-traditional-owners-establish-martuwarra-fitzroy-river-council">entire river catchment</a>.</p>
<p>The aspirations of Kimberley traditional owners to safeguard the future of the Fitzroy are consistent with those of many other Aboriginal groups, who have long been dissatisfied with mainstream approaches to managing Australia’s major river catchments. Statements such as the <a href="http://www.savanna.org.au/nailsma/publications/downloads/MLDRIN-NBAN-ECHUCA-DECLARATION-2009.pdf">Echuca Declaration</a> and the <a href="https://www.nailsma.org.au/sites/default/files/publications/Mary-River-Statement%20text%20only.pdf">Mary River Statement</a> make it clear that rivers are essential to life and traditional owners have a responsibility to protect them. </p>
<p>Large rivers flow through many different Indigenous lands. To comprehensively represent traditional owners’ rights and interests, alliances constituted at the catchment or basin scale have been formed. For example, the <a href="http://www.mldrin.org.au/">Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations</a> and the <a href="http://nban.org.au/">Northern Basin Aboriginal Nations</a> both aim to uphold traditional owners’ rights and interests in the management of the Murray-Darling Basin. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/deal-on-murray-darling-basin-plan-could-make-history-for-indigenous-water-rights-96264">Deal on Murray Darling Basin Plan could make history for Indigenous water rights</a>
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<p>The new <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59fecece017db2ab70aa1874/t/5b2871958a922daa2cd3870a/1529377177849/StatementMartuwarra+Fitzroy+River+Council+Statement+from+Combined+Meeting+of+Traditional+Owner+Groups+for+the+Fitzroy+River+Catchment%5B1%5D.pdf">Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council</a> wants to ensure that lessons are learned from experiences in the Murray-Darling Basin, where the environment has been severely degraded and Aboriginal nations were previously excluded from land and water management.</p>
<p>A 12-member delegation from the new council met with WA departmental heads in Perth this week, to advocate for support for the new management structure and the peoples who share custodianship of the river, known as Mardoowarra or Martuwarra in the Nyikina language. The council also called for a moratorium on all future water allocations until a catchment-wide management plan is in place. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223961/original/file-20180620-126566-1hadcvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223961/original/file-20180620-126566-1hadcvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223961/original/file-20180620-126566-1hadcvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223961/original/file-20180620-126566-1hadcvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223961/original/file-20180620-126566-1hadcvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223961/original/file-20180620-126566-1hadcvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223961/original/file-20180620-126566-1hadcvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223961/original/file-20180620-126566-1hadcvp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council founding members.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kimberley Land Council</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>The Fitzroy River region exemplifies the kind of social and cultural complexity that significantly challenges standard approaches to catchment management. It is home to at least 30 Aboriginal communities living on lands recognised under seven native title determinations. The river crosses seven ethno-linguistic areas with a complex array of longstanding cultural affiliations. Narratives, beliefs and practices reflect and reinforce <a href="https://www.water.wa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/4842/46326.pdf">deeply held cultural connections to lands and waters</a>.</p>
<p>The river and its 20 tributaries drain 100,000 square kilometres of savannah that support almost 50 pastoral stations and a rich diversity of plant and animal life. It is home to at least <a href="http://museum.wa.gov.au/research/records-supplements/records/fish-fauna-fitzroy-river-kimberley-region-western-australia-inc">37 species of fish</a>, including the critically endangered large-tooth sawfish, as well as many species valued by recreational and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10745-012-9518-z">customary fishers</a>. Tourism is significant to the economy, particularly during the warm, dry months that coincide with southern Australia’s winter. </p>
<p>For traditional owners, these beautiful landscapes and valuable fishing grounds also bear the imprint of ancestral beings who brought the world into being and continue to enliven it with their actions. All of these outstanding heritage values won the West Kimberley and the Fitzroy River <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/west-kimberley">national heritage listing</a> in 2011.</p>
<h2>Water for all</h2>
<p>The Fitzroy River is facing more water extraction and intensifying land use on its floodplains – concerns that were highlighted by traditional owners in the 2016 <a href="https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/environskimberley/pages/303/attachments/original/1512653115/fitzroy-river-declaration.pdf?1512653115">Fitzroy River Declaration</a>. It is imperative to plan and manage the competing demands on the river. But managing an entire river system in an integrated way is challenging. </p>
<p>The WA government has stated its commitment to the long-term health of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River catchment via integrated land and water planning. It has affirmed the “<a href="https://www.walabor.org.au/platform">unique role of Indigenous people in making policy decisions about the future</a>”. </p>
<p>But Indigenous governance systems do not align with the boundaries of existing natural resource management organisations, or with the stakeholder model of political representation. Advisory committees and catchment management authorities often seek just one or two representatives of the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169411008882">many Indigenous groups</a> that are typically affected by management decisions. </p>
<p>The Daly River region of the Northern Territory illustrates this model’s shortcomings. The river is a “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00049180500511947?journalCode=cage20">significant ceremonial track</a>” – meaning that sacred site protection is a crucial consideration – and its catchment is home to 11 different language groups with rights and interests in the river. Traditional owners formed the <a href="http://www.savanna.org.au/nailsma/publications/kantri_laif_issue_4_2008.html?tid=604268">Daly River Aboriginal Reference Group</a> in 2005 to give all custodians a voice in land use and water allocation planning. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-law-finally-gives-voice-to-the-yarra-rivers-traditional-owners-83307">New law finally gives voice to the Yarra River's traditional owners</a>
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<p>If endorsed as a planning partner by the WA government, and accordingly resourced and supported, the new Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council could perform <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13241583.2017.1348887?journalCode=twar20">three important tasks</a>. </p>
<p>First, it could support the government’s catchment-wide planning process by bringing together representatives of every group that can speak for, and has knowledge of, sections of the river and its hinterland. </p>
<p>Second, it could facilitate the inclusion of Aboriginal governance principles, ecological knowledge and socioeconomic objectives in land and water policy. </p>
<p>And third, it could contribute to adaptive management by developing long-term relationships with all stakeholders in the catchment.</p>
<p>Like similar models in other parts of the country, the Martuwarra Council prompts us to think about the vital role of water in mediating not only ecological and hydrological connections, but social, cultural and political relationships too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98390/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Jackson receives funding from the Commonwealth Government's National Environmental Science Program (North Australia Environmental Resources Hub) and the Australian Research Council's Future Fellowship Program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:s.laborde@griffith.edu.au">s.laborde@griffith.edu.au</a> receives funding from the Commonwealth Government's National Environmental Science Program (North Australia Environmental Resources Hub).</span></em></p>The new Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council aims to overcome a management problem faced by many traditional owners: the fact that major rivers flow through lands home to many different groups and languages.Sue Jackson, Professor, ARC Future Fellow, Griffith UniversitySarah Laborde, Postdoctoral Researcher, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/921062018-04-02T02:44:20Z2018-04-02T02:44:20ZThe urban agenda: what will New Zealand’s new government bring for towns and cities?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212740/original/file-20180330-189804-e2v60g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lower Hutt, population 105,000. Debates on urbanisation are usually dominated by Auckland, but most of New Zealand's urban population are in small and medium-size cities.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/Moera%2C_Randwick_Road.jpg">Jam74/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Almost 90% of New Zealand’s population is urbanised. Getting policy right for towns and cities will be crucial for the new Labour-led coalition government’s ambitious <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/10/19/54683/with-new-leadership-comes-a-fresh-agenda#">policy agenda</a> to transition to a low-emissions economy while addressing major social issues such as unaffordable housing, inequality and poverty. </p>
<p>Central governments and cities aren’t always on the same page when it comes to policy priorities. An <a href="http://www.thisisplace.org/i/?id=3f33a983-35be-41b9-ad4d-fbda82afcb08">OECD report</a> released at the recent <a href="http://www.oecd.org/cfe/world-urban-forum.htm">World Urban Forum</a> showed that, globally, urban areas aren’t well served by national-level policies. </p>
<p>This is a timely issue for New Zealand. Currently, the only national urban policy is the 2016 policy on <a href="http://www.mfe.govt.nz/more/towns-and-cities/national-policy-statement-urban-development-capacity">development capacity for future growth</a>. The issues facing urban areas go far beyond land use planning and growth management.</p>
<h2>Where do the central government come in?</h2>
<p>New Zealand’s former government had a somewhat <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/04/24/20319/national-risks-election-year-rates-backlash-in-auckland">dysfunctional relationship</a> with local authorities. Across nine years in power, the National-led government found itself entangled in controversies over <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/8076764/Brownlee-slams-City-Rail-Link-report">major transport projects</a>, <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/2448129/Marching-for-Maori-from-Manukau">representation for Māori</a>, the <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/308084/housing-'challenge'-still-not-a-'crisis'">Auckland housing crisis</a>, and the risk of <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/78030517/regional-development-policies-arent-working">zombie towns</a>. </p>
<p>Many countries don’t have a coherent framework for how they want urban areas to develop. Should the most productive areas be favoured? Should cities actively compete with one another? Should there be redistribution to struggling regions?</p>
<p>The global urban agenda spearheaded by <a href="https://unhabitat.org/">UN Habitat</a> is calling to <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6288/873.full">leave no city behind</a>. New Zealand can learn from two key aspects of this agenda. First, policies should cater for all urban areas, not just major cities. Second, urban areas are facing new challenges related to climate change and inequality, and need policies that are both innovative and inclusive.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-can-the-new-urban-agenda-and-sustainable-development-goals-do-for-cities-75533">What can the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals do for cities?</a>
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<h2>Labour’s policy agenda: impacts on towns and cities</h2>
<p>Labour’s <a href="http://www.labour.org.nz/100days">100-day plan</a> introduced measures on climate change and housing. It committed to the introduction of zero-carbon legislation, halted the sale of state housing, passed the <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99391162/government-passes-healthy-homes-bill-requiring-all-rentals-to-be-warm-and-dry">Healthy Homes bill</a>, and proposed a <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/99428419/housing-and-urban-development-minister-phil-twyford-outlines-help-for-renters-buyers">housing commission</a>. It also introduced legislation to <a href="https://www.interest.co.nz/property/92868/tuesday-night-bill-which-will-see-bright-lines-test-extended-two-years-five-passed">extend the bright line test</a>, which determines whether tax has to be paid on profit in sales of residential property, from two to five years. Plans to <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/102567247/4000-homes-to-be-built-in-mt-albert">scale up house building</a> will improve supply, but the government opted to delay the possibility of a capital gains tax, with no reform before 2021. </p>
<p>Mere contemplation of a capital gains tax is seen as <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2017/09/23/49703/jacinda-stumbled-into-a-520bn-minefield">politically impossible</a>. However, the government cannot maintain the status quo without paying a hefty political price. A large share of the population is shut out from home ownership <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/personal-finance/news/article.cfm?c_id=12&objectid=12010994">without substantial parental support</a> and is being forced into <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/100721723/whats-squeezing-the-life-out-of-new-zealands-rental-market">insecure rental markets</a>. </p>
<p>A capital gains tax alone cannot bring down house prices, but it will make speculative investment less lucrative. We can learn from Australia that the <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11920662">tax design matters</a>.</p>
<h2>A shift to sustainable urban transport</h2>
<p>Labour’s <a href="http://www.labour.org.nz/transport">transport policy</a> is a big change from National’s motorway-heavy <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/95962416/national-announce-105-billion-roading-plan">investment program</a>. It promises balanced investment across roads and public transport. </p>
<p>Going forward, this will mean better quality and more frequent public transport services. Regional rail upgrades are on the agenda, supported by the <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/351093/back-on-track-chunk-of-60m-regional-fund-goes-to-rail">Provincial Growth Fund</a>. It also leaves the future of several major projects is in question, including Auckland’s $1.85 billion <a href="https://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/east-west-link">East West Link</a> motorway project. This is <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98472100/new-government-bins-aucklands-eastwest-link-after-pm-meets-mayor">under review</a> due to excessive costs - it would have been the <a href="http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/09/government-to-build-most-expensive-road-in-world.html">most expensive road in the world</a> - and <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/auckland/23-06-2017/i-have-not-quantified-the-benefits-the-astonishing-truth-about-nzs-most-expensive-road-ever/">unclear benefits</a>. </p>
<p>It remains to be seen whether other “legacy projects” that reinforce our dependence on cars will be allowed to continue. The $120 million <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSv9xgVPTZU">Baypark to Bayfair link</a> is a 1km flyover for Mount Maunganui’s main arterial route. The project generates only four minutes’ travel-time saving for drivers, with no public transport provisions and major impacts on the local community.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210441/original/file-20180315-113465-9ronlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210441/original/file-20180315-113465-9ronlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210441/original/file-20180315-113465-9ronlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210441/original/file-20180315-113465-9ronlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210441/original/file-20180315-113465-9ronlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210441/original/file-20180315-113465-9ronlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210441/original/file-20180315-113465-9ronlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210441/original/file-20180315-113465-9ronlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Baypark-to-Bayfair link – improving mobility or reinforcing car dependence?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NZTA</span></span>
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<h2>No town or city left behind</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://citiscope.org/habitatIII/explainer/2015/06/what-new-urban-agenda">New Urban Agenda</a> offers two useful directions for government policy. First, urban policy is for cities of all sizes. It is not all about Auckland. Auckland’s problems – unaffordable housing, traffic congestion and social inequality – are significant. However, the city receives much government and media attention, biasing national policy and provoking public debate that pits urban and regional areas against each other. Second, more innovative and inclusive approaches to policy are needed to solve the new challenges for urban areas. </p>
<p>As shown below, Auckland is New Zealand’s largest urban area by far, and is described as the country’s <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/98216483/new-zealands-biggest-city-still-booming">economic powerhouse</a>. </p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/d7wA1/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" width="100%" height="476"></iframe>
<p>However, the collective population of small and medium-sized cities, shown in the chart below, outnumbers Auckland. These areas must be better served by national-level policies. </p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/PGN4K/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" width="100%" height="499"></iframe>
<p>To do this, policy should go beyond the usual big-city issues of traffic congestion and growth management. <a href="http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/03/new-zealand-climate-policy-needs-more-bite-environmental-watchdog.html">Climate change mitigation</a> require a radical shift in transport for cities of all sizes to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Climate change is also a big <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/91778352/climate-change-could-spell-extreme-poverty-in-coastal-nz-towns">risk for coastal urban areas</a> and adaptation to extreme weather and sea level rise is critical. </p>
<p>Urban sustainability isn’t just about what happens in the local area, and should consider the <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/expand-the-frontiers-of-urban-sustainability-1.20459">wider impacts</a>. Urban areas require massive transfers of natural resources and nutrients from other areas to <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2016/09/how-to-tune-a-city/501776/">provide water, energy, and food</a>. Better sustainability metrics can ensure that cities are not dependent on unsustainable practices outside the city boundaries. </p>
<p>Homelessness and overcrowding in Auckland receive the most <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/08/zealand-homeless-living-cars-garages-160811062112936.html">media attention</a> but <a href="http://gisborneherald.co.nz/localnews/3083841-135/gisborne-in-severe-housing-crisis">Gisborne</a> and <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/northland/83999695/homelessness-inquiry-hears-far-north-concerns">Northland</a> have <a href="http://www.healthyhousing.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Severe-housing-deprivation-in-Aotearoa-2001-2013-1.pdf">similar rates</a> to Auckland.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/infrastructure-growth/housing-infrastructure-fund">Housing Infrastructure Fund</a> initiated by the former government meets short-term needs, but adds to local government debt and shifts a bigger financial burden to future generations. As the OECD stresses, the “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-cities-development/grow-now-pay-later-no-longer-an-option-for-worlds-ballooning-cities-experts-idUSKBN1FT2EZ">grow now, pay later approach is not an option because it bears a lot of costs on society and the environment</a>”.</p>
<h2>New directions for urban policy: innovative, inclusive, indigenous</h2>
<p>The challenges facing cities require <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2016/06/how-to-build-inclusive-cities/487322/">inclusive</a> policy solutions. <a href="https://www.citylab.com/equity/2016/06/how-to-build-inclusive-cities/487322/">Inclusive growth</a> is now on the agenda for mayors across the world. Movements for cities to become <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/dec/07/age-friendly-cities-loneliness-older-people-housing-planned-community-serenbe-atlanta-lyft">age-friendly</a>, <a href="https://generocity.org/philly/2018/01/05/women-led-cities-katrina-johnston-zimmerman/">women-led</a> and <a href="https://www.livingcities.org/work/racial-equity-here/about">racially equitable</a> are demonstrating how policy can create better outcomes for everyone in cities.</p>
<p>Innovative policies often look to <a href="https://www.citylab.com/life/2013/07/nyus-effort-gather-best-new-urban-policy-innovations-one-place/5985/">learn from cities overseas</a>, however, drawing from local and indigenous knowledge is also crucial for New Zealand. Urban planning is mostly based on Western paradigms, but indigenous knowledge must be prioritised to be inclusive of Māori values. For example, the recent recognition of the <a href="https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/atea-otago/27-11-2017/if-the-hills-could-sue-jacinta-ruru-on-legal-personality-and-a-maori-worldview/">legal personhood</a> of the Whanganui River acknowledged the environment’s status in te ao Māori. Policies for <a href="http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1803/S00196/matauranga-maori-provides-pathway-to-future-proof-housing.htm">housing</a> and <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/97859497/database-to-collect-mori-knowledge-for-land-management-and-planning">land use</a> could go further to prioritise indigenous knowledge. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-we-meaningfully-recognise-cities-as-indigenous-places-65561">How can we meaningfully recognise cities as Indigenous places?</a>
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<p>Māori knowledge can address cross-cutting issues, with holistic understandings such as <a href="http://www.environmentguide.org.nz/issues/marine/kaitiakitanga/what-is-kaitiakitanga/">kaitiakitanga</a> (guardianship and conservation) and <a href="https://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/fresh-water/fresh-water-report-2017-introductionto-our-fresh-water/ki-uta-ki-tai-%E2%80%93">ki uta ki tai</a> (interconnected resources and ecosystems). Decision-making frameworks like the <a href="http://ngatokitaiao.maori.nz/te-ara-maori-mo-te-taiao/environmental-monitoring/the-mauri-model/">Mauri model</a> integrate indigenous knowledge into engineering design and investment planning.</p>
<p>New Zealand’s new government has a big task ahead to tackle climate action, housing and environmental sustainability for towns and cities. To achieve this, policies should take heed of the global urban agenda – catering for areas of all sizes and actively shaping inclusive towns and cities that allow New Zealand’s diverse urban population to thrive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92106/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny McArthur previously received research funding from Auckland Council, and has worked as a consultant for local and national government agencies.</span></em></p>New Zealand’s coalition government plans to transition to a low-emissions economy while also addressing major urban issues such as unaffordable housing, inequality and poverty.Jenny McArthur, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Urban Governance (Infrastructure Governance, Policy and Planning), UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.