Wayne Barker, Co-Chair TONC, 10.09.2009
Nearly every week in Broome I have people come up to me and ask – why did Aboriginal people, the Traditional Owners of this land, consent to allowing the government and major industry build a gas precinct at James Price Point?
The first thing I tell them is this: by no means is the proposed gas precinct at James Price Point a ‘done’ deal.
If strict cultural and environmental standards aren’t met there’s little chance our people, the first conservationists of this country, will let the development progress.
To answer the question properly I reckon people need to understand a brief context of the negotiations.
Before saying ‘Yes’ to negotiate an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) at James Price Point, we categorically said ‘No’ to 39 proposed sites along the Kimberley coastline.
This choice came after an unprecedented period of consultation, face-to-face talking with Traditional Owners from all over the Kimberley, and the decision we made, overwhelmingly, was this: the opportunity for our Aboriginal people in the Kimberley is to instigate generational change and to be builders of a new and better future.
We made this decision with a heavy heart.
To see further disruption to our land and culture is an emotional burden the Traditional Owners carry with great sadness.
We are the descendants of people who have occupied this Country – which has provided us with sustenance, security and well-being for thousands of years.
Now our Country has provided an opportunity to help alleviate our people who are living in poverty and social dysfunction – the end result of successive failed government policies.
The agreement we signed with the State, the Commonwealth and Woodside, will address these concerns, and like similar successful agreements we’ve signed in the past, we expect the outcomes to provide ongoing benefits for the wider Kimberley Indigenous community.
I’m not suggesting for a second that by giving up Country for a gas precinct at James Price Point we’re expecting to single-handedly solve the disparity in social advantage between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
But after a long look backwards, a hard think and much discussion, we’ve taken up the challenge to get control of the future for our people.
With a heavy heart, but a clear head, we’ve made a decision to take ownership of the future, to move forward and make meaningful decisions for our people and our Country.
