A new alliance between Indigenous people and the Australian National University will work to help establish comprehensive economic empowerment for First Nations people in Australia.
The first of its kind in Australia, the alliance is based on two years of work and research on Indigenous economic empowerment, undertaken by the Australian National University (ANU) First Nations Portfolio, and comes after the release of the Murru Waaruu economic outcomes report, which called for a critical shift in public policy to effectively support the economic empowerment of Indigenous Australians.
Vice President (First Nations) at the ANU, Professor Peter Yu, said the First Nations Economic Empowerment Alliance would help accelerate a much-needed conversation in Australia, one which would place Indigenous economic prosperity at its core.
"Australia has never pursued comprehensive macro-economic policy for Indigenous peoples," Professor Yu said.
"As a people, as a community, we are all too aware of the consequences of this policy vacuum."
He noted that the disappointment of the referendum result, but argued any implication derived from the result cannot be a reason to let the economic wellbeing of First Nations communities fall by the wayside.
"The work to co-design national economic empowerment policies for First Peoples must start now," Professor Yu said.
"That's exactly what we will do with the First Nations Economic Empowerment Alliance."
The alliance will help advance the case for major economic reform in Australia, and features prominent individuals, as well as key organisations, including the National Native Title Council, First Australians Capital, and the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation.
The Murru Waaruu outcomes report is an attempt to turn the dial on the economic wellbeing and self-determination of First Nations peoples, Professor Yu said in the report's foreword.
The findings are developed by the ANU First Nations Portfolio and drawn from discussions in 2023 as part of the Murru Waaruu seminar series, which brought together Indigenous leaders and experts, along with industry, researchers, philanthropists, and government officials, to find a better path towards economic prosperity.
The report calls on governments to commit to a national economic agenda for First Nations peoples, to move to a position whereby First Nations peoples are managing wealth.
This includes recognising that Indigenous communities are "capable and competent" economic partners, ready to make significant contributions to the economy.
"The challenge before governments and industry is to work in partnership with self-determining First Nations to harness the economic benefits being generated for local communities," the report said.
In its recommendations, Murru Waaruu argued that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) should guide policy development and be "strategically implemented into Australian laws"; highlighted the need to reform First Nations access to and use of freshwater; and called for the unlocking of opportunities relating to land by promoting cultural mapping and other mechanisms in order to empower First Nations peoples to better manage and use their Country.
It also stated that treaties, as well as other "constructive agreements" can provide opportunities for First Nations economic development.
"At its simplest, the report calls for a new fiscal relationship with First Peoples, one based on Indigenous wealth creation, not welfare," Professor Yu said.
"The report finds that governments must begin to forge a new policy approach on Indigenous economic empowerment, built on our unrealised positive capacities and capabilities, to complement entrenched social policy priorities, which are so often characterised by deficits and deficiencies."
Chairman of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation, Ian Hamm argued "we have maxed out the social policy credit card," whilst an economic credit card is "in our back pocket".
"We have barely touched that card in Australia," Mr Hamm said.
"It is time to use it to drive change for Indigenous peoples. Failure to do so will be an indictment on us all."
Co-founder and former Chairperson of First Australians Capital, Leah Armstrong, said the lives of current and future generations are characterised by the absence of economic opportunities to help mitigate and address systemic marginalisation and exclusion.
"To improve life outcomes, we need to direct our energy to building a new, more equitable fiscal relationship between government and First Peoples," Ms Armstrong said.
Professor Yu said nowhere is this opportunity better illustrated than in Australia's transition towards clean energy.
"Most of these renewable projects, and indeed the critical minerals needed to support such a transition, will be sourced and established on Indigenous lands," he said.
"This presents an opportunity to work with Indigenous communities as equity partners, sharing risks and benefits, so that we do not repeat the same mistakes of past resources booms.
"We have before us an important opportunity to deliver, for the first time in Australia, an effective national Indigenous economic empowerment strategy that involves Indigenous communities as economic partners in our national economy."
The Murru waaruu economic development report can be found online.