Last month, ABC journalist Patricia Karvales reported that "Sovereignty means nothing to normal people". The comment ignores that sovereignty means everything to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It echoes a wider amnesia in conversations about sovereign capability and sovereign supply chains.
Karvales was talking about our nation's ability to produce essential goods, without relying on foreign assistance. The fuel crisis and newly created "Industry and Sovereign Capability" portfolio in the Shadow Ministry has heightened attention to this.
Politicians and pundits need to remember that, when your industrial base is on Indigenous land, sovereign capability is Indigenous capability. Sovereign supply chains are Indigenous supply chains. Shadow Minister for Industry and Sovereign Capability Andrew Hastie's electorate is on land covered by the largest native title agreement in Australian history.
Any discussion on enhancing domestic industrial production needs Traditional Owners at the table. Industry leaders know that you need to engage early and often with First Nations people, to yield shared prosperity. When industry honours and upholds the rights and interests of First Nations people, everyone wins.
For example, the Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation (BDAC) is set to become the country's first billion dollar Aboriginal corporation. This has been achieved without Government funding. BDAC has struck shared ownership deals in renewable energy, green iron and water supply projects. They're now starting to invest funds generated through these agreements in education, healthcare and housing.
Note that the Government is supposed to be responsible for the latter, but we know that these services often aren't accessible to First Nations people and this creates the gap in life outcomes that the National Agreement on Closing the Gap is designed to address.
BDAC's success, coupled with Closing the Gap targets that stall or go backwards, demonstrate that First Nations people owning (or co-owning) their own projects on their own country can be a faster route to decolonisation than going through Government.
Fixing a broken system is slow, success is incremental and not always achieved. First Nations people know what we need. We can co-design projects that work for community and country.
First Nations businesses contribute over $16 billion annually to the Australian economy, with First Nations women being the fastest-growing business cohort. Forward-thinking companies understand the broader impact and long-term value of genuine partnership.
Embedding shared decision-making, respecting Indigenous definitions of success and treating Indigenous leadership as critical infrastructure pave the path away from current crises.
Industry, the Governments who guide their behaviour and journalists who report on both are invited to sit with us. To work with us to harmonise our sovereign capability with the oldest living culture on earth.
Bec Blurton is a Ballardong Noongar woman and Managing Director of First Nations Affairs, a governance advisory firm.
