Settling with Indigenous People

Settling with Indigenous People describes the making of ten contemporary, mostly Australian, local and regional agreements and details the avenues through which such agreements can be implemented and sustained.   

The Australian regional agreements concern South West Australia, the Murray-Darling Basin, and Cape York. There is a chapter about the return of the Maralinga lands to its traditional owners and one detailing two local government agreements in central and southwest Australia. Urban agreements in Darwin and Vancouver are compared and there are also chapters on the North West Territories and Northern Quebec in Canada and the Ngai Tahu in the South Island of New Zealand.   

The discussion addresses:     

• governance and leadership   
• negotiation strategies, including the role of formal negotiating frameworks   
• the importance of process and outcome   
• the crucial impact of politics and timing   
• the significance of private sector engagement   
• implementation mechanisms   

The chapters show how agreement-making has provided a forum in which indigenous groups can negotiate their needs and aspirations, including fundamental issues of recognition, inclusion and economic opportunity.   

The authors include indigenous and non-indigenous academics, and others who have been involved in negotiating agreements.