Community-Led Governance History and Experiences in the Murdi Paaki Region
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MURDI PAAKI REGIONAL ASSEMBLY COMMUNITY-LED GOVERNANCE HISTORY AND EXPERIENCES IN THE MURDI PAAKI REGION SEPTEMBER 2019 MURDI PAAKI REGIONAL ASSEMBLY COMMUNITY-LED GOVERNANCE HISTORY AND EXPERIENCES IN THE MURDI PAAKI REGION SEPTEMBER 2019 Copyright © Murdi Paaki Services Ltd 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reprinted, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying or recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the copyright owner HISTORY AND EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITY-LED GOVERNANCE IN THE MURDI PAKI REGION TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 The Murdi Paaki model: continuity and change ...................................................................... 1 2. The Region and its Peoples: Setting the Scene .............................................................................. 3 The Region ........................................................................................................................................ 3 The peoples of the Region: land owners since time immemorial.......................................... 4 Resistance and retaliation: the pastoral period........................................................................ 7 Protection and care? ..................................................................................................................... 8 Organised resistance....................................................................................................................11 3. On the Shoulders of Giants............................................................................................................... 13 Honouring those that have gone before .................................................................................13 The Aborigines Progressive Association.....................................................................................13 4. The Early Days of Representative Governance ........................................................................... 18 The 1970s: Federal recognition – up to a point .......................................................................18 From national to regional representation, and the beginnings of community-led action19 5. The ATSIC Years................................................................................................................................... 22 The beginnings of representative governance.......................................................................22 The Act amended: creation of the Murdi Paaki Regional Council.....................................24 Regional social infrastructure......................................................................................................28 Governing housing projects: the birth of the Community Working Parties........................30 The move towards autonomy.....................................................................................................36 The Murdi Paaki COAG Trial ........................................................................................................38 Continuity and change: the rise of the Assembly, the end of ATSIC and the latter days of the COAG Trial ...............................................................................................................................41 Securing a place in the new Indigenous affairs landscape .................................................44 6. The Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly ............................................................................................... 49 The COAG Trial legacy and the new arrangements .............................................................49 The Murdi Paaki Regional Partnership Agreement .................................................................51 The Local Decision Making Accord...........................................................................................54 Actioning strategic interests ........................................................................................................57 7. The Murdi Paaki Model Today.......................................................................................................... 60 Structuring the Region’s affairs ...................................................................................................60 The Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly ..........................................................................................61 Community Working Parties ........................................................................................................62 The relationship between the Assembly and CWPs ...............................................................66 Support systems .............................................................................................................................67 Planning for succession ................................................................................................................68 8. Sustaining the Model ......................................................................................................................... 69 Good community governance..................................................................................................69 Motivation.......................................................................................................................................71 Voice and representation ...........................................................................................................73 Culture, place, identity.................................................................................................................74 9. Making Plans and Developing Strategy ........................................................................................ 77 Regional planning .........................................................................................................................77 I HISTORY AND EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITY-LED GOVERNANCE IN THE MURDI PAKI REGION Community Action Planning....................................................................................................... 77 10. Working in Partnership ........................................................................................................................79 Working to regional autonomy................................................................................................... 79 Ups and downs in engaging services........................................................................................ 79 Activity versus genuine outcomes ............................................................................................. 80 Service mainstreaming................................................................................................................. 82 The quality of relationships .......................................................................................................... 82 Recognition .................................................................................................................................... 86 11. The Future..............................................................................................................................................88 II HISTORY AND EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITY-LED GOVERNANCE IN THE MURDI PAKI REGION GLOSSARY AAL Australian Aborigines’ League AANSW Aboriginal Affairs NSW ACDP Aboriginal Communities Development Programme ACHP Aboriginal Community Housing Provider ADC Aboriginal Development Commission AEHIF Aboriginal Environmental Health Infrastructure Forum AEHIP Aboriginal Environmental Health Infrastructure Programme AHO NSW Aboriginal Housing Office ALP Australian Labor Party ALRA Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) ALT Aboriginal Land Trust APA Aborigines Progressive Association APB Aborigines Protection Board ATSIC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission ATSIS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services AWB Aborigines Welfare Board AWU Australian Workers’ Union CAP Community Action Plan CDEP Community Development Employment Projects CEO Chief Executive Officer CHIP Community Housing and Infrastructure Programme CIRCA Cultural & Indigenous Research Centre Australia COAG Council of Australian Governments CWP Community Working Party DAA Department of Aboriginal Affairs DEST Australian Department of Education, Science and Training DET NSW Department of Education and Training FWAHS Far West Area Health Service FWRC ATSIC Far West Regional Council FWWAHS Far West Ward Aboriginal Health Service HEHP Housing and Environmental Health Plan HIPP Health Infrastructure Priority Projects IAS Indigenous Advancement Strategy ICC Indigenous Co-ordination Centre LALC Local Aboriginal Land Council LDM Local Decision Making III HISTORY AND EXPERIENCES OF COMMUNITY-LED GOVERNANCE IN THE MURDI PAKI REGION MoU Memorandum of Understanding MPAYELA Murdi Paaki Aboriginal Young and Emerging Leaders Assembly MPPP Murdi Paaki Partnership Project MPRA Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly MPRC ATSIC Murdi Paaki Regional Council MPREC Murdi Paaki Regional Enterprise Corporation MPRHBC Murdi Paaki Regional Housing and Business Consortium Project MPRHC Murdi Paaki Regional Housing Corporation MPS Murdi Paaki Services Limited MPTEAC Murdi Paaki Training and Employment Aboriginal Corporation NAC National