Maintaining Responsibility to Place: Indigenous Place Values in Statutory Land-Use Planning Author Cole-Hawthorne, Rachael Elizabeth Published 2016 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School Griffith School of Environment DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/3094 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366100 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au MAINTAINING RESPONSIBILITY TO PLACE: INDIGENOUS PLACE VALUES IN STATUTORY LAND-USE PLANNING Rachael Cole-Hawthorne Bachelor of Science (City and Regional Planning), Cardiff University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy February 2016 ABSTRACT The difficulties involved with incorporating multiple people-place values in statutory land- use planning influenced by powerful political ideals and mechanisms have been acknowledged since the early 1970s. Collaboration, community engagement and communicative rationality have been posited as a way forward on these. However, these processes can also be severely impacted by dominant political philosophies and their associated structures. This can be problematic when these political structures influence Western statutory planning obligation to protect local values about place. This research seeks to understand how values of the political context impact Western state and local government land-use planning processes, negotiations and outcomes and the ability to incorporate and consider people’s values. It focuses on Australian Aboriginal Peoples’ values to Country as a critical case to explore this relationship. The research asks the following question: Using Aboriginal values to Country as a critical case, understand whether underpinning political elite values impact statutory land-use planning and it’s ability to include and consider people’s values to place and, if so, how? This research focuses on two Australian Aboriginal communities, the Quandamooka People and the Jagera People in the South East Queensland metropolitan region, to explore how political elite values influence planning action and the consideration of Aboriginal values to Country (commonly ‘landscapes’ in conventional planning terms) in state and local government planning, and what results when this occurs. Using an interpretive approach to policy analysis, this research highlights the mechanisms used in statutory state and local land- use and Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) planning processes, as well as the implications of politically influenced decision-making, particularly how planning considers and protects Aboriginal-Country values. Findings highlight that across two distinguishable political eras, government planners applied very different planning mechanisms to recognise Aboriginal values to Country in their activities. This finding was the same regardless of whether native title rights were determined or not. This research found that these changes to planning outcomes and the ability for planners to adequately consider Aboriginal values to Country were due to a change of the dominant political value and associated structures. These are significant issues for equity, reconciliation, justice, and for an inclusive planning system. This thesis advocates for more contextually and culturally situated planning policy and approaches. This includes recommendations such as the development of policy and programs to recognise Aboriginal-Country values as a permanent state priority, increased iii educational awareness of Aboriginal-Country connections, and policies aligned to the value of Country. The thesis also advocates for stronger empowerment policies that allow Indigenous communities the capacity to influence and guide the expression of their values in Western planning processes. iv STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. The following publication was partially incorporated into Chapter 2 of the thesis: Cole-Hawthorne, R. (2016). Traditional Custodian Interviews: Traditional Custodian Country in Land-Use Planning Research. In SAGE Research Methods Cases. London, United Kingdom: SAGE Publications, Ltd. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/978144627305015595363- Rachael Cole-Hawthorne September 2016 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract…… ...................................................................................................................iii Statement of Originality.................................................................................................. v Table of Contents ......................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................xi List of Figures.................................................................................................................xi List of Maps ....................................................................................................................xi Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................xiii List of Awards, Published Works and Presentations.................................................. xv Awards…… .................................................................................................................. xv Publications ................................................................................................................... xv Presentations ................................................................................................................ xvi Glossary…… ................................................................................................................ xvii Acronyms…. .................................................................................................................xix Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Statutory land-use planning .....................................................................................1 1.2 Political ideals and statutory land-use planning ........................................................4 1.3 Thesis structure.......................................................................................................6 Chapter 2 Methodology ................................................................................................ 13 2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................13 2.2 A meta-theory of critical realism ...........................................................................14 2.3 Postpositivist epistemology and qualitative approach ............................................16 2.4 Case study: Aboriginal Peoples’ values to place .....................................................17 2.4.1 Selecting two Australian Aboriginal communities ........................................18 2.4.2 Two Aboriginal groups ...............................................................................19 2.5 The case study design............................................................................................20 2.5.1 Case study research methods: Interviews and textual data ...........................21 2.5.2 Selecting Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal interviewees .................................21 2.5.3 Interview data .............................................................................................23 2.5.4 Data collection: cross-cultural considerations ..............................................24 2.5.5 Data collection: practical considerations ......................................................25 2.5.6 Documenting interview and workshop data for analysis ..............................26 2.5.7 Data collection: using key texts to understand the case study ......................27 2.6 Styles and referencing ...........................................................................................28 vii 2.7 Ethics....................................................................................................................29 2.8 Interpretive policy analysis ....................................................................................29 2.9 Summary...............................................................................................................31 Chapter 3 Dominant political values and land-use planning.....................................33 3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................33 3.2 Planning with dominant political elite values .........................................................33 3.3 A historical overview of planning ..........................................................................35 3.3.1 Indigenous Peoples’ values of responsibility ................................................36 3.3.2 Roman religious values ................................................................................36 3.3.3 A Medieval commercial value of place.........................................................38 3.3.4 Philanthropy’s value ....................................................................................39