indigenous economic development: challenges

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Indigenous Economic Development: Challenges for Traditional Owners,Council and Community

Paper Delivered at the Criterion Conference March 24 2010, Darwin entitledAligning Indigenous Land Management and Economic Development

Christopher FrancisChief Executive Officer, Mornington Shire Council [email protected]

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I acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Larrakia People. I want to alsoacknowledge the traditional custodians of the Wadeye area where I worked for two happyyears and finally, I am pleased to be able to talk before you today in the presence of myCouncil: Mayor Cecil Goodman, Deputy Mayor Sean Linden and Councillors AvrilThompson, Richard Roughsey and Allan Seckington - but I do feel a bit like speech nightwith them here.

Today I want to emphasise that economic development doesn't necessarily requireaccess to traditional or native title land and that we can still do a great deal to improve thequality of indigenous life on that basis.

The term economic development is being used variously by speakers at this conference.Despite being around since the 1940s the term is still vague, sometimes referring to asimple increase in per capita income of a person or group or to a broader improvement inindicators such as health and education.1

To me the American comedian Chris Rock said it best: being rich and being wealthy aren't

the same. Shaq O'Neil the great American basketballer was rich, but the white man whoowned the team Shaq played for was wealthy.

What is clear is that, as with the notion of progress, economic development is widelyregarded as both intrinsically good and socially desirable. It sits high on the list ofpriorities for all spheres of government, including local government. Many councils havingeconomic development units or work closely with regional economic development boards.Mornington is part of the Gulf Savannah Development Board.

Furthermore, in the history of indigenous policy, both here and overseas, economicdevelopment has been a hallmark of most strategies.

Until 1972 the prevailing policy in Australia was assimilation. It was argued that, througheducation and economic development, uncivilised aborigines would make a rationaldecision to forgo their traditional life in order to live amongst the mainstream communityand enjoy the benefits of citizenship and opportunity.2

in 1939 the Commonwealth Minister for the Interior, John McEwen, said that the policy'sexplicit intention was to assist indigenous people to make the transition from one stageto another in such a way as will be favourable to their social, economic and politicaldevelopment.3

The Assimilation Policy was officially abandoned in 1972 by the Whitlam LaborGovernment, which acknowledged that Indigenous People were unlikely to leave countryand assimilate. It was better to encourage self-determination, self-sufficiency and local

1. Rist (2007); Altman (2004). Treasury Secretary Dr Ken Henry (2006) remarked in a speech that realGDP per capita in a year doesnt measure everything that is relevant to the wellbeing of Australians, apoint seemingly forgotten in the Closing the Gap Strategy.2.Tatz (1999:24-28) asserts that the widespread policy offorcedassimilation that operated until at leastthe 1940s amounted to genocide. The lingering issue is whether assimilation, whether forced or achievedthrough incentive/disincentives, can ever be less than genocidal as it effectively annihilates the target

group.3. Quoted in Arabena (2005:14ff); see also Mowbray (2005).

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capacity where people lived. During this period economic development was re-shaped toalign with a classic modern welfare state model.4

Between 1972 and 1996 there was bipartisan support for this approach. And then cameHoward. It would be fair to say that by 1996, the so-called Liberal-Left agenda hadsoured. There was a little to show for the money and effort and many people, Indigenousand Non-Indigenous, called for dramatic change.5

Howard responded to this situation by drawing on the values of the liberal tradition:independence, personal responsibility, freedom, equality, civic duty and an unwaveringsupport for the capitalist free market system. These disparate elements cohered into thepolicy of mainstreaming which, as the name suggests, was a return to assimilation.6

Howard re-asserted the primacy of the free market, deplored the dependence on publicfunding to sustain both indigenous people and communities and strongly pushed foreconomic development.7

In April 2002 the Council of Australian Governments directed the Productivity Commission

to produce a regular report against key indicators of indigenous disadvantage. The visionwas for indigenous people to enjoy the same overall standard of living as otherAustralians.8

The Commission adopted headline indicators such as labour participation andunemployment and household and individual income and strategic areas for action suchas economic participation and development.

The Commission asserted that strategic areas for action have been

chosen for their potential to have a significant and lasting impact in reducingindigenous disadvantage and for their amenability to policy action. They assistpolicy makers to address the causes of disadvantage so that, over time,improvements in the headline indicators and priority outcomes will be achieved.9

Emboldened by this, the Howard Government's indigenous policy agenda was now setand its goal was to

increase indigenous economic independence, through reducing dependency onpassive welfare and stimulating employment and economic developmentopportunities for indigenous individuals, families and communities. Economic

independence is where individuals have access to the full range of economic4.The Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) is an example of the welfare state view ofeconomicdevelopment.5. Although there have been many prominent Indigenous critics, Noel Pearson (2009) is most publiclyidentified with this position and his articulate and passionate denunciation of a range of policies andstrategies resonates in the thoughts and criticisms of like-minded countrymen.6. Pholi, Black and Richards (2009:9) state that Closing the Gap also reflects a neoliberalist philosophy inits emphasis on individual responsibility, opportunity and redemption. It might be said then that it isHowards progeny.7.There is, as yet, no definitive study to my knowledge of Indigenous policy between 1972 and 2007,effectively the successive periods of self-determination and then mainstreaming (assimilation) butMaddison (2009:1-24), Martin (2006) and Sanders (2006a are useful overviews. Howards own views onIndigenous Australians are more complex than generally portrayed by his critics (see Howard 2007).8

. SCRGSP 2003, p. xx.9. Ibid, p. xxii

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opportunities and resources, including employment, services and sufficientdisposable income in order that they can shape their lives and meet their ownneeds and those of their dependants. Gaining a job, owning assets such as aproperty and building wealth for the next generation are key elements ofindigenous economic independence.10

The Rudd Labor government has supported this position. The Prime Minister stated in hishistoric apology on 13 February 2008:

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to afuture.... where we harness the determination of all Australians...to close thegap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement andeconomic opportunity.11

In April 2009 Minister Macklin said that the benchmark of the Government's success

will be to progressively deliver in communities or townships the facilities and

services you would expect in any Australian town of the same size. The sameinfrastructure and services that support and sustain healthy social norms sopeople can reach their potential and businesses can thrive. Where [children]have the best role model possible - a parent who goes to work each day. Sochildren see their parents taking responsibility for the family's economic securityand planning and providing for the future.12

The Productivity Commission's 2009 Report, now clocking in at nearly 800 pages,confirms that, despite improvements, the gap has not closed as non-indigenousAustralians also improved on those indicators used.13

For example, the employment-to-population ratio increased from 43 per cent to 48 percent between 2001 and 2006. inflation adjusted median incomes for both indigenous andnon-indigenous households increased by around 8 per cent between 2001 and 2006.Median incomes of indigenous households were 65 per cent of those of non-indigenoushouseholds in both 2001 and 2006.14

But is this evidence of economic development or economic growth in which those alreadymainstreamed enjoyed a flow-on effect?

Furthermore, what do we need to do move towards sustainable economic development or

independence? Here are some suggestions and what Mornington Council is trying to do.

A Quick Overview

10. Australian Government (2005:4).

11. Speech to The House of Representatives, Parliament House, Canberra (available at www.pm.gov.au ).12. Address to The John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, 21 April 2009.13 . Despite widespread acceptance and support for the Closing the Gap approach, Pholi, Black andRichards (2009) point out that statistical equality has been around for more than 20 years and is notwithout its problems (eg Martin 1995); and Altman, Biddle and Hunter (2008) argue that the goal ofstatistical equality is unrealistic. Then there is the problem if the validity of the measures being used

(eg household income) as Schwab (1995:15) pointed out years ago.14. SCRGSP (2009).

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Mornington Island is part of the Wellesley Islands group in the Gulf of Carpentaria andwas colonised by the missionaries in the late 19th century. Our population sits steady atabout 1200 people. More than 90% of the population are identified indigenous people,belonging to the Lardil, Yankaal, Gangalidda and Kaiadilt groups.

Mornington has the distinction of having been one of two communities to be granted full

status as a local government authority in 1978, the other being Aurukun in the CapeYork.15 It operates under a head lease from the Queensland Government which is beingtransferred over the next year. Non-exclusive native title exists over the sea (The LardilPeoples v State of Queensland [2004] FCA 298) and exclusive native title exists over theland (Lardil, Yangkaal, Gangalidda and Kaiadilt Peoples v State of Queensland [2008]FCA 1855).

The Shire has been almost entirely funded by government, with some revenue fromsubleases and a community levy. Those residents in full-time employment are mainly inthe council, government services, the store and the NGOs.

A Local Economy

The Council sits at the heart of the local economy, but that is actually part of the problem.Let me explain.

Assuming a similar local government area with 1200 residents what would be the size ofthe council usually expressed by the number of full-time employees (FTE)? Well, itwould be approximately thirteen FTE. Mornington has sixty.

The reason of this difference is that the council provides services (service station andgarage, plumber, electrician) that are usually independent businesses. It operates someservices (eg aged persons home, aerodrome) which would probably not be operated ifthey were not subsidised by Council.

Missing from the local economy are backbone businesses such as a supermarket (ratherthan a community store), hardware store, newsagent, hairdresser, cafe and hotel ormotel.

Without a mature local economy providing local employment and investment, there is notjust unemployment and reliance on welfare, but significant monetary leakage into thesurrounding towns. We know this to be the case on Mornington Island because most of

the money on the Island is spent off the Island.

Economic development is not all about land

Economic development and independence do not necessarily require land, at least not in

15. Local Government (Aboriginal Lands) Act1978. On 16 May 1978 the Hon Russ Hinze, Minister for LocalGovernment and Main Roads, delivered the Second Reading Speech, in which he proclaimed that thislegislation extends to the Aboriginal people of Aurukun and Mornington Island a degree of self-management and control, through local government, that is not enjoyed by people of Aboriginalextraction anywhere else in Australia. The Act was amended in 2009 to allow forty-year leases to bestruck in accordance with the Australian Governments housing plan. Concurrently, the lease is being

transferred from the Queensland Government to parties yet to be determined, but in reality the GulfRegional Aboriginal Corporation, the prescribed body corporate and/or the Council.

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the sense that many people think of it.16

In Mornington's case, under the Native Title Determination 2008, exclusive native title wasrecognised over all of the land except for the township and the dam. Therefore, theTraditional Owners have retained Native Title over most of the Wellesley Islands.Furthermore there is more than $5 million in assets on this land which will be owned by

them when the lease is transferred. Whether that land will be used for economicdevelopment purposes will be decided by them and most likely through an ILUA which isbroadly similar to the kind of strategic land use development plans used by councilseverywhere. At the same time land use issues are being considered by the Council in itsrole as local government authority.

In the township of Gununa, where the majority of people live, the land is dedicated toeither social housing or reserves used by Council and Government for services. In fact,there is little land within Gununa to allocate for other purposes.

One challenge for the Council is to balance the demand by the Australian Government for

more sites for social housing with the need to retain land for other purposes. Council hasrepeatedly said that, under the terms of the Remote Housing Agreement, the exclusivefocus on social housing runs the risk of preventing other kinds of land use.

Moreover, we have concerns that the ten-year housing program will deliver new housesand some local employment in the short term but will not change the fundamentals of thelocal economy. In the words of Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo, this is a micro-macroparadox: a short-term efficacious intervention may have few discernible, sustainablelong-term benefits17.

For example, the fifteen new houses being built in Gununa have a construction methodwhich enables CEC (the builder) to deliver them in about twenty-six weeks. Beingprimarily pre-fabricated, the houses will be built quickly but the degree of localemployment is limited due to the construction time-line and method of construction.

With the land available in the township, we are in the process of developing a town planwhich will establish a typical land use planning scheme. Some land is required to bezoned commercial but this precinct would be less than a square kilometre.

More urgent is the re-development of existing sites for commercial purposes. When thetavern closed in January 2008 the Council not only lost more than one million dollars in

annual revenue, it was left with a dead asset. Council swiftly proposed to Governmentthat the tavern could be converted to a motel to service the business and governmentmarket to the island. It has only been through the Council's persistence and the support ofFaHCSIA that we are nearer to the motel being started. The major problem was and stillis, finance.

As with our need for a shopping centre, from which to operate those backbone localbusinesses, there is a reluctance by Government to acknowledge that economicdevelopment sometimes requires a substantial capital input to kick-start it.

16. Even in articulate and comprehensive over-views of Indigenous economic development (eg Maddison

2009:62-82), economic development is discussed primarily from the perspective of land.17. 2009, p. 44.

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Consumer Behaviour and Cultural Preference

We cannot ignore the reality that Mornington is still an indigenous community and soindigenous consumer behaviour and cultural preferences will influence the shape of thelocal economy.

It is my observation, having lived in two remote communities, that indigenous people tendto purchase products and not services. People will purchase a new radiator (let's say) butare very reluctant to pay for the labour to install the radiator.18

This observation has been borne out by which small businesses have thrived and whichhave not. Through the work of Brad Jackson and Phil Colbert of IRES, in partnership withthe Aboriginal Development Benefit Trust, we have seen two local indigenous businessesthrive but on very different terms.

Whereas the hire car business is doing very well because it is used almost exclusively byvisiting Government and business people, the corner store is doing well because itscustomers are local people willing to buy items when the community store is not open.However, the local bus service has not thrived - the feedback was that local people wereresistant to paying for travel.

Similarly, there has been no interest in starting either a cleaning or mowing service, eventhough both businesses would be profitable due to Government and Council demand. Iam not sure why these are so unattractive, but I suspect that there is a feeling that theyare menial work and redolent of colonialism and the image of the blackfella doing thewhite master's bidding.

Some caveats here however.

Whilst small businesses such as these are encouraging, we know that people want tocopy what is already working, unaware that such a small economy as ours will never beable to sustain more than one or possibly two of any kind of business. As well, we knowthat we must manage people's expectations of what can be earned from self-employmentas this can be unrealistic.

Finally, as we know from mainstream, not everyone is suited to small business and not

every small business will succeed.

So, to pursue economic development within the Township, should we consciouslyencourage off-Island operators to develop on-Island businesses, transfer existingbusinesses to a non-indigenous operator or continue the search for a local person? Thatis our challenge.

18. I have not identified any specific research dealing with this consumer preference behaviour, althoughMartin (1995:7) comments: [People] only proffer money for services sought from those outside theirown active kin network. However, there is a significant body of research on Indigenous culturalprescriptions regarding generosity (sharing), reciprocity and kinship obligation (See Schwab 1995).

Sanders (2006b) argues that a whitefella boss is a good boss when he distributes the resources under hiscontrol, and he is greedy when he does not (cf Schwab 1995:11-12)

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Economic Development is not the same as Jobs

One of the problems with the 2003 Productivity Commission Report was that it talkedabout economic development in terms of employment and jobs. Although the Commissionhas broadened its views in 2009 to look at indicators such as the number of indigenousbusinesses, the legacy of the 2003 position is that the both the Howard and Rudd

Governments (and private individuals such as Mr Andrew Forrest) have become focussedon job creation, not economic development.19

Millions have been and continue to be spent on training and work skills programs when,at the end of the day, there are no jobs for the participants in their local community. If youdon't have a local economy, you don't have jobs to fill.20

As well, economic development proposals for remote areas tend to focus on industries cotton, cattle - not small business. I hasten to add that no-one has seriously suggestedcasinos as has been the case in the United States of America on First Nation land.

These proposals are often at odds with macro-economic trends for those industries andlack solid economic and financial analysis. If these industries are struggling elsewhere,why would they succeed here? They do not address issues such as land planning andinfrastructure, particularly water, and funding.21

A simple example is tourism. We were advised by Tourism QLD that tourism would not beviable for Mornington because we are too far and too costly to get to, don't offer anyunique tourist product and there is no tourism infrastructure.22 Yet, many people stillregard tourism as a saviour for indigenous communities.

And here is the major point.

Jobs are created by the market.23 We have training programs when there are no jobs, at

19.The Prime Ministers 2010 Closing the Gap Report reports on the target of halving the gap inemployment by 2018 (2010: 28-31). It reports on the creation of 1,500 sustainable, properly paid jobsby the Australian Government (p. 58), but this was largely a conversion of positions in municipal andaged care services already funded through CDEP. There has been no commitment to permanent fundingfor these positions and so it is entirely at the whim of the Government as to whether these jobs willcontinue as there is no independent revenue stream for many councils to fund these jobs. As for MrForrest's initiative, there is every likelihood that it will become another no child shall live in povertypromise that simply cannot be fulfilled.20. I am not an economist, but a common-sense view would be that there is a natural limit to the numberof vacant jobs at any one point subject to the dimensions of the public and private sector economies.

Henry (2006) noted before the 2008 world financial crisis, that Australia was near full capacity utilisationand went on to say: Thus, almost every day I hear somebody arguing that.... the economy is in a stateof chronic under-utilisation of labour and that the central task of government is to provide taxpayer-funded subsidies to those who have sufficient wit to find ways of employing people. Well, that view is atodds with what we observe in the Australian economy of today, where policy settings have achieved aperiod of sustained success and, as a consequence, labour is in scarce supply. It is because of theintensity of competition for scarce labour that we hear so much about skill shortages these days.21. See Altman (2004).22. Queensland Tourism concluded in its report (2009) that the Island does not appear to be able to fulfilany of the requirements needed to make tourism sustainable and does not and is not likely to have acommercially viable identity within the State-National-Global tourism markets. Likewise, models forindigenous economic development in resource-rich areas (eg Kimberley) are irrelevant to communitiesdevoid of resources. Furthermore, the distribution of royalties derived from mining is no more economicdevelopment than distributing the profits from operating a casino.23

. Australian Government funding for environmental and ranger programs under Caring for Country, forexample, is cited as an example of viable economic development (in reality it is job creation 540 as

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least not in the immediate vicinity. You could put ten people through a light vehiclemechanic's course on Mornington and there would still be only enough work for two. Ofcourse people can choose to leave the community, but this has not been the trend todate.

The work of Roland Fryer and others has highlighted the fact that decisions to leave a

community often involve the sometimes impossible choice between family, communityand culture if not actually cultural identity and a life elsewhere.24Even with a robustlocal economy, a town with a population of 1200 will not require ten mechanics. So peoplecan be qualified but still not find localemployment.

Banks and Money Management

So far I have not mentioned banking as a part of the local economy. In communities suchas Mornington there has never been a banking presence.25 This reflects critical aspects ofindigenous economies: it is a cash economy; people use and operate communalaccounts; few people have access to credit or have a poor credit rating; few people have

collateral or assets; and few people develop a savings behaviour.26

And it is a vicious circle. How do you develop a savings behaviour, or learn to managemoney as a personal behaviour when there is no mechanism for you to deposit anymoney because there is no bank? How do people get access to loans at non-usuriousrates?

The money culture of indigenous communities makes it difficult for a bank to establishitself and build a client base. Those banks operating in indigenous communities make aprofit through transaction fees, not from savings and loans.

On Mornington the Council is the bank and we operate this service on the basis of beinga community service obligation. We cash cheques, we do third party transfers, we bankcash for local businesses. This is not our core business, but it is essential andgovernment never recognises this kind of service. It doesn't fit what we are supposed todo.

reported in The Prime Ministers Closing the Gap Report 2010: 58) and as a demonstration of nationalcommitment to inter-generationalsustainability and environmental good practice but this is from thepublic purse and subject to political caprice and changing priorities.24. Roland Fryers work on the phenomenon of acting white and on cultural capital is very relevant tothe challenges facing Indigenous Australians (See Fryer 2003, 2009;, Austen-Smith and Fryer 2005;, Fryerand Torelli 2005). Fryer (2003:3) has endeavoured to formulate a theory that applies to any culture that

requires its members to make costly community specific investments needed to facilitate cooperationwith members of the community, but may run in conflict with economic success in the larger society'.Schwab (1995:15) says, a job or training program which requires movement away (physically orculturally) from a network of kin is a high-risk economic proposition for many indigenous people.

Tonkinson goes so far as to say that remote people want to visit towns but neither want to live or workthere (Quoted in Maddison 2009:63).25. As late as the 1970s many communities were still not cash economies and operated on the missionsystem (eg Martin 1995). This was disincentive to establishing banking and then with the progressiverationalisation of the banking sector during the 1990s and 2000s the opportunity for indigenouscommunities to establish banking facilities was effectively removed (See Westbury 1999).26.The feast or famine cycle in most Indigenous households has a very short time horizon and does not

allow individuals to plan (See Schwab 1995 Westbury1999). Factors creating feast or famine vary. Forexample, many of our employees get pay advances to meet family needs or kinship obligations that veryday. Often people share ATM cards, ignoring banking rules on privacy or even the rights of account

holders. Several times, I have personally seen two or three people each take cash from an ATM,obviously knowing the PIN.

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A bank doesn't require land, but it does require commitment from the community and thelocal capacity to fill those jobs and meet fiduciary requirements.

I am pleased to say that Mornington has met with the Traditional Credit Union while inDarwin and will be floating the idea with the community when we return.

Micro-credit

Finally, up to now small businesses that have been established in Gununa have beeneither, in the case of the fishing and tackle shop, a non-indigenous man using his owncapital and with Council's support, converting an unused and run-down section of theCouncil Chambers to outfit a shop, or through IRES and ADBT, the provision of businessadvice and mentoring and formal loan funding.

Yet for economic development to proceed we must expand the local economic base andonce again, the current financial circumstances of many indigenous people are not

conducive to obtaining credit or loans through the usual, that is, traditional bankingchannels.

This was the starting point for the founder of the Grameen bank, Muhammad Yunus. Herealised in the late 1970s that banks are not interested in the poor. it is easy to get creditwhen you are worth something, impossible when you have nothing.

Over the past thirty years Grameen has thrived and expanded and the micro-credit modelhas not just succeeded where traditional aid programs have failed miserably, but themodel has been successfully adapted to developed countries such as the USA andFinland. It has also inspired micro-credit programs based on its model.

Micro-credit is simple but more demanding than you would expect because it is based ontrust. Loans are initially small, about $US10027, and require a group of five women from avillage to agree to the Grameen rules. The loans are used for micro-business projects,such as growing and selling vegetables or weaving baskets for sale. It is not aconsumption loan, but a means of financing production.

The criteria for obtaining a loan is simple, you must be poor and without capital. Grameendoes not lend to the have, but to the have-nots and in most cases, the desperate have-nots, the women who have literally nothing. But it is this group who have demonstrated

that trust and a highly structured program will triumph.

Grameen enjoys a default rate of less than 5%, has lent more than $US3 billion and hasbuilt more than 650,000 houses through its housing loan program.28 No government orgovernment program has achieved anywhere near that.

Of interest is how the Grameen model has been adapted to developed economies withdisadvantaged communities.29 Perhaps the most striking problem the Grameen modelhas encountered is that, unlike most third world countries, developed countries have27. McDonnell (1999, Note 1) defines micro-credit in the Australian context as less than $10,000, whichseems to me to be more of a small business loan.28

. (Moyo 2009:127-128).29

. See McDonnell (1999:8ff).

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established welfare systems and this has proved to be a barrier as welfare does notencourage or support the kind of behaviour micro-credit requires. In fact, Yunus makes apoint of saying that welfare laws create disincentives for welfare recipients to work30andhe has lobbied governments to change existing laws so that the reliance of welfare doesnot inhibit the opportunity to self-employment.

A micro-credit program on Mornington would facilitate some people being economicallyproductive through basically home-based business. This could range from arts and craftsto market garden produce as Yunus always says, people have the ideas, they just needthe structured funding and support that a Grameen-style micro-credit program offers.

Yet, despite the impressive success of micro-credit as a tool for economic development, ithas not been embraced here as a way forward and I consider that a greatdisappointment.31

Conclusion

I have not covered everything, or for that matter, done justice to the nuances of those

issues I have addressed today. I do hope that I have given you some food for thought andfurther debate.

30. 1999, p.185

31. Despite ATSIC's own analysis showing a higher repayment rate for small loans (< $30,000), itcontinued to insist on making large loans, and Indigenous people fared no better from non-

government sources (Mc Donnell 1999:3-4). However, there are practical problems to be addressed, suchas low population density and welfare (McDonnell 1999:10-11).

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FURTHER READING

Altman, J 2004, Economic Development and Indigenous Australia: Contestations over Property,Institutions and Ideology?Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The AustralianNational University, Canberra.

Altman, J, N Biddle and B H Hunter, 2008, How realistic are the prospects for closing the gaps insocioeconomic outcomes for Indigenous Australians?, Discussion Paper No 27/2008, Centre forAboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University, Canberra.

Arabena, K 2005, Not fit for modern Australian society: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderpeople and the new arrangements for the administration of Indigenous affairs, ResearchDiscussion Paper No 16, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies,Canberra.

Austen-Smith, D and R G Fryer Jr 2005, An Economic Analysis of Acting White, first published inThe Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol 120, No 2, pps. 551-583. Available from ProfessorFryers Harvard University Website, http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers_fryer

Australian Government 2005,Achieving Indigenous Economic Independence - IndigenousEconomic Development Strategy Targeting Jobs, Business And Assets, Canberra.

Australian Government 2010, The Prime Ministers 2010 Closing the Gap Report, Canberra.

Fryer Jr R G 2003,An Economic Approach to Cultural Capital, Available athttp://www.econ.yale.edu/seminars/apmicro/am03/fryer-030403.pdf

Fryer Jr R G 2009,An Empirical Analysis of Acting White, Available from Professor FryersHarvard University Website, http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers_fryer

Fryer JR, R G and P Torelli 2005, An Empirical Analysis of Acting White, Working Paper Now11334, National Bureau of Economic Research.

Henry, K 2006, Managing Prosperity, Address to the 2006 Economic and Social OutlookConference, Melbourne, 2 November 2006.

Howard, The Hon J W 2007, Address to Their Spirit Still Shines, Commemorating the 40th

Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum, Old Parliament House 27 May 2007.

Macklin, The Hon J 2009, Address to The John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, 21 April 2009,available from the Minister's website www.fahcsia.gov.au

Maddison, S 2009, Black Politics, Allen and Unwin: Crows Nest.

Martin, D 1995, Money, Business and Culture: Issues for Aboriginal Economic Policy, Discussionpaper No 101, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian NationalUniversity, Canberra.

Martin, D 2006, Why the new direction in Federal Indigenous affairs policy is as likely to fail asthe old directions, Topical Issue No. 5, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, TheAustralian National University, Canberra.

McDonnell, S 1999, The Grameen Bank micro-credit model: lessons for Australian indigenous

economic policy, Discussion Paper No 178, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The

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http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers_fryerhttp://www.econ.yale.edu/seminars/apmicro/am03/fryer-030403.pdfhttp://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers_fryerhttp://www.fahcsia.gov.au/http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers_fryerhttp://www.econ.yale.edu/seminars/apmicro/am03/fryer-030403.pdfhttp://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/fryer/papers_fryerhttp://www.fahcsia.gov.au/


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Australian National University, Canberra.

McDonnell, S and N Westbury 2002, Banking on Indigenous Communities: Issues, options, andAustralian and International best practice, Working Paper No 18, Centre for Aboriginal EconomicPolicy Research, The Australian National University, Canberra.

Moyo, D 2009, Dead Aid, Allen Lane: London.

Mowbray, M 2005, Remote settlements and the heritage of community government councils,Course Notes for CDP403, Capacity Development for Indigenous Governance, Charles DarwinUniversity, Darwin.

Pearson, N 2009, Up from the Mission: Selected Writings, Black Inc: Melbourne.

Pholi, K, D Black and C Richards 2009, Is Close the Gap a useful approach to improving thehealth and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians?, Australian Review of Public Affairs, Vol. 9 No. 2,pps 1-13.

Ridst, G 2007,Development as a Buzzword, Development in Practice, Vol 17, Nos 45, pps 485-491

Sanders, W 2006a, Indigenous affairs after the Howard decade: An administrative revolutionwhile defying decolonisation, Topical Issue No. 3/2006, Centre for Aboriginal Economic PolicyResearch, The Australian National University, Canberra.

Sanders, W 2006b, Being a Good Senior Manager in Indigenous Community Governance:Working with Public Purpose and Private Benefit, Research Discussion Paper No. 280. Centre forAboriginal Economic Policy, The Australian National University, Canberra.

Schwab, R G 1995, The Calculus of Reciprocity: Principles and Implications of Aboriginal Sharing,

Discussion Paper No 100, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The AustralianNational University, Canberra.

SCRGSP (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision) 2003,Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2003, Productivity Commission, Canberra.

SCRGSP (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision) 2009,Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2009, Productivity Commission, Canberra.

Tatz, C 1999 Genocide in Australia, Research Discussion Paper No 8, Australian Institute ofAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra.

Yunus, M 1999 Banker to the Poor, Public Affairs: New York

Westbury, N 1999, Feast, famine and fraud: considerations in the delivery of banking andfinancial services to remote indigenous communities, Research Discussion Paper No 187, Centrefor Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University, Canberra.

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indigenous economic development: challenges

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