Renewable energy development can deliver genuine, lasting benefits for Traditional Owners and Aboriginal communities, but only when developers go beyond the legal minimum.
‘We’ve worked with the good, the bad and the very ugly’: Why treating Traditional Owners as project partners benefits everyone
On Anaiwan Country in northern New South Wales, archaeologist and Elder Cheryl Kitchener has seen both ends of the spectrum.
‘We’ve worked with the good, the bad and the very ugly,’ Cheryl says. ‘In the early days, companies only engaged as part of legislative requirements: they didn’t see us as major stakeholders who had a continuing interest.’
From the bottom of the list to a united front
When developers first entered the New England region a decade ago, companies often overlooked Aboriginal people in favour of farmers and local government, says Cheryl, and often delayed engaging until two or three years into planning.
Under statutory planning, nine separate Registered Aboriginal Parties were engaging individually, enabling what Cheryl describes as a ‘“divide and conquer” game’.
Following one particularly disrespectful encounter, Anaiwan Traditional Owners walked away and resolved never to let it happen again. They formed a coalition to present a single, united front focused on three priorities: protecting cultural heritage during and after construction, securing stable jobs and building commercial capability and contracting opportunities.
Cheryl says cultural heritage is much broader than many people traditionally understand. ‘With us, everything is a cultural landscape: every part of that landscape tells us a story about Anaiwan people – both historical and contemporary.
‘Because most project land is freehold, companies assume that 100 or 150 years of farming means no cultural heritage remains. That’s false. People like myself live our culture every single day; our collective memory still maps that cultural landscape.’
What good looks like
Cheryl said good development was in many ways quite simple: ‘Best practice means talking to as many local stakeholders as possible, understanding community priorities, and working with those who approach engagement in good faith.
‘It starts early: working out what your company can deliver, how it will benefit the community, and what it will cost.’
She notes that protecting cultural heritage usually has minimal impact on projects.
‘It’s fundamentally different from a mine site, where operations dig up and destroy the land,” Cheryl explains. Wind and solar do not destroy our landscape for centuries. Cultural heritage sites, meanwhile, can sit safely alongside solar and wind developments when properly fenced.’
Wind and solar have minimal effects on the landscape, and when working with Traditional Owners and Knowledge Holders, many cultural sites and locations can be preserved during the construction phase and over the length of the project.
‘Give local communities two to three years of notice so we can train and prepare our people to work across these projects for decades,’ Cheryl says. ‘We’re not asking for endless dollars; we just want a fair go. We don’t want handouts – we want a leg up through proper contracts.’
The tide appears to be turning: some companies Cheryl is currently working with are reaching out early and raising the bar for what can be expected.
The clear standout
For Cheryl, the clear standout in her region has been the New England Solar Farm near Uralla, originally established by UPC and acquired by ACEN Australia.
‘They started consultations early in the piece. I’m not talking about sending consultants up – the owners of the company sat down and talked with us directly.’
That early respect has translated into positive partnerships on the ground. Some of the highlights for Cheryl have included:
ACEN engaged Aboriginal people in the flora and fauna investigations that form part of its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). ‘What we’ve investigated so far hasn’t impeded the project; instead, it provides the EIS with richer information about landscape values, showing how scientific data and cultural knowledge can work together,’ Cheryl says.
The project contracted the Kyuna Iwatta maintenance team: a mixed crew of Traditional Owners and broader Aboriginal community members led on-site by Joselyn Blair. They maintain protected heritage sites and carry out broader maintenance across the project.’
Continued consultation covers all aspects of the project. ‘It doesn’t matter if the project is going to impact cultural heritage or if it’s going to be delayed – they let us know and keep us in the loop.’
Most recently, ACEN has offered an electrical apprenticeship as an identified opportunity. ‘They’re investing in our kids and putting their money where their mouth is,’ says Cheryl.
Opening the gate
When done well, renewable energy development offers Traditional Owners an opportunity that decades of locked freehold paddocks prevented: the ability to walk back onto Country.
‘Opening the gates lets us back in. It allows us to reconnect, revive cultural practices, and protect valuable sites that have been locked away for generations.’
In fact, Cheryl says good development benefits everyone. ‘Farmers can still farm, cultural heritage is fenced off and protected, and clean energy businesses operate for the broader community benefit.’
To learn more about best-practice engagement with First Nations communities, check out the Aboriginal Cultural Knowledge Standards authored by Cheryl for Aboriginal Affairs NSW.