My Online (Field) Placements with PILC and ANU

By Mackenzie Roop, 1st year MDP student

 The Public Interest Law Centre (PILC) specializes in assisting those who are too often pushed out of discussion around policy and quality legal representation. PILC offers advocacy for issues surrounding Indigenous peoples, human rights, the environment, and low-income persons. It is an honour and a privilege to work amongst such highly motivated and effective people.

The work that I’m doing is in response to a request by a First Nation organization to assess First Nations Entry into the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) established late 2019. I am reviewing the recommendations made by First Nations to the Expert Review Panel amending the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 2012, and how those recommendations transpired in the IAA. The hope is that this will more clearly illustrate the potential for meaningful First Nations participation in the environmental review process. The literature review highlighted key barriers to meaningful participation such as:

• The lack of Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC) as outlined in UNDRIP;
• The avoidance of more rigorous and encompassing impact evaluations via cumulative assessments and traditional knowledges; and
• The high expense incurred to First Nations to independently support the Impact Assessment process.

Many First Nations iterate that meaningful participation in the energy sector is key to reconciling Crown-Indigenous relationships. 

I am very grateful to work under Dr. Trish Fitzpatrick, Joelle Pastora Sala and Byron Williams. I am also working alongside fellow MDP colleague Kate! We have weekly check-in meetings with our supervisor Dr. Fitzpatrick, sometimes via socially distanced outside meetings over coffee, but mostly over Zoom. Here is a screenshot from one of our many Zoom meetings:

Top L-R: Dr. Trish Fitzpatrick and Mackenzie Roop. Bottom L-R: Kate Robb and Byron Williams

I am simultaneously working for the Centrefor Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the Australian National University (ANU) in support of the Grand Challenge Initiative pursuing “Zero Carbon Energy for the Asia Pacific” (ZCEAP). I am researching Canadian case studies of Indigenous-led renewable energy projects. This will hopefully further inform the comparative opportunities of First Nations in Australia. As a settler who is half Canadian and half Australian, I am really excited to be doing research from a cross-regional perspective. The MDP has taught me a lot about the true history and reality of Turtle Island, but I have far less knowledge and experience of the situation in Australia. Having this opportunity to connect and think about the parallels between these two colonized lands is really special. I am extremely grateful to Janet Hunt and Brad Riley for supporting my research and for the opportunity to work on such an amazing, forward looking project.

Working from Home

This is my humble workspace! After several zoom meetings interrupted by my attention-seeking cat, I decided to move to a space where I could close the door. The natural light helps me focus and keep positive.

I have found time management one of my main challenges under COVID-19. Because I normally like to leave the house to study or work, I find it difficult to stay in the same place for long periods of time. I have found myself switching up my work environment by working on the porch or at the dining table. I also make it a point of trying to go outside at least once a day, either by tending to my garden or going for a bike or run to the river. This helps me keep perspective on the greater world around me.

Supporting Black Women in Business: Terri Waller, SevGen and the Boomerang Bus

By Trudie Broderick, 2nd year MDP student

A few months ago I was really excited to be heading home to complete my final placement.  I can’t believe just how quickly this time has gone by. At the start of the degree, I didn’t really know what to expect or what would happen. Two years later, and I can finally see the finish line.  It’s been really nice to surround myself with the familiarity of friends and family who have been a great support over the last couple of years.  Being with them over the last stage of this degree just seemed right.

 

Trudie (L) and Terri Waller (R)

During my last month at home, I attended the Education is the Way Symposium held by the University of Sunshine Coast.  The Symposium discussed barriers to embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and practice into post-secondary education models. Many of these discussions inevitably diverted from post-secondary education to education for children and young people and systemic alienation and marginalization.  The solutions often revolving around the use of traditional languages and culture throughout all levels of education beginning in the home and at the early childhood stages of formal education.

While at the symposium, I heard a talk about business marketing and development.  The discussion highlighted entrepreneurial endeavours in education.  It was here that I had the opportunity to hear Terri Waller talk about her Charitable Organisation "SevGen".  Terri is a DTulua woman from the Coral Coast of Central Queensland.  It was refreshing to hear Terri talk about her bold and creative ideas around developing educational tools for First Nations kids.

SevGen is built on the concept of thinking seven generations into the future to ensure we consider the long term effects of our decisions and actions on our grandchildren's grandchildren's grandchildren. The organisation aims to address the deficit in conventional methods of teaching and education.  SevGen incorporates culture and traditional learning practices into developing attitudes to learning, and the skills and knowledges of students in the program. Recognizing the need for flexibility and the importance of experiential learning, SevGen encourages students to play autonomously in passion and with purpose always (PAPPA).

Using props such as the Boomerang Bus, educational outcomes are improved as kids learn from fun and engaging delivery of content that is rich in Indigenous perspectives and teachers also receive professional development through observing ways to embed Indigenous perspectives into learning topics and teaching practise.  I also appreciated hearing Terri talk about the importance of ensuring that SevGen operates from a business based approach operating social enterprise ventures to fund their work.  In doing so, it is able to operate without losing its perspective and the concepts fundamental to the program.  Maintaining financial independence allows SevGen to continue to function in a way that is true to its vision.

Boomerang Bus

To learn more about SevGen at: http://www.sevgen.com.au/

Australia, First Peoples & Change

By Trudie Broderick, 2nd year MDP student

Australia’s Indigenous population consists of mainland Aboriginal communities and Torres Strait Island communities in the far north east of the country.  Still recovering from the impact of the Northern Territory intervention, First Nations communities in Australia have been confronted with new challenges over the past two years. The forced closures of more than 100 remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia has resonated throughout the country.  The closures coincide with two other major legal shifts for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  The first is the deregistration of 21 previously heritage listed sacred sites in the resource rich region - the world’s oldest rock art was among them.  Secondly, the federal government, in partnership companies such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are supporting the push for recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian constitution.

It is well established that Indigenous women are often disproportionately affected by government decisions such as these. Murri Mura Inc. a community organization in Brisbane, Australia, is in the process of developing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Council of Queensland (ATSIWCQ) to ensure a voice within the political arena.

Aunty Mary Graham and Trudie Broderick

Murri Mura Inc. was created by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.  It has a long history of political activism in Brisbane and currently works to develop the capacity of the local community.  During my placement with the agency, I worked with Elder, Aunty Mary Graham on innovative developments as a means to building on the existing skills of local First Nations communities.  The main focus of my placement has been to examine Australia’s current political climate and its impact on Indigenous women.  With this in mind, I examined legal structures that might support the entity’s current and future needs.

As a meeting space Murri Mura offered a place for women Elders in the community to develop the ATSIWCQ.  As part of this process, it was critical to approach all decisions for a position of strength, comfortable in the knowledge that our sovereignty is unceded and we therefore have the capacity and the ability to determine for ourselves the most appropriate governing tools.  In this we considered a broad range of issues impacting First Nations women including, our roles as women within the community, participation in politics and governance.  This means continuing to challenge oppressive policies, enhancing our economic independence and prosperity, challenging racism, sexual, domestic and all other forms of violence against First Nations women in Australia.