Pilbara's Indigenous leaders look to Canada as way to address economic disadvantage, 19 July 2025

Indigenous communities in Canada are building stronger economies from recent energy projects....

The gaze is particularly firm from the economic powerhouse that is Western Australia's Pilbara....

There is a gaping wealth disparity between Indigenous people and the economic output....

The situation was described by ANU professor Peter Yu as "economic apartheid."...

"In the middle of it you have a prison full of Aboriginal faces," the Yawuru man said. WA has the highest rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander imprisonment....

In Canada, Indigenous participation in energy projects has been recognised as way to advance economic reconciliation..

First Nations entities in Canada are beneficiaries of almost 20 per cent of its electricity-generating infrastructure....

Examples included the Canadian government's role as a broker, a multi-billion-dollar Indigenous loan program and the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People....

"Indigenous people are at the table as partners." Dr George [ a co-lead on the First Nations Clean Energy and Climate Change Advisory Committee] said.

[ANU] Professor Yu said Australia was 20 to 30 years behind Canada... "This has been 100 years of extractive resource industry on Aboriginal land with minimal return."...

In Ontario...twenty-four First Nations communities hold 51 per cent ownership. Wataynikaneyap Power through partnerships with private investors...

The Pilbara is already home to one of the largest Indigenous-led renewable energy initiatives in the country, with one of its projects less than two years away from being operational....

Dr George said the clock was ticking to reduce emissions and build projects.

"We can learn from Canada as to how you structure projects and what's possible," she said.