‘Destiny in our hands’: the Indigenous Australians joining the renewable energy transition, 20 July 2024

Wind turbines may pay the way for Nari Nari man Jamie Woods’ grand ambitions for his people...
Woods envisages a cultural centre to train budding bush rangers, [and]... indigenous-led social programs to divert teenagers from entering the youth justice system, or to counter stubborn rates of suicide – particularly high among First Nations people....
With the windfarm developer Kilara Energy, Woods says the revenue from hosting turbines on the land may help those plans be fully realised....
After years of negotiations, the NNTC has entered into an equity agreement with Kilara Energy, which is preparing an environmental impact statement of a 74-turbine windfarm...
“We still have far too many disadvantaged Indigenous communities around Australia … when you look at health, housing, workforce participation, there’s still a big gap,” Thomson says. “The renewable sector, in my view, has an opportunity to help address some of that reality.”
Prof Heidi Norman, a Gomeroi woman and researcher at the University of New South Wales, agrees. “Aboriginal people have never been big actors or beneficiaries, or been able to exercise agency,” she says...
Commercial agreements between traditional owners and energy proponents are confidential and vary greatly depending on the development’s scale but can include rental or one off payments, co-ownership, employment and training opportunities or community benefit funds....
In the case of the Kilara Energy windfarm, Thomson says a portion of the community fund would be allocated to support local Aboriginal communities...

Ultimately, Norman says the principles of free, prior and informed consent must guide any partnership.
The First Nations Clean Energy Network was formed in 2021 and tracks renewable energy projects with First Nations ownership.
“We’re trying to lift the aspirations of our community about what we can expect from this industry,” says the network’s director, Yorta Yorta woman Karrina Nolan....
In June Bowen said the transition will have failed “if First Nations people aren’t at the centre of it”.