Individualism and the Northern Cattle Industry

Abstract

In the modern world, pastoral communities in northern Australia showcase real connections between people and country. In this extensive industry, people rely on their own skills and the land to get them through. They epitomise stoic self-sufficiency and deeply resent outsiders telling them what they should and shouldn’t do with their land and their cattle. Like Indigenous communities in northern Australia, the world view of pastoral communities is essentially about local concerns. It’s about their families and the remote communities in which they live. It’s also often about the cattle herds and the vast landscape from which they make a living. When southern sophisticates from big corporate mining interests or enviro-centric government regulators come to town, the scene is often set for intense cross-cultural and natural resource battles. This chapter focuses on the problems that emerge from the processes used by Governments to resolve such conflicts. While these processes may have helped solve particular environmental problems (e.g., by regulating certain activities) they have also often unleashed new ones (e.g., major pest management issues). More importantly, these processes have undermined the trust that pastoral communities have in governments and people from the south in general. I also explore how governments and the science community can rebuild trust with these important communities, and at the same time, achieve cohesive environmental outcomes.