Abstract
For remote and regionally based communities, access and cost of primary services such as power and water are ever increasing, and in the face of the global transition to clean energy, building energy infrastructure serves as a financial imperative. For Indigenous regional and remote communities, establishing economic authority over energy assets and their operation is a key lever for self-determination. However, the shaping role of state authority and history set a structural backdrop to the operations of Indigenous owned energy infrastructure. This chapter examines the role jurisdictional context plays in the context of Indigenous clean energy enterprises in two Australian states and the Northern Territory as a backdrop to the embodied experience of three Indigenous business leaders who manage the tensions that geo-political context raises as they work towards Indigenous self-determined aspirations.
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Notes
- 1.
https://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/resources/resources-hub/clean-energy-australia-report. Accessed 11.14 a.m. 31/1/2022.
- 2.
https://www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/resources/project-tracker. Accessed 11.24 a.m. 4/2/2021.
- 3.
https://cfat.org.au/bushlight-archive. Accessed 11.24 a.m. 31/1/2022.
- 4.
Australia has three levels of government: the Federal government, six state and two territory parliaments which govern these jurisdictions pertaining to state interests such as schools, hospitals, roads and utilities including electricity and water supply.
- 5.
- 6.
Homelands and/or Outstations are small and remote Aboriginal community settlements associated with families and kinship networks connected with the land/waters where the outstation/homelands are located.
- 7.
An Aboriginal Land Council operates at a regional level in state and territory jurisdictions and is subject to state or territory laws. The purpose of land councils is to advocate on behalf of Aboriginal people and traditional owners of the region for land rights and provide associated land/water orientated community services on behalf of Aboriginal people in their region.
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Evans, M. (2024). Indigenous Clean Energy Enterprises in Australia. In: Jack, G., Evans, M., Lythberg, B., Mika, J. (eds) Managing the Post-Colony: Voices from Aotearoa, Australia and The Pacific. Managing the Post-Colony. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0319-7_4
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