Ross, Helen --- "East Kimberley Impact Assessment Project" [1986] AboriginalLawB 38; (1986) 1(20) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 8

• East Kimberly Impact Assessment Project
• General Topics
• Overviews
• Main Subjects
• Mining
• Argyle Diamond Mine
• Tourism
• Land Use
• Rationalisalion Of Land Allocation:
• Aboriginal Activities On Land:
• Public Sector
• Commonwealth And State
• Local Government

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East Kimberly Impact Assessment Project

by Dr Helen Ross

The East Kimberley region of Western Australia is currently experiencing a period of rapid economic change. The establishment of the Argyle Diamond Mining Project represents a radical departure from the almost exclusive economic concern with the pastoral industry. The pastoral industry is going through substantial re-structuring reflecting declining confidence in existing organisation and technology. Rapid developments are occurring in tourism as Lake Argyle, the Bungle Bungle massif and other spectacular features are attracting attention.

These changes are placing pressure upon the Aboriginal residents of the area and there are fears that their effects will be increasingly damaging to Aboriginal peoples' ways of life and their economic and social well-being. On the other hand, changes in the policies of the Western Australian and Commonwealth Governments will increase Aboriginal access to land, often in relatively small areas, and will make available greater financial resources for the occupation of this land. The Argyle Diamond Mine is contributing to these financial resources.

The purposes of the Project are:

1. To assess the social impact of major public and private developments of the East Kimberley region's resources (mining, tourism, land use) on resident Aboriginal communities.

2. To establish a framework to allow the dissemination of research results to Aboriginal communities, governments and private sector interests so as to enable them to develop their own strategies for dealing with social impact issues.

The study takes the process of social impact assessment further than previous monitoring or predictive studies, by using prediction as the basis for informed participation in the process of change. The Project's development and use of appropriate methodological approaches within a multi-disciplinary framework will be a major contribution to the field of social impact. assessment.

The research needs are identified in consultation with people of the region and policy protagonists, and the research is contributed by academics and others from several institutions, according to a research plan drawn up by the Project's coordinating committee and Research Fellow.

The Project is using research to predict and to some extent monitor the likely effects of each resource development, and to inform Aboriginal people, industries and governments of policy options. The primary research will thus provide the basis for an action-research, process to encourage Aboriginal people of the region to plan their futures constructively, by helping to inform them of the potential effects of resources development on their own policy options and to strive to alter the courses of events. Without this intervention, Aboriginal People could easily be bypassed in many of the decision-making processes of industry and government.

The research is structured around the following topics:

General Topics

• Social Impact Theory and Methodology
• Quality of life and health studies

Overviews

• Geographic
• Economic
• Social - Ethnography, Demography
• Legislative

Main Subjects

Mining

Argyle Diamond Mine

Economic impact on the region

Effect on Aboriginal people

Tourism

• Development of Bungle Bungle
• Potential for Aboriginal participation in tourist enterprises

Land Use

Rationalisalion of land allocation:

• Pastoral vs alternative land uses
• Space for Aborigonal people
• Types of tenure and access for Aboriginal people
• Identification of areas for possible change of use

Aboriginal activities on land:

• Participation in cattle industry
• ‘Traditional’ subsistence activites
• Introduced subsistence and small marketing opportunites. e.g. killer herds, horticulture, regeneration

Public Sector

Commonwealth and State

• Delivery of services
• Funding of Aboriginal organisations and communities
• Communication and consultation practices
• Community development practices

Local government

• Funding received
• Delivery of services to Aborigines
• Recognition of Aboriginal interests
• Aboriginal participation in local government

The legislative overview is being prepared by Ben Boer and Donna Craig of Macquarie University. It will review Federal and State legislation covering Aborigines, mining, national parks and wildlife legislation, other environmental legislation, planning laws, and legislation proposed or needed.

Throughout the project a comprehensive series of work-in-progress papers will be published and circulated widely in the region and in relevant policy areas. The series will constitute a comprehensive and detailed account of the work of the project. Nine papers have been published so far. These include:

• Project Description and Feasibility Study
• Aborigines and the Argyle Diamond Project (W. Christenson)
• Papers on Ethnobotany in the Bungles (by D. B. Rose, and N. H. Scarlett)
• Structural Change in Wyndham (M. Dillon)
• Preliminary indication of the effects of the Argyle Diamond Mine on Aboriginal Communities (R. Nixon, C. Elderton, S. Irvine and I. Kirkby)

The Project is sponsored by the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies at the Australian National University, the Universityof Western Australia and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. It is coordinated by a committee of nominees of these institutions. The present members are Professor Max Neutze, Professor R. Tonkinson, Dr Nancy Williams and Dr H. C. Coombs.

The staff, a Research Fellow/Executive Officer, Research Assistant. and Secretary, works from the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies.

Project overheads are shared by the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies at the University of Western Australia. The Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies shares funding of a Senior Researcher. Research is mainly provided by academics using their own funds given by the WA Government and administered by the University of Western Australia.

Information about the East Kimberley Impact Assessment Project may be sought from Dr Helen Ross, Research Fellow, or Dr H. C. Coombs, at the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, PO Box 4, Canberra City 2601.