Pilbara's Indigenous leaders look to Canada as way to address economic disadvantage

Australia Broadcast Center

19-07-2025

Indigenous communities in Canada are building stronger economies from recent energy projects, and traditional owners in Australia are watching closely.
The gaze is particularly firm from the economic powerhouse that is Western Australia's Pilbara, a region that produces 90 per cent of the country's most valuable export commodity, iron ore.
But on the ground, there is a gaping wealth disparity between Indigenous people and the economic output.
During a resource summit held in Karratha earlier this month, the situation was described by ANU professor Peter Yu as "economic apartheid".
"It's a stark contrast, this being the global epicentre of wealth generation and creation, and then 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 at 4,623 per 100,000 people, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In Canada, Indigenous participation in energy projects has been recognised as way to advance economic reconciliation.
As Putejurra woman Kate George stated plainly in her address: "In the Pilbara, we want what they're having."
First Nations entities in Canada are beneficiaries of almost 20 per cent of its electricity-generating infrastructure, compared to about 2 per cent in Australia, according to Australia's First Nations Clean Energy strategy.
Dr George, chair of the Pilbara Energy Transition steering committee, said the group was drawing on successes from relationships between industry and First Nations people in Canada to inform future policy.
She said examples included the Canadian government's role as a broker in negotiations between industry and Indigenous peoples, a multi-billion-dollar Indigenous loan program and the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.
The opportunities in Australia's energy transformation have been acknowledged by the federal government's First Nations Clean Energy Strategy as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to positively impact on Indigenous people's lives.
Professor Yu said Australia was 20 to 30 years behind Canada, but had an opportunity to design the "right architecture" as companies started to build solar, wind and energy transmission projects on Aboriginal land.
"The fact of the matter is that … this has been 100 years of extractive resource industry on Aboriginal land with minimal return [to Indigenous people] comparatively in terms of the returns that the companies have got, the state has got and the Commonwealth has got," he said.
"For 100 years of failure, we could turn into something of a success in the way these agreements are now being struck, which is more equity-based rather than just passive royalty payments-based."
He said this would help even out the playing field for future generations.
In Canada's Ontario province, remote communities are benefiting from the region's largest Indigenous-run grid connection project.
Where communities had previously relied on a diesel generating station, 17 remote communities are now connected to the electricity grid through the Wataynikaneyap Power Project's 1,800-kilometre transmission line.
Twenty-four First Nations communities hold 51 per cent ownership of the Wataynikaneyap Power through partnerships with private investors.
The project also received multi-billion-dollar government concessional loans and was aided by a feed-in tariff program that incentivises Indigenous participation.
The majority of the project's profits will be re-invested over 25 years, so that by 2049, the communities can purchase out the partner and have full ownership of the project.
"It has taken us 34 years to accomplish the vision of bringing reliable and accessible energy into the area," CEO of Wataynikaneyap Power Margaret Kenequanash said.
"Even today when I take a look at the map and the transition line … sometimes it's hard to believe."
She said the project had been guided by First Nations principles since the beginning, with ownership a main focus.
"Hopefully they [other Indigenous peoples] can learn from what we've done and maybe even become better."
Further east in British Columbia, several wind, hydro and solar projects have been developed at Kanaka Bar Indian Band.
Retired Nlaka'pamux Nation chief Patrick Michell said those projects returned identity to the community.
"What we achieved was [to] reverse the adverse effects of colonisation," he said.
"We're producing our own water, our own food, our own housing, our own electricity.
He said by 2054, the community would become 100 per cent owners of the projects.
Christina Hoicka, Canada research chair in urban planning for climate change at the University of Victoria, said the availability to borrow capital had helped advance projects throughout Canada.
"There's a lot of momentum in Canada," Dr Hoicka said.
"Many nations that have developed renewable energy projects have shared that there are many socio-economic benefits that fit within their world views."
But she said despite the "rosy picture", there was a push for First Nations coalitions to own more energy infrastructure and have greater power in policy and regulation.
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.
The Yindjibarndi Energy Corporation (YEC), a partnership between ACEN Corporation and Yinjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, is working to build up to 3 gigawatts of renewable infrastructure across approximately 13,000 square kilometres of Yindjibarndi Native Title Determination Areas.
As part of the deal, Yindjibarndi people have approval rights for site selection and will receive a minimum of 25 per cent equity in all projects.
Traditionally in the Pilbara, resource companies give traditional owner groups a portion of revenue from individual projects.
But by owning a significant part of the company, Yindjibarndi people stand to receive secure long-term revenue from YEC projects.
"There is a great opportunity that will not just help us decarbonise, but will also economically benefit the community here and traditional owners," YEC's CEO Craig Ricato said.
The Clean Energy Strategy provides a framework for Australia to reach 82 per cent renewable electricity generation by 2030, involving Indigenous participation.
The principles guiding the strategy include giving First Nations people the ability to self-determine how they lead the transition, and building genuine partnerships and collaboration.
Dr George, who was a co-lead on the First Nations Clean Energy and Climate Change Advisory Committee, described it as a significant piece of policy.
The Pilbara emits more than 40 per cent of WA's emissions, but produces less than 2 per cent of renewable energy, according to state government.
WA's Pilbara Energy Transition Plan is already underway, with the Pilbara Roundtable working to progress the energy transition, focused on the development of common-use transmission infrastructure system.
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.