WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.319 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we are looking 00:00:03.319 --> 00:00:07.660 at a pretty massive structural entity that essentially 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:10.800 operates right at the intersection of historical 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:14.000 justice, corporate finance, and hyper -local 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.300 community building. Yeah. It's quite the intersection. 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:18.379 Right. So we're looking at the Indigenous Land 00:00:18.379 --> 00:00:21.079 and Sea Corporation, or the ILSC. And I've got 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:23.500 this extensive stack of notes here based on a 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:26.050 really detailed Wikipedia entry about it. It's 00:00:26.050 --> 00:00:28.149 a great source to pull from, because on the surface, 00:00:28.230 --> 00:00:31.030 this just sounds like a standard Australian federal 00:00:31.030 --> 00:00:34.429 government statutory authority. Exactly. But 00:00:34.429 --> 00:00:36.869 as you get into the actual mechanisms of how 00:00:36.869 --> 00:00:39.990 it works, you quickly realize this is really 00:00:39.990 --> 00:00:42.789 a story about fundamentally rewiring the economic 00:00:42.789 --> 00:00:45.270 and cultural landscape of an entire continent. 00:00:45.509 --> 00:00:47.729 Absolutely. We're going to explore how a legal 00:00:47.729 --> 00:00:49.990 doctrine that literally erased thousands of years 00:00:49.990 --> 00:00:52.469 of human history was overturned. And then look 00:00:52.469 --> 00:00:55.359 at the very real multimillion dollar financial 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:57.659 engine that was built in the aftermath to actually 00:00:57.659 --> 00:00:59.539 buy land back. Because that's the crucial part 00:00:59.539 --> 00:01:02.439 right there. Yeah. Well, look at the incredible 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:04.439 workforce transformations happening out in the 00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:07.400 desert at Ayers Rock Resort. The realities of 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:10.719 modern indigenous agribusiness. and a highly 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:14.079 dramatic, politically -charged standoff over 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:16.359 a community center in urban Sydney. I mean, it 00:01:16.359 --> 00:01:19.420 covers so much ground. It really does. So our 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:21.799 mission today for you listening is to move past 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:24.579 the political rhetoric and the bureaucratic acronyms. 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:28.180 We want to examine the actual assets, the balance 00:01:28.180 --> 00:01:30.879 sheets, and the tangible impact on human lives. 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:33.459 OK, let's unpack this. It is a brilliant subject 00:01:33.459 --> 00:01:35.840 to examine largely because it forces us to look 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:38.200 at the mechanics of empowerment. Right, not just 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:41.200 the theory. Exactly. When we discuss land rights, 00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:43.379 the conversation often stays in the realm of 00:01:43.379 --> 00:01:46.000 the abstract. Court decisions protest sweeping 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:48.859 legislation. And while those are vital foundations, 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:51.180 the analytical lens we need to apply today is 00:01:51.180 --> 00:01:53.659 focused on the execution. The actual follow through. 00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:56.480 Right. How do you take the abstract concept of 00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:59.420 land right and turn it into a sustainable livelihood? 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:01.819 That's a huge question. We need to look closely 00:02:01.819 --> 00:02:04.640 at the structural and economic engineering that 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:07.359 allowed a government entity to transform into 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:09.939 a self -sufficient continent -spanning organization. 00:02:10.379 --> 00:02:12.680 This is about transitioning from legislative 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:16.219 victories to tangible on the ground realities, 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:19.639 like actual jobs, hospitality jobs, massive cattle 00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:23.580 stations, community health programs and the literal 00:02:23.580 --> 00:02:26.219 ownership of the earth and water. It is a rigorous 00:02:26.219 --> 00:02:28.939 case study in how policy is translated into practice. 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:31.039 And to really understand how that translation 00:02:31.039 --> 00:02:34.180 happens, we have to start at the absolute foundation. 00:02:34.180 --> 00:02:37.139 We have to go back to the early 1990s in Australia 00:02:37.139 --> 00:02:40.419 to a legal earthquake that fundamentally altered 00:02:40.419 --> 00:02:43.009 the nation's understanding of itself. The 1990s 00:02:43.009 --> 00:02:45.469 were pivotal. They really were. The organization 00:02:45.469 --> 00:02:47.189 we were discussing was originally established 00:02:47.189 --> 00:02:49.629 as the Indigenous Land Corporation, or the ILC. 00:02:50.090 --> 00:02:53.669 It officially formed on June 1st, 1995. But that 00:02:53.669 --> 00:02:55.330 date is really just the administrative starting 00:02:55.330 --> 00:02:58.569 line. Yeah, the catalyst for the ILC, the absolute 00:02:58.569 --> 00:03:01.110 bedrock reason it exists, is the Native Title 00:03:01.110 --> 00:03:03.770 Act of 1993. Right, which itself was born from 00:03:03.770 --> 00:03:06.069 the landmark Mebo decision. What's fascinating 00:03:06.069 --> 00:03:08.710 here is that the Mebo decision is a watershed 00:03:08.710 --> 00:03:11.800 moment in the truest sense of the phrase. In 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:15.000 1992, the High Court of Australia ruled on a 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:18.199 case led by Eddie Mabo. He was a Miriam man from 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:20.379 the Torres Strait. And what the court decided 00:03:20.379 --> 00:03:23.099 sent shockwaves through the entire legal and 00:03:23.099 --> 00:03:25.419 political establishment. It recognized native 00:03:25.419 --> 00:03:27.900 title in Australia for the very first time. It 00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:30.159 formally acknowledged the prior ownership of 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:33.360 land by indigenous people. But to really grasp 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:35.580 the magnitude of that, we have to understand 00:03:35.580 --> 00:03:38.460 what the court was actually dismantling. The 00:03:38.460 --> 00:03:41.180 Mebo decision explicitly rejected the doctrine 00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:44.419 of terra nullius. Terra nullius, the idea that 00:03:44.419 --> 00:03:47.099 the land belonged to no one. It is almost difficult 00:03:47.099 --> 00:03:49.099 to wrap your head around the audacity of that 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:51.400 legal fiction. It is entirely audacious. For 00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:53.900 over two centuries, the foundational legal assumption 00:03:53.900 --> 00:03:56.039 of the British colonizers and subsequently the 00:03:56.039 --> 00:04:00.080 Australian state was that before 1788, the entire 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:02.979 Australian continent was legally unoccupied, 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:05.900 legally empty. They didn't just ignore the hundreds 00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:08.039 of distinct indigenous nations living there. 00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:12.180 They built an entire system of property law on 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:14.699 the premise that those nations simply did not 00:04:14.699 --> 00:04:17.600 exist in a legal sense. Just staggering. To have 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:20.620 the highest court in the land completely overturn 00:04:20.620 --> 00:04:23.060 that to formally declare that Terranilius was 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:26.139 a fiction changes the entire paradigm. It's a 00:04:26.139 --> 00:04:28.889 massive reality check. fundamentally rewrites 00:04:28.889 --> 00:04:31.410 the social contract. I mean, when a modern nation 00:04:31.410 --> 00:04:33.910 state legally acknowledges that its foundational 00:04:33.910 --> 00:04:36.930 premise of empty land was false and that prior 00:04:36.930 --> 00:04:39.350 ownership by indigenous people is an undeniable 00:04:39.350 --> 00:04:42.589 legal fact, it creates an enormous structural 00:04:42.589 --> 00:04:45.029 and moral obligation. You can't just put a plaque 00:04:45.029 --> 00:04:47.519 up and ignore it. No, you cannot simply update 00:04:47.519 --> 00:04:49.079 the history books and carry on with business 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:51.399 as usual. The dispossession of land resulted 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:54.300 in profound economic and social marginalization. 00:04:54.579 --> 00:04:57.519 So the Native Title Act of 1993 was the legislative 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:00.540 framework created to manage those newly recognized 00:05:00.540 --> 00:05:03.079 land rights. Right. But the government realized 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:05.459 pretty quickly that Native Title alone just wasn't 00:05:05.459 --> 00:05:08.579 enough. Why not? Because native title often only 00:05:08.579 --> 00:05:11.500 applies to land where a continuous unbroken connection 00:05:11.500 --> 00:05:14.339 can be proven, which is incredibly difficult 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:16.699 for communities that were forcibly removed from 00:05:16.699 --> 00:05:19.680 their lands. So to address the broader dispossession, 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:23.500 they created the ILC in 1995. It was a dedicated 00:05:23.500 --> 00:05:26.620 federal corporation tasked with a highly specific 00:05:26.620 --> 00:05:29.939 actionable mandate to actively acquire land back. 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:31.980 Let's look closely at that mandate because it 00:05:31.980 --> 00:05:33.879 sets the operational parameters for everything 00:05:33.879 --> 00:05:37.360 they do. The core responsibility of the ILSC 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:40.339 is to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:43.279 people to acquire land and to manage assets. 00:05:43.540 --> 00:05:45.779 And the why of it is very clearly defined. Yeah, 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:48.620 across four distinct pillars. They acquire and 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:50.800 manage this land to achieve cultural, social, 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:53.079 environmental, and economic benefits for indigenous 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:55.740 peoples and crucially for future generations. 00:05:55.860 --> 00:05:58.480 It is a uniquely broad mandate. They aren't just 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:01.180 a real estate trust holding deeds. They're tasked 00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:03.839 with ensuring that the land generates multifaceted 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:07.180 value. Those four pillars, cultural, social, 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:10.600 environmental, and economic, are the key to understanding 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:14.120 the organization's philosophy. In standard Western 00:06:14.120 --> 00:06:16.699 bureaucratic structures, those objectives are 00:06:16.699 --> 00:06:18.860 heavily siloed. Right, totally separate departments. 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:22.079 Exactly. A government typically has a department 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:25.040 for environmental protection, a completely separate 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:27.420 department for economic development, and yet 00:06:27.420 --> 00:06:29.759 another for social services or cultural affairs. 00:06:30.139 --> 00:06:33.319 But the ILSC's mandate forces a synthesis of 00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:36.360 all four. It does. When they help an indigenous 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:39.379 community acquire a piece of land, they are expected 00:06:39.379 --> 00:06:42.060 to view it holistically. It might be a platform 00:06:42.060 --> 00:06:44.740 for a commercial enterprise which hits the economic 00:06:44.740 --> 00:06:48.139 pillar, but that enterprise must be managed sustainably 00:06:48.139 --> 00:06:50.459 satisfying the environmental pillar. It might 00:06:50.459 --> 00:06:52.620 employ local youth hitting the social pillar, 00:06:52.899 --> 00:06:55.079 and it might protect sacred sites hitting the 00:06:55.079 --> 00:06:57.600 cultural pillar. It aligns much closer to traditional 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:00.040 indigenous land management. Exactly, which does 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:02.800 not neatly separate commerce from culture or 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:06.000 environment. And that holistic view eventually 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.540 pushed against the boundaries of the organization's 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:11.360 original design. If we fast forward from its 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:15.459 creation in 1995 all the way to a very significant 00:07:15.459 --> 00:07:18.939 milestone on February 1st 2019. The name change. 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:20.899 The name change. The organization officially 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:22.879 changed from the Indigenous Land Corporation 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:25.860 to the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation. They 00:07:25.860 --> 00:07:29.779 added the word sea and with it a massive expansion 00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:31.680 of what they could legally acquire and manage. 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:35.279 It is a profound legislative expansion. For decades, 00:07:35.459 --> 00:07:37.860 the bureaucratic frameworks focused overwhelmingly 00:07:37.860 --> 00:07:40.519 on terrestrial boundaries. Property law is very 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:42.920 good at drawing lines in the dirt. But for many 00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:45.300 Aboriginal and particularly Torres Strait Islander 00:07:45.300 --> 00:07:47.860 communities, their connection to country Their 00:07:47.860 --> 00:07:50.060 traditional economies and their cultural responsibilities 00:07:50.060 --> 00:07:52.220 do not stop at the high water mark. The sea, 00:07:52.439 --> 00:07:55.120 the estuaries, the tidal flats, the rivers, these 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:57.660 are just as vital as the dry land. Operationally, 00:07:57.759 --> 00:07:59.980 that shift is immense. I mean, for you listening, 00:08:00.139 --> 00:08:02.620 try to imagine the complexity. If you are managing 00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:04.860 physical earth, you are dealing with pastoral 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:07.639 properties, urban buildings, fencing soil management. 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:10.100 Which is complex enough. Right. But when you 00:08:10.100 --> 00:08:12.339 add water rights, sea assets, fisheries, and 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:14.579 coastal management into the mix, the complexity 00:08:14.579 --> 00:08:16.660 multiplies exponentially. You are now looking 00:08:16.660 --> 00:08:19.720 at entire interconnected ecosystems. You're dealing 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:22.220 with commercial fishing licenses, aquaculture 00:08:22.220 --> 00:08:25.199 enterprises, and the protection of marine environments. 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:28.339 They are tasked with helping communities reclaim 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:30.879 and manage the entire environmental continuum. 00:08:31.149 --> 00:08:33.730 It requires a highly sophisticated integration 00:08:33.730 --> 00:08:36.590 of traditional ecological knowledge with modern 00:08:36.590 --> 00:08:39.490 commercial and environmental regulatory frameworks. 00:08:40.110 --> 00:08:42.590 By expanding the remit to include the sea, the 00:08:42.590 --> 00:08:45.190 government finally aligned its statutory framework 00:08:45.190 --> 00:08:48.309 with the actual worldview of the indigenous peoples 00:08:48.309 --> 00:08:50.929 it serves. The division between land and sea 00:08:50.929 --> 00:08:54.289 is an artificial legal construct. Yes, imposed 00:08:54.289 --> 00:08:56.730 by Western law. Integrating them acknowledges 00:08:56.730 --> 00:08:59.309 that environmental stewardship and economic sustenance 00:08:59.309 --> 00:09:02.019 flow seamlessly between the two. So we have this 00:09:02.019 --> 00:09:04.000 sweeping mandate born from the overturning of 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.799 a centuries -old legal fiction tasked with securing 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:09.779 holistic land and sea assets. The obvious question 00:09:09.779 --> 00:09:12.480 that arises is, how do you fund something of 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:15.460 this magnitude? It is not cheap. No acquiring 00:09:15.460 --> 00:09:17.840 national assets running businesses and managing 00:09:17.840 --> 00:09:20.799 vast tracts of land is extraordinarily expensive. 00:09:21.379 --> 00:09:24.980 And the financial blueprint of the ILSC is one 00:09:24.980 --> 00:09:27.019 of the most compelling aspects of its history. 00:09:27.210 --> 00:09:29.570 The financial architecture established for the 00:09:29.570 --> 00:09:32.529 ILSC in the mid -1990s is a remarkable case study 00:09:32.529 --> 00:09:34.990 in public administration and forced discipline. 00:09:35.309 --> 00:09:37.250 Let's break down the numbers. The organization 00:09:37.250 --> 00:09:39.750 was established under the Land Fund and Indigenous 00:09:39.750 --> 00:09:43.990 Land Corporation ATSEC Amendment Act 1995. Just 00:09:43.990 --> 00:09:46.450 to clarify for listeners, ATSEC stands for the 00:09:46.450 --> 00:09:48.990 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. 00:09:49.450 --> 00:09:51.590 The peak representative body at the time. Right. 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:54.059 Under this act, the Australian government allocated 00:09:54.059 --> 00:09:57.720 an index sum of 121 million Australian dollars 00:09:57.720 --> 00:10:00.639 annually to the newly formed corporation. But 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:03.259 they instituted a very strict temporary runway. 00:10:03.419 --> 00:10:05.399 Extremely strict. They guaranteed this annual 00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:08.139 allocation for exactly 10 years, ending on June 00:10:08.139 --> 00:10:11.090 30, 2004. And the brilliance or the severity, 00:10:11.230 --> 00:10:13.169 depending on how you view it, lay in the rules 00:10:13.169 --> 00:10:15.710 attached to that decade of funding. The legislation 00:10:15.710 --> 00:10:17.669 stipulated that during those first 10 years, 00:10:18.009 --> 00:10:19.990 only one -third of that annual allocation could 00:10:19.990 --> 00:10:23.529 be spent on ongoing activities. So out of $121 00:10:23.529 --> 00:10:27.429 million a year, they could only use roughly $40 00:10:27.429 --> 00:10:30.509 million for their actual day -to -day operations, 00:10:30.649 --> 00:10:32.370 their projects, and their land acquisitions. 00:10:32.429 --> 00:10:34.870 Which leaves a massive chunk of change. Two -thirds 00:10:34.870 --> 00:10:38.059 of it. And that could not be touched for operational 00:10:38.059 --> 00:10:40.440 use. It had to be invested to build a permanent 00:10:40.440 --> 00:10:44.450 capital base. That is a staggering constraint 00:10:44.450 --> 00:10:46.710 for a new organization trying to make an immediate 00:10:46.710 --> 00:10:49.490 impact. It is entirely counterintuitive to how 00:10:49.490 --> 00:10:51.210 government agencies usually function. I mean, 00:10:51.289 --> 00:10:53.690 the traditional bureaucratic incentive is the 00:10:53.690 --> 00:10:55.970 use it or lose it model. Oh, absolutely. If a 00:10:55.970 --> 00:10:57.870 department doesn't spend its entire budget by 00:10:57.870 --> 00:10:59.950 the end of the fiscal year, its budget for the 00:10:59.950 --> 00:11:02.409 following year is often cut. The incentive is 00:11:02.409 --> 00:11:04.889 to spend aggressively. But the government forced 00:11:04.889 --> 00:11:07.629 the ILSC to act like a sovereign wealth fund 00:11:07.629 --> 00:11:10.850 from day one. They essentially said We acknowledge 00:11:10.850 --> 00:11:13.690 the historical debt and we are providing a significant 00:11:13.690 --> 00:11:16.429 injection of capital. But you must aggressively 00:11:16.429 --> 00:11:18.950 save and invest the vast majority of it because 00:11:18.950 --> 00:11:21.070 in a decade the tap will be permanently turned 00:11:21.070 --> 00:11:23.750 off. You can imagine the intense political and 00:11:23.750 --> 00:11:25.549 community pressure they must have faced during 00:11:25.549 --> 00:11:27.659 those first 10 years. The pressure would have 00:11:27.659 --> 00:11:30.419 been immense. You have communities urgently needing 00:11:30.419 --> 00:11:32.559 land acquired, needing economic development. 00:11:32.860 --> 00:11:34.960 And you have this corporation sitting on tens 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:37.600 of millions of dollars a year that they are legally 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:39.759 prohibited from spending on those immediate needs. 00:11:40.100 --> 00:11:42.820 The discipline required to stick to that delayed 00:11:42.820 --> 00:11:45.639 gratification model is immense. But the long 00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:48.019 term vision paid off in a way that is incredibly 00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:50.820 rare in public policy. Here's where it gets really 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:53.990 interesting. By June 2004, when the 10 -year 00:11:53.990 --> 00:11:57.309 allocation period ended, the ILSC had successfully 00:11:57.309 --> 00:11:59.610 built its capital base. They transitioned to 00:11:59.610 --> 00:12:02.460 becoming entirely self -sufficient. By 2015, 00:12:02.620 --> 00:12:05.179 they were operated with an annual budget of 118 00:12:05.179 --> 00:12:07.860 million Australian dollars, generated entirely 00:12:07.860 --> 00:12:09.860 from their own investments in commercial operations. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:13.019 They were no longer reliant on fresh annual grants 00:12:13.019 --> 00:12:15.059 from the federal government. It's a monumental 00:12:15.059 --> 00:12:16.899 achievement. Just think about that in the context 00:12:16.899 --> 00:12:20.299 of personal or business finance. How often do 00:12:20.299 --> 00:12:22.460 government -funded programs successfully wean 00:12:22.460 --> 00:12:24.899 themselves completely off public money? Almost 00:12:24.899 --> 00:12:27.399 never. To take a decade of strict funding and 00:12:27.399 --> 00:12:29.879 spin it into a perpetually self -sustaining entity 00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:33.419 that manages over $100 million a year is phenomenal. 00:12:33.820 --> 00:12:35.580 It means their investments had to yield enough 00:12:35.580 --> 00:12:38.840 return to cover inflation, weather market downturns, 00:12:39.259 --> 00:12:41.960 and still fund their massive mandate of land 00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:44.919 and water acquisition across the continent. It 00:12:44.919 --> 00:12:46.779 fundamentally alters their relationship with 00:12:46.779 --> 00:12:48.960 the government of the day. While they remain 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:51.879 a federal statutory authority, their financial 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:55.139 self -sufficiency provides a deep layer of operational 00:12:55.139 --> 00:12:57.399 independence. They're insulated. They're insulated 00:12:57.399 --> 00:12:59.980 from the immediate threats of annual budget cuts 00:12:59.980 --> 00:13:02.860 that plague so many other social, cultural, or 00:13:02.860 --> 00:13:06.500 environmental programs. When a government changes 00:13:06.500 --> 00:13:09.120 or when austerity measures are introduced, the 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:12.019 ILSC has its own capital base to rely on. It 00:13:12.019 --> 00:13:14.360 ensures that the long -term project of returning 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:17.539 land and building economic power isn't derailed 00:13:17.539 --> 00:13:20.100 by short -term political cycles. Precisely. That 00:13:20.100 --> 00:13:21.799 financial independence brings us to the question 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:24.360 of power and decision -making. if you have a 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:28.039 self -sustaining entity with a $118 million annual 00:13:28.039 --> 00:13:30.559 budget who holds the steering wheel. Governance 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:33.259 is everything. The ILSC sits under the Department 00:13:33.259 --> 00:13:36.220 of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the responsible 00:13:36.220 --> 00:13:39.139 minister is currently Mellarne Deary -McCarthy, 00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:43.419 the Minister for Indigenous Australians. But 00:13:43.419 --> 00:13:46.000 the entity making the actual policy and land 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.759 acquisition decisions is the board. The legislative 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:52.100 framework governing that board specifically under 00:13:52.100 --> 00:13:54.179 the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 00:13:54.179 --> 00:13:58.059 2005 is meticulously designed to guarantee a 00:13:58.059 --> 00:14:00.559 specific balance of power. The ILSC is governed 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:02.799 by a seven -member board appointed by the minister, 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:05.960 but the vital legal requirement is that the chairperson 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:07.879 and at least four other members of the board 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:10.559 must be indigenous. Five out of seven members. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:13.470 That is a legislated supermajority. The law doesn't 00:14:13.470 --> 00:14:16.289 just suggest a target for diversity. It structurally 00:14:16.289 --> 00:14:19.070 guarantees that Indigenous people hold the definitive, 00:14:19.309 --> 00:14:21.509 overriding balance of power in every single board 00:14:21.509 --> 00:14:24.429 decision. It's locked in. This is the crux of 00:14:24.429 --> 00:14:26.789 self -determination operating at an executive 00:14:26.789 --> 00:14:30.149 institutional level. If the foundational purpose 00:14:30.149 --> 00:14:33.049 of the organization is to assist indigenous peoples 00:14:33.049 --> 00:14:36.230 in acquiring land and managing assets for their 00:14:36.230 --> 00:14:39.649 own cultural and economic benefit, then the strategic 00:14:39.649 --> 00:14:42.909 direction simply cannot be dictated by non -indigenous 00:14:42.909 --> 00:14:45.590 bureaucrats. It just wouldn't work. By hardwiring 00:14:45.590 --> 00:14:47.769 that supermajority into the legislation, the 00:14:47.769 --> 00:14:50.090 system ensures that decisions about which lands 00:14:50.090 --> 00:14:52.929 to acquire, which businesses to invest in, and 00:14:52.929 --> 00:14:55.250 how to define cultural benefit are rooted in 00:14:55.250 --> 00:14:57.789 the lived experience and priorities of Aboriginal 00:14:57.789 --> 00:15:00.649 and Torres Strait Islander people. It is a structural 00:15:00.649 --> 00:15:02.750 safeguard against paternalism. Exactly. And we 00:15:02.750 --> 00:15:04.629 see that leadership reflected at the executive 00:15:04.629 --> 00:15:07.210 management level as well. The organization is 00:15:07.210 --> 00:15:09.769 currently led by CEO Joe Morrison and the chief 00:15:09.769 --> 00:15:12.740 operating officer is Trisha Stroud. There is 00:15:12.740 --> 00:15:15.299 a particularly notable historical milestone regarding 00:15:15.299 --> 00:15:18.779 Trisha Stroud that occurred in 2015. Yes. Trisha 00:15:18.779 --> 00:15:20.940 Stroud, formerly known as Trisha Button, made 00:15:20.940 --> 00:15:23.580 history within the ILSC when she was appointed 00:15:23.580 --> 00:15:26.840 as the deputy CEO in 2015. She became the first 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:29.279 Aboriginal woman to hold that position in the 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:31.799 organization's history, later transitioning to 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:34.519 the role of chief operating officer. It's a hugely 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:36.700 significant milestone. Think about the timeline 00:15:36.700 --> 00:15:39.500 there. The organization was founded in 1995. 00:15:39.950 --> 00:15:43.029 It took 20 years of operation before an Aboriginal 00:15:43.029 --> 00:15:45.830 woman shattered that specific glass ceiling and 00:15:45.830 --> 00:15:48.389 reached the deputy CEO position. It highlights 00:15:48.389 --> 00:15:50.809 the systemic barriers that exist even within 00:15:50.809 --> 00:15:53.549 organizations dedicated to Indigenous empowerment. 00:15:54.250 --> 00:15:57.090 It is vital to have visible top -tier leadership 00:15:57.090 --> 00:16:00.509 managing these vast resources. We are talking 00:16:00.509 --> 00:16:03.450 about overseeing complex national operations, 00:16:04.149 --> 00:16:06.389 multi -million dollar budgets, and widespread 00:16:06.389 --> 00:16:09.419 employment initiatives. It addresses the critical 00:16:09.419 --> 00:16:11.860 issue of the leadership pipeline. When an Aboriginal 00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:14.059 woman holds the operational reins of an entity 00:16:14.059 --> 00:16:16.759 with such a vast footprint, it shifts the corporate 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:19.500 culture. It influences how strategy is executed 00:16:19.500 --> 00:16:21.639 on the ground. It trickles down. Furthermore, 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:24.159 it serves as an indispensable model for the next 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:27.320 generation of Indigenous professionals. It demonstrates 00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:29.759 that the pathway isn't just about gaining entry 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:32.440 -level employment on traditional lands. It is 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:34.700 about holding the highest levers of executive 00:16:34.700 --> 00:16:37.820 power in the boardrooms where the macroeconomic 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:40.039 decisions are made. And building that pathway 00:16:40.039 --> 00:16:42.860 from the ground up to the executive level is 00:16:42.860 --> 00:16:45.580 a massive piece of what the ILSC actually does 00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:47.750 day to day. They are highly active. They are 00:16:47.750 --> 00:16:49.409 not just a real estate holding company waiting 00:16:49.409 --> 00:16:52.049 for land values to appreciate. They are deeply 00:16:52.049 --> 00:16:55.289 invested in human capital. In 2008, they rolled 00:16:55.289 --> 00:16:57.429 out an initiative called the Training to Employment 00:16:57.429 --> 00:17:01.269 Program, or T2E. Then in 2015, they executed 00:17:01.269 --> 00:17:04.250 a rebranding of that program that I think perfectly 00:17:04.250 --> 00:17:07.069 captures their evolution. They renamed it Our 00:17:07.069 --> 00:17:09.569 Land, Our Jobs. If we connect this to the bigger 00:17:09.569 --> 00:17:12.490 picture, the linguistic shift from training to 00:17:12.490 --> 00:17:15.740 employment To our land, our jobs is deeply significant. 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:18.279 It hits differently. Training to employment is 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:21.380 standard, sterile, bureaucratic jargon. It sounds 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:23.579 like any generic welfare to work program you 00:17:23.579 --> 00:17:26.579 might find in any government department. It implies 00:17:26.579 --> 00:17:28.859 a passive recipient being processed through a 00:17:28.859 --> 00:17:32.400 system. But our land, our jobs, reclaims the 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:34.960 narrative. It connects the economic outcome directly 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:38.259 and inextricably to the territorial asset. It 00:17:38.259 --> 00:17:40.759 reinforces the philosophy that the ILSC isn't 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:43.339 just about owning a piece of a map. The land 00:17:43.339 --> 00:17:46.119 is not merely a passive cultural artifact to 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:48.859 be preserved in amber. It is an active productive 00:17:48.859 --> 00:17:51.579 resource that rightfully should generate sustainable 00:17:51.579 --> 00:17:53.880 modern livelihoods for its traditional owners. 00:17:54.259 --> 00:17:57.279 It is a powerful conceptual pivot. It's a declaration 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:59.380 of ownership over both the territory and the 00:17:59.380 --> 00:18:02.200 economy built upon it. To see how our land, our 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:04.660 jobs actually materializes, we need to look at 00:18:04.660 --> 00:18:07.220 the sheer scale of the ILSC's operational footprint. 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:09.960 The scale is massive. Around 2015, the core corporate 00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:13.359 body directly employed 274 people. But that number 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:15.440 is barely the tip of the iceberg, because the 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:18.099 true economic engine of the ILSC is found in 00:18:18.099 --> 00:18:20.339 its standalone subsidiary businesses. This is 00:18:20.339 --> 00:18:22.099 where it gets really large scale. They don't 00:18:22.099 --> 00:18:24.900 just buy land and lease it out. They acquire 00:18:24.900 --> 00:18:27.920 massive assets and run them as fully functioning 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:30.940 commercial enterprises. This is where the ILSC 00:18:30.940 --> 00:18:33.859 transitions from a land acquisition fund into 00:18:33.859 --> 00:18:36.619 a major corporate player in the Australian economy. 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:39.559 By operating subsidiaries, they can directly 00:18:39.559 --> 00:18:42.000 control the employment environment. the training 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:44.359 pipelines, and the cultural integration of the 00:18:44.359 --> 00:18:47.059 businesses operating on Indigenous lands. Perhaps 00:18:47.059 --> 00:18:49.299 the most globally recognizable example of this 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:52.920 occurred in 2010. The ILSC acquired Voyage's 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:55.259 Indigenous Tourism Australia, which we usually 00:18:55.259 --> 00:18:57.559 just call Voyages. An incredible acquisition. 00:18:57.759 --> 00:18:59.359 And with that acquisition came the management 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:02.829 of Ayers Rock Resort at Eulara. Now for our international 00:19:02.829 --> 00:19:05.490 listeners or anyone who hasn't been there, Ulara 00:19:05.490 --> 00:19:07.829 is the town and resort complex that serves as 00:19:07.829 --> 00:19:11.029 the primary gateway to Uluru. The massive sandstone 00:19:11.029 --> 00:19:13.250 monolith in the spiritual heart of the Australian 00:19:13.250 --> 00:19:15.549 outback. It is one of the most iconic, sacred, 00:19:15.730 --> 00:19:18.309 and heavily visited sites on the continent. Acquiring 00:19:18.309 --> 00:19:21.480 voyages was a strategic masterstroke. It wasn't 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:24.420 merely a hospitality investment. They acquired 00:19:24.420 --> 00:19:26.799 the primary infrastructure that dictates how 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:29.140 millions of international and domestic tourists 00:19:29.140 --> 00:19:31.440 interact with the spiritual center of Indigenous 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:34.099 Australia. But the real story is what the ILSC 00:19:34.099 --> 00:19:36.799 did immediately following the acquisition. They 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:38.799 established the National Indigenous Training 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:41.440 Academy right there at Eulara. Their goal was 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:43.779 to provide young Indigenous people with accredited 00:19:43.779 --> 00:19:46.200 training in the hospitality industry. And the 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:48.359 statistics regarding the workforce transformation 00:19:48.359 --> 00:19:51.549 at the resort present a staggering turnaround. 00:19:52.269 --> 00:19:55.150 Here's the aha statistic. In 2010, at the exact 00:19:55.150 --> 00:19:58.269 moment the ILSC acquired the resort, the Indigenous 00:19:58.269 --> 00:20:02.049 workforce was sitting at a mere 1%. 1%. Let that 00:20:02.049 --> 00:20:04.970 sink in. At a massive tourist resort situated 00:20:04.970 --> 00:20:06.990 right next to one of the most sacred Indigenous 00:20:06.990 --> 00:20:08.950 sites in the world, the people actually working 00:20:08.950 --> 00:20:10.750 there, managing it and economically benefiting 00:20:10.750 --> 00:20:14.009 from it, were 99 % non -Indigenous. It's hard 00:20:14.009 --> 00:20:16.630 to fathom. But by 2015, just five years after 00:20:16.630 --> 00:20:18.849 the ILSC took over and established the training 00:20:18.849 --> 00:20:21.950 academy, the indigenous workforce had skyrocketed 00:20:21.950 --> 00:20:25.190 to approximately 32 percent. To move a workforce 00:20:25.190 --> 00:20:29.210 from 1 % to 32 % in half a decade, particularly 00:20:29.210 --> 00:20:32.309 in a remote location and within an industry known 00:20:32.309 --> 00:20:35.730 for high turnover, requires a monumental systemic 00:20:35.730 --> 00:20:38.190 intervention. It is a logistical and cultural 00:20:38.190 --> 00:20:41.049 triumph. We have to consider what that 1 % figure 00:20:41.049 --> 00:20:44.589 actually represented prior to 2010. It represented 00:20:44.589 --> 00:20:47.769 profound alienation. You had an economic engine 00:20:47.769 --> 00:20:50.490 extracting wealth from the proximity to a sacred 00:20:50.490 --> 00:20:52.829 site, while the traditional owners and other 00:20:52.829 --> 00:20:54.680 indigenous people were essentially locked out 00:20:54.680 --> 00:20:57.119 of the economic benefits of that tourism. It 00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:59.400 changes the entire texture of the place. If you 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:02.200 are a tourist visiting Uluru today, the likelihood 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:04.440 that you are being hosted by learning from and 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:06.599 interacting with indigenous staff is immensely 00:21:06.599 --> 00:21:08.960 higher. It transforms the tourism experience 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:11.660 from something potentially voyeuristic into a 00:21:11.660 --> 00:21:13.579 genuine cultural exchange. But more importantly, 00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:16.529 the wages. The management experience and the 00:21:16.529 --> 00:21:18.589 hospitality skills are flowing directly into 00:21:18.589 --> 00:21:21.349 Indigenous hands. It is the absolute embodiment 00:21:21.349 --> 00:21:23.829 of our land, our jobs. And they applied that 00:21:23.829 --> 00:21:26.089 exact same aggressive scaling model to other 00:21:26.089 --> 00:21:28.789 sectors, most notably agriculture. Right. In 00:21:28.789 --> 00:21:32.329 2014, the ILSC established another major subsidiary, 00:21:32.829 --> 00:21:35.829 National Indigenous Pastoral Enterprises, or 00:21:35.829 --> 00:21:38.569 NIPE. We have to contextualize this within the 00:21:38.569 --> 00:21:41.690 deep... often deeply painful history of pastoralism 00:21:41.690 --> 00:21:43.950 in Australia. And cattle and sheep farming industries 00:21:43.950 --> 00:21:46.130 were largely built upon the back of indigenous 00:21:46.130 --> 00:21:49.250 labor. For generations, Aboriginal people worked 00:21:49.250 --> 00:21:52.349 as stockmen and domestic workers on vast stations, 00:21:52.730 --> 00:21:55.430 often under highly exploitative conditions. And 00:21:55.430 --> 00:21:57.769 famously, in many cases, with their wages stolen 00:21:57.769 --> 00:22:00.349 or held in trust and never paid. It is a dark 00:22:00.349 --> 00:22:03.210 history of labor without ownership. But by creating 00:22:03.210 --> 00:22:06.490 NYPE, the ILSC completely inverted that dynamic. 00:22:06.809 --> 00:22:08.930 They positioned Indigenous people not just as 00:22:08.930 --> 00:22:10.750 station hands working for someone else, but as 00:22:10.750 --> 00:22:13.430 the owners and operators of massive agricultural 00:22:13.430 --> 00:22:15.509 enterprises on their own traditional lands. And 00:22:15.509 --> 00:22:17.349 again, the scale they achieved quickly is phenomenal. 00:22:17.730 --> 00:22:19.809 By 2015, just a year after its establishment, 00:22:20.250 --> 00:22:22.930 NYPE was a fully functioning subsidiary. They 00:22:22.930 --> 00:22:25.910 employed 246 Aboriginal people. Which represented 00:22:25.910 --> 00:22:29.490 an incredible 72 % of NIP's total workforce. 00:22:29.849 --> 00:22:32.609 Achieving a 72 % Indigenous employment rate in 00:22:32.609 --> 00:22:35.509 a major agricultural enterprise is a profound 00:22:35.509 --> 00:22:37.819 reclaiming of the pastoral landscape. And the 00:22:37.819 --> 00:22:41.039 ILSC recognized that to sustain this, they needed 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:44.319 to modernize and compete. In 2019, they launched 00:22:44.319 --> 00:22:46.779 the agribusiness investment program. This was 00:22:46.779 --> 00:22:49.660 designed specifically to inject funding into 00:22:49.660 --> 00:22:52.099 indigenous agricultural enterprises. It bridges 00:22:52.099 --> 00:22:54.980 the deep ancient cultural connection to the land 00:22:54.980 --> 00:22:58.039 with the harsh realities of modern competitive 00:22:58.039 --> 00:23:00.660 agribusiness. It provides the crucial capital 00:23:00.660 --> 00:23:03.329 required to upgrade infrastructure. purchase 00:23:03.329 --> 00:23:05.450 modern farming equipment, improve herd genetics, 00:23:05.829 --> 00:23:08.029 and compete on national and international supply 00:23:08.029 --> 00:23:10.690 chains. It's a complete ecosystem of support. 00:23:11.049 --> 00:23:13.109 So we have this incredibly impressive corporate 00:23:13.109 --> 00:23:15.730 portfolio. They're managing high -end tourism 00:23:15.730 --> 00:23:18.130 at Uluru. They're running vast cattle stations 00:23:18.130 --> 00:23:20.490 across the outback. They're achieving massive 00:23:20.490 --> 00:23:22.930 employment targets, all while operating a self 00:23:22.930 --> 00:23:25.130 -sufficient nine -figure annual budget. It paints 00:23:25.130 --> 00:23:27.869 a picture of a flawless, unstoppable corporate 00:23:27.869 --> 00:23:31.470 machine. But to really understand the ILSC, we 00:23:31.470 --> 00:23:33.769 have to look at what happens when that massive 00:23:33.769 --> 00:23:36.829 corporate mandate collides with a hyperlocal, 00:23:37.029 --> 00:23:39.349 deeply emotional, and politically charged community 00:23:39.349 --> 00:23:42.089 asset. And that tension brings us to Redfern. 00:23:43.309 --> 00:23:45.150 The events surrounding the National Center of 00:23:45.150 --> 00:23:47.769 Indigenous Excellence, or the NCIE in Redfern, 00:23:48.250 --> 00:23:50.970 provide a vital and complex counterpoint to the 00:23:50.970 --> 00:23:53.269 straightforward corporate successes of voyages, 00:23:53.549 --> 00:23:56.420 or NIPE. It illuminates the intense difficulties, 00:23:56.660 --> 00:23:59.319 the emotional stakes, and the fundamental philosophical 00:23:59.319 --> 00:24:01.819 clashes that occur when a national statutory 00:24:01.819 --> 00:24:04.339 authority is responsible for a local community 00:24:04.339 --> 00:24:07.019 sanctuary. To understand the stakes, we need 00:24:07.019 --> 00:24:09.359 to understand Redfern. Redfern is an inner -city 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:11.819 suburb of Sydney, and for decades it has been 00:24:11.819 --> 00:24:14.559 a deeply significant urban heartland for Indigenous 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:17.160 Australians. It has a rich history of activism, 00:24:17.559 --> 00:24:19.220 community organizing, and cultural resilience. 00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:21.539 But it also has a history of systemic disadvantage 00:24:21.539 --> 00:24:23.640 and intense, sometimes violent, friction with 00:24:23.640 --> 00:24:26.779 authorities. The NCIE was established in 2006, 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:29.140 built on the site of the former Redfern Public 00:24:29.140 --> 00:24:31.809 School, which the ILSC had acquired. But the 00:24:31.809 --> 00:24:34.509 timing of that acquisition is the critical context. 00:24:34.990 --> 00:24:37.490 It was established partly as a direct structural 00:24:37.490 --> 00:24:41.670 response to the 2004 Redfern riots. The 2004 00:24:41.670 --> 00:24:44.049 riots were a tragic flash point in Australian 00:24:44.049 --> 00:24:46.269 history. They were sparked by the death of a 00:24:46.269 --> 00:24:48.910 17 -year -old Aboriginal boy named TJ Hickey, 00:24:49.369 --> 00:24:51.769 who died after being impaled on a fence while 00:24:51.769 --> 00:24:54.049 riding his bicycle. His family and the local 00:24:54.049 --> 00:24:56.329 community believed he was being chased by a police 00:24:56.329 --> 00:24:59.490 vehicle, which the police denied. The grief and 00:24:59.490 --> 00:25:02.009 the deep -seated anger over historical policing 00:25:02.009 --> 00:25:05.210 practices in Redfern boiled over into intense 00:25:05.210 --> 00:25:07.150 clashes between the community and the police. 00:25:07.769 --> 00:25:10.269 The trauma of that event left a deep scar on 00:25:10.269 --> 00:25:13.089 the suburb. When the ILSC established the NCIE 00:25:13.089 --> 00:25:15.869 two years later, it wasn't just opening a community 00:25:15.869 --> 00:25:19.170 center. It was an act of intervention. The explicit 00:25:19.170 --> 00:25:21.509 intention was to create a safe haven to foster 00:25:21.509 --> 00:25:23.970 long -term well -being and to build a physical 00:25:23.970 --> 00:25:26.569 engine for healing and positive change in a community 00:25:26.569 --> 00:25:29.130 that was hurting deeply. And by all accounts, 00:25:29.210 --> 00:25:31.029 it succeeded brilliantly at becoming the beating 00:25:31.029 --> 00:25:34.089 heart of that community. The NCIE became a vibrant 00:25:34.089 --> 00:25:36.650 multi -purpose hub. They offered sports and fitness 00:25:36.650 --> 00:25:39.690 facilities, hosted conferences, and ran community 00:25:39.690 --> 00:25:42.210 classes with educational support specifically 00:25:42.210 --> 00:25:44.829 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 00:25:45.049 --> 00:25:47.309 They provided critical infrastructure like after 00:25:47.309 --> 00:25:49.710 school care, which allows parents to work. They 00:25:49.710 --> 00:25:52.130 ran programs for job seekers, health and cultural 00:25:52.130 --> 00:25:54.789 classes, and swimming lessons. And perhaps most 00:25:54.789 --> 00:25:56.890 poignantly, given the genesis of the center, 00:25:57.390 --> 00:26:00.289 they ran youth diversion programs in direct collaboration 00:26:00.289 --> 00:26:03.170 with the local police. That collaboration is 00:26:03.170 --> 00:26:05.740 extraordinary. To have a community center born 00:26:05.740 --> 00:26:08.140 out of the ashes of a riot against the police 00:26:08.140 --> 00:26:10.839 successfully evolving to a point where it is 00:26:10.839 --> 00:26:13.240 actively partnering with that same police force 00:26:13.240 --> 00:26:16.500 to keep local youth out of the justice system 00:26:16.500 --> 00:26:19.579 is the very definition of community healing and 00:26:19.579 --> 00:26:22.980 resilience. It demonstrates a sophisticated localized 00:26:22.980 --> 00:26:26.039 approach to social intervention. The Center became 00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:29.420 this incredible melting pot of Indigenous excellence 00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:31.740 and broader community integration. On any given 00:26:31.740 --> 00:26:33.519 day, you might see professional athletes training 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:35.599 there. Like players from the South, Sidney Rabideaux 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:37.839 is a local National Rugby League team, which 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:40.799 has a massive and deeply devoted Indigenous fan 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:43.160 base. You might see the Governor General visiting 00:26:43.160 --> 00:26:45.880 members of the Air Force alongside local elders 00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:49.960 and kids learning to swim. In mid -2022, the 00:26:49.960 --> 00:26:53.119 Center employed around 50 people. the vast majority 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:55.779 of whom were indigenous. It had been guided by 00:26:55.779 --> 00:26:58.240 highly respected leadership over the years, including 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:01.160 Jason Glanville in 2012, Kirsty Parker in 2015, 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:04.339 and Darren Hammond leading it in 2021. It was 00:27:04.339 --> 00:27:07.740 a thriving, indispensable asset to Redfern. Which 00:27:07.740 --> 00:27:12.160 makes the crisis of August 2022 so jarring. So 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:14.019 what does this all mean? How did we get to a 00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:17.180 crisis? The crisis in August 2022 represents 00:27:17.180 --> 00:27:19.460 a catastrophic breakdown in the management of 00:27:19.460 --> 00:27:22.359 a social asset. The ILSC, acting as the parent 00:27:22.359 --> 00:27:24.720 organization, was executing a plan to transfer 00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:27.380 the ownership of the NCIE site to a state -level 00:27:27.380 --> 00:27:30.200 entity, the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council 00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:33.180 or the NSWALC. In theory, this makes sense. Transferring 00:27:33.180 --> 00:27:35.259 a local asset from a federal body to a state 00:27:35.259 --> 00:27:37.400 -based land council aligns with principles of 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:39.519 localized control. The physical site officially 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:42.750 changed hands on June 30, 2022. Sounds like a 00:27:42.750 --> 00:27:45.190 standard administrative transition. But then 00:27:45.190 --> 00:27:47.289 everything imploded. It unraveled incredibly 00:27:47.289 --> 00:27:50.490 quickly. In early August, a sudden, shocking 00:27:50.490 --> 00:27:53.549 announcement was made. The NCIE would permanently 00:27:53.549 --> 00:27:56.730 close its doors on August 8. The community was 00:27:56.730 --> 00:27:59.609 given just a few days' notice. The ILSC and the 00:27:59.609 --> 00:28:02.509 new owners, the NSWALC, had fundamentally failed 00:28:02.509 --> 00:28:05.309 to agree on the ongoing financial support required 00:28:05.309 --> 00:28:07.359 to keep the center running. The negotiations 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:10.220 fell apart and the immediate casualty was the 00:28:10.220 --> 00:28:12.500 community center itself. The abruptness of that 00:28:12.500 --> 00:28:14.539 announcement is almost difficult to comprehend. 00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:17.759 You have a sanctuary that has spent 16 years 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:20.339 providing vital after school care employment 00:28:20.339 --> 00:28:22.519 training and preventative justice programs. And 00:28:22.519 --> 00:28:24.579 suddenly, due to a boardroom disagreement over 00:28:24.579 --> 00:28:27.799 operational budgets between two major indigenous 00:28:27.799 --> 00:28:30.519 organizations, the doors are being padlocked. 00:28:30.599 --> 00:28:33.220 The immediate human fallout was intense. The 00:28:33.220 --> 00:28:36.559 reaction from Redfern was instantaneous and incredibly 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:39.019 fierce. The staff of the NCIE and the broader 00:28:39.019 --> 00:28:41.700 community effectively occupied the site. They 00:28:41.700 --> 00:28:44.079 protested continuously for five days. You have 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:46.420 to imagine the profound heartbreak and the anger. 00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:48.900 The community was watching an organization named 00:28:48.900 --> 00:28:51.920 the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation alongside 00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:55.119 the state Aboriginal Land Council, two bodies 00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:58.930 whose explicit purpose is to empower them. failing 00:28:58.930 --> 00:29:01.789 to find a compromise to save the most vital community 00:29:01.789 --> 00:29:04.440 asset in the area. The optics and the reality 00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:07.319 were so disastrous that it escalated all the 00:29:07.319 --> 00:29:09.220 way to the highest levels of the federal government. 00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:11.920 It became an immediate national political crisis. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:14.019 Linda Burney, the federal minister for Indigenous 00:29:14.019 --> 00:29:16.539 Australians, and Tanya Plibersek, the federal 00:29:16.539 --> 00:29:18.640 environment minister whose electorate encompasses 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:21.299 Redfern, intervened directly. Minister Burney 00:29:21.299 --> 00:29:24.519 laid down a very public, very strict ultimatum. 00:29:24.759 --> 00:29:26.759 She declared that the closure was unacceptable, 00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:29.680 the center absolutely must stay open, and she 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:33.099 gave the ILSC and the Ince wall exactly one week 00:29:33.099 --> 00:29:35.619 to return to the negotiating table and find a 00:29:35.619 --> 00:29:39.460 solution. She forced their hand. It is high stakes 00:29:39.460 --> 00:29:42.160 political drama. But to play devil's advocate 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:44.119 here for a moment, and I think we need to interrogate 00:29:44.119 --> 00:29:46.339 the corporate reality of this, why were they 00:29:46.339 --> 00:29:48.279 closing it in the first place? This raises an 00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:50.319 important question about financial sustainability 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:53.039 versus social value. Right. Because if you look 00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:55.660 at the fundamental mechanics of the ILSC, They 00:29:55.660 --> 00:29:58.579 are mandated to manage a massive, self -sustaining 00:29:58.579 --> 00:30:00.740 financial engine. They have to protect their 00:30:00.740 --> 00:30:03.220 capital base to fund projects across the entire 00:30:03.220 --> 00:30:06.079 continent. And the center in Redfern had accumulated 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:09.000 a large financial debt. Its operational cost 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:11.559 -running pools, hiring staff, keeping the lights 00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:14.160 on for community programs, were significantly 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:17.009 exceeding the revenue it brought in. If you are 00:30:17.009 --> 00:30:20.529 tasked with managing $118 million of public funds, 00:30:21.210 --> 00:30:23.670 can you really justify running a subsidiary that 00:30:23.670 --> 00:30:26.730 is bleeding money year over year, regardless 00:30:26.730 --> 00:30:28.990 of how good the social programs are? At what 00:30:28.990 --> 00:30:31.630 point does strict fiduciary responsibility have 00:30:31.630 --> 00:30:34.190 to win out over community sentiment? That is 00:30:34.190 --> 00:30:36.289 the pivotal question. And it is the central dilemma 00:30:36.289 --> 00:30:38.809 for any statutory authority operating in the 00:30:38.809 --> 00:30:41.210 social sector. A strict corporate accountant 00:30:41.210 --> 00:30:43.710 looking purely at a traditional profit and loss 00:30:43.710 --> 00:30:46.349 statement would advise closing the subsidiary 00:30:46.349 --> 00:30:48.990 immediately to stop the financial contagion from 00:30:48.990 --> 00:30:50.930 affecting the parent company. If the ledger is 00:30:50.930 --> 00:30:53.680 red, you cut the asset. But that approach relies 00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:56.720 on a very narrow definition of value. And this 00:30:56.720 --> 00:30:59.440 is where the NCIE story introduces a fascinating 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:03.619 concept, the social return on investment or SROI. 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:05.799 SROI. This is where the math gets incredibly 00:31:05.799 --> 00:31:09.150 interesting because it attempts to quantify the 00:31:09.150 --> 00:31:12.690 unquantifiable. Exactly. SROI is a sophisticated 00:31:12.690 --> 00:31:14.769 framework for measuring and accounting for a 00:31:14.769 --> 00:31:18.029 much broader concept of value. It seeks to incorporate 00:31:18.029 --> 00:31:20.849 social, environmental, and economic costs and 00:31:20.849 --> 00:31:23.390 benefits that traditional accounting ignores. 00:31:23.549 --> 00:31:26.490 It asks what is the actual financial value of 00:31:26.490 --> 00:31:29.599 a social intervention. And the first SROI report 00:31:29.599 --> 00:31:32.279 conducted for the NCIE found something extraordinary. 00:31:32.680 --> 00:31:35.000 It determined that for every single dollar spent 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:38.039 on the center, the NCIE created three times the 00:31:38.039 --> 00:31:40.059 value for members of the community. A three to 00:31:40.059 --> 00:31:42.640 one return. A 300 % return on investment. But 00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:44.640 how do they actually calculate that? Because 00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:46.789 it's not cash in a register. It requires looking 00:31:46.789 --> 00:31:49.289 at the systemic economic impacts of social programs. 00:31:49.549 --> 00:31:51.630 Let's take the youth diversion program run with 00:31:51.630 --> 00:31:53.690 the local police. The traditional ledger only 00:31:53.690 --> 00:31:56.690 records the cost, the salaries of the youth workers, 00:31:56.910 --> 00:31:59.390 the electricity for the gym, the sports equipment. 00:31:59.970 --> 00:32:02.950 That is a pure financial loss on paper. Right. 00:32:03.130 --> 00:32:06.490 However, SROI asks what happens if that program 00:32:06.490 --> 00:32:09.450 doesn't exist? What is the statistical likelihood 00:32:09.450 --> 00:32:11.890 of those youths entering the juvenile justice 00:32:11.890 --> 00:32:14.569 system? And if a youth goes to a detention center, 00:32:14.670 --> 00:32:19.430 The cost to the taxpayer is astronomical. Hundreds 00:32:19.430 --> 00:32:21.750 of thousands of dollars a year in policing court 00:32:21.750 --> 00:32:24.990 costs and incarceration. If the NCIE keeps a 00:32:24.990 --> 00:32:27.349 youth out of that system, they have essentially 00:32:27.349 --> 00:32:29.569 saved the state a massive amount of money. It 00:32:29.569 --> 00:32:31.690 ripples out further than that. If a kid stays 00:32:31.690 --> 00:32:33.329 out of the justice system, they are more likely 00:32:33.329 --> 00:32:35.329 to finish school. If they finish school, they're 00:32:35.329 --> 00:32:37.210 more likely to enter the workforce, pay taxes, 00:32:37.589 --> 00:32:39.569 and avoid long -term reliance on social welfare. 00:32:40.139 --> 00:32:42.539 SROI tries to put a dollar figure on that trajectory. 00:32:43.240 --> 00:32:45.319 What is the financial value of the preventative 00:32:45.319 --> 00:32:47.039 health benefits from the swimming lessons and 00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:49.079 fitness programs? It reduces the burden on the 00:32:49.079 --> 00:32:51.400 local healthcare system. What is the economic 00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:54.119 value of providing reliable after -school care? 00:32:54.460 --> 00:32:56.660 It allows parents in Redfern to re -enter the 00:32:56.660 --> 00:32:59.299 workforce or increase their working hours. Precisely. 00:32:59.420 --> 00:33:02.039 When you aggregate all of those systemic savings 00:33:02.039 --> 00:33:05.579 and economic participations, the SROI report 00:33:05.579 --> 00:33:09.140 demonstrated that the NCIE was in fact wildly 00:33:09.140 --> 00:33:11.839 profitable. It was generating immense wealth 00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:14.640 for the community and the state, just in a currency 00:33:14.640 --> 00:33:16.579 that doesn't show up on a standard corporate 00:33:16.579 --> 00:33:19.099 balance sheet. So the five -day protest in August 00:33:19.099 --> 00:33:22.720 2020 and the subsequent boardroom battle wasn't 00:33:22.720 --> 00:33:25.099 just a squabble over a budget shortfall. No, 00:33:25.259 --> 00:33:27.980 it was a profound fundamental clash between two 00:33:27.980 --> 00:33:30.019 entirely different systems of accounting. On 00:33:30.019 --> 00:33:32.269 one side you have traditional corporate fiduciary 00:33:32.269 --> 00:33:34.990 duty pointing to a financial debt. On the other 00:33:34.990 --> 00:33:38.049 side, you had the SROI pointing to a 300 % social 00:33:38.049 --> 00:33:40.950 profit. And if the ILSC's foundational mandate 00:33:40.950 --> 00:33:44.210 from 1995 is to achieve cultural, social, environmental, 00:33:44.369 --> 00:33:47.190 and economic benefits, shouldn't a massive social 00:33:47.190 --> 00:33:49.910 return justify a financial deficit? It highlights 00:33:49.910 --> 00:33:52.329 the extreme tension of their dual mandate. They 00:33:52.329 --> 00:33:54.630 must be fiscally disciplined to remain self -sufficient, 00:33:54.890 --> 00:33:57.440 but they must also deliver social value. The 00:33:57.440 --> 00:33:59.759 intervention by ministers Bernie and Plaborsak 00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:02.619 was essentially a political validation of the 00:34:02.619 --> 00:34:05.299 SROI over the traditional balance sheet. The 00:34:05.299 --> 00:34:07.599 government stepped in and declared that the social 00:34:07.599 --> 00:34:10.440 and cultural value of the NCIE to the Redfern 00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:13.739 community was too high to let it fail, regardless 00:34:13.739 --> 00:34:16.320 of the immediate financial debt. It was a forceful 00:34:16.320 --> 00:34:18.880 reminder that an organization like the ILSC is 00:34:18.880 --> 00:34:21.179 not ultimately accountable to shareholders seeking 00:34:21.179 --> 00:34:23.800 a dividend. It is accountable to the communities 00:34:23.800 --> 00:34:26.380 it was built to empower. It is an incredibly 00:34:26.380 --> 00:34:29.280 powerful narrative, and it shows just how messy, 00:34:29.559 --> 00:34:32.400 complicated, and deeply human the business of 00:34:32.400 --> 00:34:34.500 land rights and community management truly is. 00:34:34.599 --> 00:34:37.239 It's not just signing a deed. No, it's arguing 00:34:37.239 --> 00:34:39.739 over the electric bill for a swimming pool that 00:34:39.739 --> 00:34:42.500 might literally be saving a kid's life. We have 00:34:42.500 --> 00:34:45.039 covered a vast expanse of territory today, both 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:47.480 literally and conceptually. It is a massive scoop. 00:34:47.679 --> 00:34:50.059 We started by looking at the seismic legal shift 00:34:50.059 --> 00:34:53.159 of the Mabua decision. the rejection of the Terranolius 00:34:53.159 --> 00:34:57.340 fiction and the birth of the ILSC in 1995. We 00:34:57.340 --> 00:34:59.699 saw how they took a strict 10 -year funding runway 00:34:59.699 --> 00:35:01.340 where they could only spend one -third of their 00:35:01.340 --> 00:35:05.300 allocation and spun it into a $118 million self 00:35:05.300 --> 00:35:08.170 -sufficient powerhouse. We examined the vital 00:35:08.170 --> 00:35:10.590 structural importance of their governance, ensuring 00:35:10.590 --> 00:35:13.170 that a legislated super majority of indigenous 00:35:13.170 --> 00:35:16.230 voices dictates the strategic direction of that 00:35:16.230 --> 00:35:18.590 capital. We track the incredible scaling of their 00:35:18.590 --> 00:35:21.710 economic ambitions through our land, our jobs, 00:35:22.309 --> 00:35:24.349 transforming the hospitality workforce Ayers 00:35:24.349 --> 00:35:28.159 Rock Resort from 1 % to 32%. And building a 72 00:35:28.159 --> 00:35:31.139 % indigenous workforce in the massive agricultural 00:35:31.139 --> 00:35:33.880 operations of N .I .P .E. And we ended in the 00:35:33.880 --> 00:35:36.280 streets of Redfern witnessing the intense friction 00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:38.820 between corporate asset management and hyper 00:35:38.820 --> 00:35:41.739 -local community survival, where a 300 % social 00:35:41.739 --> 00:35:44.199 return on investment ultimately proved that a 00:35:44.199 --> 00:35:46.039 center's worth is far more than the sum of its 00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:48.659 debts. The overarching three line of this entire 00:35:48.659 --> 00:35:51.380 exploration is that true land rights are not 00:35:51.380 --> 00:35:53.599 static legal concepts. They are dynamic living 00:35:53.599 --> 00:35:56.300 operations. They are the young hospitality workers. 00:35:56.269 --> 00:35:59.369 hosting international tourists at Uluru. They 00:35:59.369 --> 00:36:01.869 are the station managers running cattle across 00:36:01.869 --> 00:36:05.269 ancestral lands. They are the youth workers collaborating 00:36:05.269 --> 00:36:07.769 with police in urban Sydney. And they are the 00:36:07.769 --> 00:36:10.090 financial managers ensuring the capital exists 00:36:10.090 --> 00:36:13.369 to fund it all. It is the complex ongoing work 00:36:13.369 --> 00:36:16.050 of translating historical justice into future 00:36:16.050 --> 00:36:18.610 opportunity. Opportunity, resilience and power. 00:36:19.269 --> 00:36:21.329 As we wrap up this deep dive, I want to leave 00:36:21.329 --> 00:36:23.570 you the listener with a final thought to mull 00:36:23.570 --> 00:36:26.840 over Building on that dramatic clash in Redfern, 00:36:27.199 --> 00:36:30.360 we saw how the NCIE's social return on investment 00:36:30.360 --> 00:36:33.480 proved that it was creating immense wealth even 00:36:33.480 --> 00:36:35.659 while running a financial deficit. It challenges 00:36:35.659 --> 00:36:38.480 the very core of standard accounting. If a community 00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:41.019 asset can definitively prove that its social 00:36:41.019 --> 00:36:43.699 value so vastly outweighs its financial cost, 00:36:44.300 --> 00:36:46.460 should modern economics fundamentally rethink 00:36:46.460 --> 00:36:48.579 what it means for an institution to be in the 00:36:48.579 --> 00:36:50.539 red? It's a paradigm shifting question. Could 00:36:50.539 --> 00:36:52.840 the future of corporate and government accounting 00:36:53.329 --> 00:36:55.429 eventually evolved to place social impact scores 00:36:55.429 --> 00:36:58.829 on the exact same ledger as pure financial profit. 00:36:59.929 --> 00:37:02.010 Imagine how differently we might manage our cities, 00:37:02.130 --> 00:37:04.349 our schools, and our environments if we measured 00:37:04.349 --> 00:37:06.789 the true wealth of an asset not just by its cash 00:37:06.789 --> 00:37:10.050 flow, but by its SROI. Thank you so much for 00:37:10.050 --> 00:37:12.769 joining us as we unpack the massive complex machinery 00:37:12.769 --> 00:37:15.369 of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation. We'll 00:37:15.369 --> 00:37:17.510 catch you next time as we dive into another fascinating 00:37:17.510 --> 00:37:21.030 topic. Keep learning, keep questioning, and take 00:37:21.030 --> 00:37:21.329 care.