Pitfalls and Pipelines - Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links

Chapter 2.8: Importance of Free, Prior and Informed Consent
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they have gained. In 2007 I presented a paper to the United Nations
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Workshop in Salekhard in
Siberia. The Workshop was looking at the relationship between mining
companies and indigenous communities. At that time, Australia was
riding the crest of an economic wave—unemployment was low, mining
royalties were helping to grow the wealth of the country, and the mining
industry was providing new opportunities for our lives and lifestyle. The
only downside in a long list of positives was the high rate of indigenous
unemployment. But that had begun to change.
Indigenous unemployment had dropped significantly since 1994,
due largely to better relationships between extractive industries and
indigenous communities. Companies were after full access to indigenous
traditional lands and they were negotiating with traditional owners to
get that access. Indigenous peoples, in turn, were starting to take full
advantage of the economic opportunities being offered and it had resulted
in many and varied agreements.
Later, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples had been
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, subsequently supported
by the Australian government. Mining companies were negotiating in
good faith with indigenous peoples and the benefits for communities were
incrementally getting better and better. But more importantly for traditional
owners, through the native title processes, economic benefits were finally
starting to flow, predominantly due to the promotion of principles such
as free, prior and informed consent. Agreements with mining companies
had started to include not only monetary payments, but also employment
and training opportunities, and in some cases assistance for business or
entrepreneurial type development.
For traditional owners the system was finally giving a sense of belonging,
a semblance of much sought self-determination—an opportunity to
make decisions for their futures and the futures of their children. But
also, significantly, the right to make decisions about their land. Things
started to take a negative turn, however. The economic downturn meant
that those hard negotiated agreements were beginning to fray, and in a
significant number of cases, agreements were being left to lapse because
companies were being financially affected and people were losing their
jobs. Traditional owner groups had dutifully signed on the dotted line of
these agreements—but agreements that were signed in good faith were
becoming defunct. So what has been the cost to indigenous peoples?
Indigenous peoples have paid the ultimate price—in some cases,
traditional owners had traded away their rights to land.