An Indigenous corporation on Western Australia's south coast wants to secure management rights over the region's national parks before the state government spruiks the area to private companies.
The WA government earlier this year announced $17.7 million had been set aside to develop national parks, including $6.5 million to establish sites for private investment like eco-retreats.
But Peter Bednall, Esperance Tjaltjraak Native Title Aboriginal Corporation (ETNTAC) chief executive officer, believes the state should finalise joint management agreements with traditional owners before inviting companies into the parks.
The agreements set out how traditional owners and the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) will together make decisions and recommendations about a park's management, including over cultural sites and values.
"What is the best way to bring traditional owners [to] have a genuine seat at the table?" Mr Bednall said.
"To explore what it means and what the opportunities are but also what are the threats from these types of developments?
"Joint management is the obvious way of doing that [and] we think that would be how these opportunities are potentially unlocked."
Some of the region's national parks have campgrounds that tourists pay to use but the arrangement does not benefit traditional owners.
The state government since 2012 has entered 16 formal joint management partnerships with WA traditional owner groups, spanning more than 46 parks and reserves.
A DBCA spokesperson said this equated to 22 per cent of its Parks and Wildlife Service-managed estate.
He said further agreements were being negotiated but did not say whether they would need to be finalised before private development occurred.
"A proposal would require the free, prior and informed consent of the relevant Aboriginal traditional owners to proceed in a national park," the spokesperson said.
Calls to focus on economic prosperity
Mr Bednall also said development opportunities within a park may be of interest to traditional owners, particularly if it created economic prosperity that flowed to the broader community.
Back in the early 2000s, Doc Reynolds, the outgoing chairperson of the WA Indigenous Tourism Operators Council (WAITOC), spent countless hours trying to open a resort at Lucky Bay.
But the world-famous site is within Cape Le Grand National Park and Mr Reynolds said tenure issues eventually killed the dream.
He still believed in the idea but, despite the state's current push for private development in the parks, thought a similar proposal would face the same issues.
"[But if another Aboriginal business operator was interested] I would support that and help them in that process," Mr Reynolds said.
"To ensure that there are huge opportunities for Aboriginal people."
Keen to explore opportunities
Mr Bednall said ETNTAC was keen to explore opportunities around owning tourist accommodation, which could see things like guided walks and cultural tours follow.
"From owning that underlying asset, you then see the business development naturally emerge," he said.
"But it comes from owning the underlying asset, an income-producing asset, that can produce returns that then get invested back into the community."
The DBCA spokesperson said it was supportive of opportunities for tourism operations to be owned and operated by Aboriginal traditional owners.
He said tourism accommodation operations in parks were typically managed under lease arrangements.
High return from Aboriginal ventures
WAITOC chief executive officer Robert Taylor said investment in Aboriginal tourism ventures was not only good for communities, it stacked up for the state.
He referred to a 2017 snapshot about Aboriginal tourism that showed it brought $43.8m in gross state product and $29.7m to state incomes, with 339 full time equivalent jobs.
Mr Taylor said this far exceeded government investment in the sector.
"I think, for a small sector of the tourism industry … the return on investment is quite huge," he said.
He pointed to the potential he saw in Camping with Custodians — a program operating in the state's north where campgrounds were built on Aboriginal land and operated by communities.
Mr Taylor would like to see more focus on similar asset development, which could help overcome barriers such as a lack of intergenerational wealth in many Aboriginal communities.
"It's very difficult to get any money to build these sorts of things," he said.
"It definitely needs more support."
