As Australia transitions to a clean energy future, Original Power and the First Nations Clean Energy Network are representing Indigenous peoples to ensure communities benefit from renewables and have a voice on how developments on country take shape, writes EcoGeneration editor Gavin Dennett.
The global renewable energy transition is arguably the biggest challenge of our lifetime as the planet urgently addresses the ravages of climate change. In Australia, the accelerated clean energy revolution is moving at cyclonic pace, but as the nation navigates endless policy and regulatory strata, it is imperative no communities get left behind.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, there is tremendous opportunity to be at the forefront of the fight against climate change. However, there are cultural sensitivities that need to be respected as First Nations peoples have every right and responsibility to care for country on which they inhabit.
This is where Original Power plays a vital role. During the past four years, the non-profit has been representing the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in defending country and challenging the legacies of colonisation that have disrupted their capacity to stand up for their Australian lands and waters.
“Original Power has been around for four years and our mission is to work with communities to self-determine what happens on country in the context of climate change,” says Karrina Nolan, executive director, Original Power, and founder of the First Nations Clean Energy Network.
“A lot of the communities we have worked with have been dealing with expansion of fossil fuels, and many are in areas where there is a direct choice between fossil fuel development and renewable generation.
“Initially, people were just trying to keep the lights on. Some of our early projects were about getting communities away from dependence on diesel and looking towards affordable, sustainable green energy. We realised there are all these other components, including what would happen if communities owned and ran those projects, generated their own power and were able to make an income off it.”
For the first 18 months in existence, Original Power ran roundtables talking to unions, academics, community leaders and native title lawyers. It soon became apparent for the need to set up an organisation that solely focuses on building First Nations capability that can also lobby and negotiate at all levels of government. That is when the First Nations Clean Energy Network was born – a collective of communities and organisations collaborating with industry, investors, unions, academics, legal and technical experts.
“We looked at country, and internationally, and realised the clean energy revolution is moving at an incredible pace, and the uptake of solar PV in Australia is rising, but we couldn’t tell anyone how many were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander households,” says Nolan.
“We realised the presence of barriers at that level, as well as barriers at the medium-scale and large-scale development stage. We spent 18 months running roundtables and talking to our Indigenous Clean Energy counterparts in Canada to work out how to solve the problem, before launching in 2021 in Alice Springs.”
The First Nations Clean Energy Network and its steering committee has since refined the organisation into three pillars:
- Community: Helping communities to shape the design, development and implementation of clean energy projects at every scale, including building community capacity through education, training and facilitation of the planning and build of community-scale projects; connecting First Nations energy businesses with each other, providing a network of specialists and experts for communities to access where technical advice is needed; and mentoring First Nations communities and organisations regarding potential renewable energy projects and managing them. This collaboration process involves working with Original Power, and other organisations such as Alinga Energy Consulting and Impact Investment Partners to deliver community-initiated clean energy projects.
- Industry partnerships: Building productive partnerships with industry, investors and government to design projects that ensure benefits are shared and communities are engaged in their planning and design. The network acts as an innovation hub, promoting best-practice standards and principles that companies should adopt and investors should require before committing capital to a clean energy project. It also offers advice and training to First Nations organisations to manage clean energy projects and businesses.
- Policy: The network advocates to lift federal and state regulatory barriers to energy security and clean energy generation, ensuring laws and systems allow First Nations households and communities to enjoy the benefits of reliable and cheaper clean energy. The network also campaigns to strengthen laws to protect cultural heritage and sacred sites.
“We have launched best-practice guidelines, with the idea being to say to industry we want it to do the right thing with common-sense principles regardless of land tenure arrangements. Industry players have been keen to work with us, but we need to rebuild trust with some communities who have had bad experiences with some of them. Also, aspirations can be a bit low with some of the communities so we are supporting people to see what they can be.”
The First Nations Clean Energy Network has its work cut out when it comes to policy reform given the complex nature of Australia’s renewable energy regulatory framework.
“The regulatory arrangements for renewables are so haphazard and ad hoc,” says Nolan. “Things are different in all the jurisdictions, but we are doing a First Nations clean energy strategy and co-designing it with the Federal Government.
“That involves looking at the various jurisdictions and understanding what could be reformed. It shouldn’t matter if you live in social housing – you can still put solar on your roof or get a battery, get a rebate for it, whether you own the asset or not. Those obstacles are not insurmountable.
“Transmission is a pretty big issue, ensuring it is done in a way that doesn’t crisscross the cultural landscape, or be in places it shouldn’t be. Offshore wind and cultural and sea rights is another issue.
“There are financial inequities in the way our communities are living, and we are trying to address that. But there is genuine goodwill and commitment from government and industry that we can do things differently. Our people have shown a lot of trust, and this is an opportunity to reset relationships with how medium-scale and large-scale industry has been done on country.
“There is still a long way to go and a lot of projects in the pipeline so we have to move quickly. If the government wants to not dig up any more fossil fuels, they need to move at pace, but it needs to be with justice at the forefront.”