I really want to see us put renewables into remote community energy systems and reduce the amount of diesel that we’re burning. 

The biggest challenge to an equitable energy transition in Australia is that equity is not the core value of the energy industry.

The transition to distributed clean energy has a lot of benefits for remote First Nations communities, but there are barriers in place that mean our people are being left behind and left out.

Including First Nations peoples in energy projects on their Traditional Lands can have far-reaching positive impacts and be mutually beneficial.

Western Australia has very strong solar resources and nationally competitive wind resources that are largely untapped. There is clearly much potential for the development of clean energy projects on land where First Nations communities hold an interest.

The combination of First Nations partnership, governance and equity is unequivocally the factor that unlocks positive impacts for First Nations communities and projects.

Despite significant energy justice issues, there is great opportunity for First Nations to play a leading role in the clean energy industry in Queensland, particularly given the scale of projects proposed.

Enabling and empowering First Nations to play a key and central role in Australia’s renewable energy transition goes beyond just social licence issues.

This paper was prepared to support conversations at the Mparntwe (Alice Springs) roundtable for the First Nations Clean Energy Strategy. The Northern Territory has some of the strongest solar radiation in the world and there is clearly much potential to develop clean energy projects on First Nations titled lands. 

Special thanks to Christian Bass for use of the photo.

Next week, community members in the Pilbara will be asked for their input into a plan for First Nations people to play a central role in the transition to renewable energy.

There is a massive global and domestic renewables energy transition underway that is driving generational shifts in energy systems. First Nations people can, and should benefit from this revolution, whether from small community-based projects, to large scale, export-focused initiatives.