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The Miriuwung Gajerrong People are signatories to the Ord Final Agreement, a broad package of measures which implements a platform for future partnerships between the Miriuwung Gajerrong People, WA State Government, industry and developers for the benefit of the wider community and the East Kimberley Region.
Initially, the MG People instructed the MG Global Negotiations Steering Committee to advise the WA State Government that they had no interest in negotiating on any development of the Ord Irrigation Project Stage 2 until such time that the impacts of Ord Irrigation Project Stage 1, caused by the building of Lake Kununurra and Lake Argyle dams, were addressed. In response to this the WA State Government funded the Kimberley Land Council (KLC) to initiate a consultation process whereby the impacts of Ord Stage 1 could be addressed. In June 2004 the Aboriginal Social and Economic Impacts Assessment (ASEIA) Report was produced and, under the auspices of the Ord Enhancement Scheme (OES), is now being used to address those impacts.
The Agreement now recognises, through the ASEIA Report, the injustices of the past, in particular the ongoing impact of the flooding of Lake Argyle, whilst structurally shifting the MG People's social, economic and political position for the future.
The Agreement provides that this structural shift is to be achieved by the creation of a resourced corporation, Yawoorroong Miriuwung Gajerrong Yirrgeb Noong Dawang Aboriginal Corporation (MG Corp), which is to receive and manage the benefits to be transferred under the Agreement, under which there is to be established an Economic Development Unit. Flowing from this is the potential for future crucial jobs and training and a better more self sufficient standard of living for the community. MG Corp’s mission is to improve the social, cultural and economic well-being of the Miriuwung Gajerrong people. In this context, over the past 2 years, MG people have established a complex new governance structure and, aside from the main MG Corporation, there are 3 trustee subsidiary companies that will hold on trust the benefits of OFA. The representative nature of the Corporation is shaped by a traditional cultural structure. The 32-member Governing Committee is comprised of 2 representatives from each of the 16 dawang, or traditional land areas, which make up the Miriuwung Gajerrong native title lands. The benefits are to be shared by all MG People for community purposes. No individual payments can be made. |
