From conflict to collaboration: can better governance systems facilitate the sustainable development of the northern pastoral industry, communities and landscapes?

The past decade has seen several high profile national policy conflicts related to sustainable development beset the northern Australian pastoral industry. Examples include the live cattle export ban, tree clearing legislation in Queensland and significant pastoral sector concerns about exploration and development of coal and gas reserves across the north. Although these are very legitimate cross-societal debates, the high levels of conflict associated with them impact on the willingness of corporate, family and Indigenous farming enterprises in northern Australia to invest in development. They also affect the willingness and capacities of pastoralists to cooperate with governments in various approaches to change management in northern landscapes. In the pursuit of a better pathway that might resolve policy problems while also delivering industry benefit, this paper analyses several high-profile industry and landscape scale conflicts from recent years, teasing out the key features of governance system dysfunction. At the same time, I also look at positive governance developments emerging in related contexts. Drawing on this analysis, I suggest the current system of governance affecting the northern Australian pastoral industry might have much to learn from the application of more evidence rich and engaging systems of co-management. I suggest that moving in this direction, however, would require Australian, state and Northern Territory (NT) governments to genuinely partner the industry, Traditional Owners and other key sectoral interests, leading to long-term vision building, strategy development and delivery partnerships that benefit industry and communities while resolving wider societal concerns.