First Nations Affairs

🎙️ Episode 3 | Embedding Authority: Outcomes, Accountability, and the Path Forward
Podcast Series: Reframing Reef Governance: Traditional Owner Leadership in Practice
Episode Description:
In the final episode of the series, Bec Blurton and Gugu-Badhun man Ben Gertz turn to outcomes — what six years of genuine co-design produced, where the process fell short, and what long-term accountability requires once a program of this kind concludes.
Over the life of the Reef Trust Partnership, $35 million was dispersed through Traditional Owner Technical Working Groups operating with genuine decision-making authority. The Healthy Water Committee allocated $5.5 million and supported the establishment of more than 260 ranger positions across the full length of the reef catchment. Ben reflects on the governance capacity built through the process and the individual journeys of committee members who entered uncertain of their credentials and left with the confidence to take on director roles and international engagements.
He is also direct about where the process fell short — in building relationships with mainstream conservation bodies and agricultural stakeholders and in reaching the central and southern sections of the catchment. The conversation addresses scalability, the risks of replication without depth, what long-term accountability looks like after a program ends, and what Ben hopes to see across the reef governance landscape in five years' time.

📍 A First Nations Affairs × Ben Gertz collaboration

#ReefGovernance #TraditionalOwners #Accountability #FirstNationsLeadership #GreatBarrierReef #Conservation #ClimateFinance #FirstNationsAffairs

www.firstnationsaffairs.com
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www.firstnationsaffairs.com

[email protected]

🎙️ Episode 2 | Operationalising Co-Design Across Institutions
Podcast Series: Reframing Reef Governance: Traditional Owner Leadership in Practice
Episode Description:
In this second episode, Bec Blurton continues her conversation with Gugu-Badhun man and Deputy Chair of the Healthy Water Traditional Owner Technical Working Group, Ben Gertz, moving from historical context to the practical realities of what genuine co-design required to function.
The Healthy Water Committee began its work in 2020 in the midst of COVID-19, meeting fortnightly on Zoom with a blank mandate and $8 million to allocate. Ben walks through what the first year actually looked like — not designing programs, but working through the institutional scepticism that decades of consultation had created. He reflects on what it took to believe the offer was real and why that process was essential rather than incidental.
The conversation also explores how Traditional Ecological Knowledge was integrated alongside Western science throughout the committee's work — not as supplementary input, but as a parallel knowledge system with its own rigour and depth. Ben shares a creation story from Gugu-Badhun Country that encodes 7,000 years of geological history and what it means for that knowledge to be in the room with genuine authority behind it.

📍 A First Nations Affairs × Ben Gertz collaboration

#CoDesign #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge #ReefGovernance #FirstNationsGovernance #GreatBarrierReef #IndigenousKnowledge #ESG #FirstNationsAffairs

www.firstnationsaffairs.com
[email protected]

www.firstnationsaffairs.com

[email protected]

🎙️ Episode 1 | Historical Settings and the Limits of Consultation
Podcast Series: Reframing Reef Governance: Traditional Owner Leadership in Practice
Episode Description:
In this opening episode, Bec Blurton sits down with Gugu-Badhun man and Deputy Chair of the Healthy Water Traditional Owner Technical Working Group, Ben Gertz, to examine the historical landscape of Traditional Owner engagement in reef conservation – and the structural conditions that made reform necessary.
A desktop review conducted at the outset of the Reef Trust Partnership found close to 600 water quality projects funded across the Great Barrier Reef catchment. Six were led by Traditional Owner groups. Less than one percent of total expenditure had reached them.
Ben reflects on what those numbers reveal about whose governance has historically been considered legitimate, what standard consultation has looked like in practice, and how the Reef Trust Partnership's approach — giving Traditional Owner Technical Working Groups genuine decision-making authority and a blank canvas — represented a meaningful structural departure.
We also discuss the role of trust in any genuine co-design process and why the time it takes to build it is not a delay to the work — it is the work beginning.

📍 A First Nations Affairs × Ben Gertz collaboration

#TraditionalOwners #ReefGovernance #CoDesign #GreatBarrierReef #FirstNationsLeadership #Conservation #ESG #FirstNationsAffairs

www.firstnationsaffairs.com
[email protected]

www.firstnationsaffairs.com

[email protected]

🎙️ Episode 3 Tools for Change
Podcast Series: Accountable to Country: Rethinking Corporate Law Through a First Nations Lens

Episode Description:
In the final episode of the series, Tyson McEwan turns to the legal tools already available, and those yet to be built, to hold corporations accountable to their reconciliation commitments and responsibilities on Country.

From shareholder activism to disclosure obligations, we explore how corporate law can be strategically leveraged to bridge the gap between promises and practice. We discuss the parallels between RAPs and other non-financial reporting regimes like climate and modern slavery, and outlines a future where RAP compliance is no longer optional, but expected.

This conversation invites listeners to imagine a legal and governance environment where First Nations rights and perspectives are structurally embedded into how companies operate.

📍 A First Nations Affairs × Tyson McEwan collaboration
 Based on: Holding Corporations to Account for their Supplier Diversity Commitments in Reconciliation Action Plans — Australian Journal of Corporate Law (2025) 

#CorporateLaw #FirstNationsGovernance #RAPAccountability #Disclosure #ShareholderActivism #ProtectCountry #FirstNationsAffairs

www.firstnationsaffairs.com

[email protected]

🎙️ Episode 2 When Commitments Don’t Deliver
 Podcast Series: Accountable to Country: Rethinking Corporate Law Through a First Nations Lens

Episode Description:
RAPs have become the go-to model for corporate reconciliation, but what happens when commitments don’t deliver?

In this episode, we examine the structural weaknesses of Reconciliation Action Plans, focusing on the voluntary nature of their commitments and the lack of enforcement that leaves First Nations businesses exposed. We explore how supplier diversity can be a vehicle for economic justice and unpack the risks of relying on goodwill over governance.

Drawing on legal analysis and real-world examples, Tyson outlines the gap between symbolic commitments and tangible outcomes, and reflects on how organisations can take a more accountable and embedded approach to reconciliation.

📍 A First Nations Affairs × Tyson McEwan collaboration
 Based on: Holding Corporations to Account for their Supplier Diversity Commitments in Reconciliation Action Plans — Australian Journal of Corporate Law (2025)

#CorporateAccountability #RAPs #SupplierDiversity #FirstNationsEconomics #Governance #EconomicJustice #FirstNationsAffairs

www.firstnationsaffairs.com

[email protected]

🎙️ Episode 1 Walking in Two Worlds
 Podcast Series: Accountable to Country: Rethinking Corporate Law Through a First Nations Lens

Episode Description:
In this episode, Tyson McEwan explores what it means to walk in two worlds and how this lived experience informs a First Nations perspective on corporate law, governance, and accountability.

Drawing on his recent article published in the Australian Journal of Corporate Law, Tyson reflects on the role of cultural protocol in business, the legacy of historical exclusion, and the structural significance of supplier diversity within Reconciliation Action Plans. We discuss why corporate commitments must move beyond symbolic gestures and what meaningful accountability looks like when grounded in First Nations values and economic self-determination.

📍 A First Nations Affairs × Tyson McEwan collaboration
 Based on: Holding Corporations to Account for their Supplier Diversity Commitments in Reconciliation Action Plans — Australian Journal of Corporate Law (2025)

#TwoWorlds #FirstNationsGovernance #CorporateLaw #SupplierDiversity #EconomicJustice #CulturalProtocol #FirstNationsAffairs

www.firstnationsaffairs.com

[email protected]

🎙️ Episode 4 Title: Rethinking the System: What Real Government Support Looks Like
Podcast Series: First Nations Economics

Episode Description:
In the final episode of the series, Ben Ainsworth outlines what real support for First Nations economic development should look like and why the current approach continues to fall short.

From shareholder resolutions to Indigenous data sovereignty, Ben maps out the structural mechanisms that could hold corporations and governments accountable to their RAP commitments. He calls for institutions that are First Nations-led, not just First Nations-facing and lays out a blueprint for economic reform grounded in self-determination and equity.

This episode is a call to rethink what support means and who gets to define it.

Read the article here.

 📍 A First Nations Affairs × Ben Ainsworth collaboration

#SystemReform #RAPAccountability #SelfDetermination #FirstNationsPolicy #ShareholderAction #InstitutionalChange

www.firstnationsaffairs.com

[email protected]

🎙️ Episode 3 Title: What Happens When You Put Culture Inside the Economy
Podcast Series: First Nations Economics

Episode Description:
In this third episode, Gija man and First Nations economist Ben Ainsworth explores what shifts when First Nations cultural values aren’t just acknowledged, they’re embedded directly into economic decision-making.

Ben breaks down how Western models of productivity and value creation often miss the mark when applied to Indigenous business. He explains how culturally grounded economies define success differently, prioritising community wellbeing, continuity of culture, and connection to Country.

This episode challenges conventional thinking about productivity, return on investment, and economic “growth” and offers a compelling case for redesigning the system from the inside out.

Read the article here
📍 A First Nations Affairs × Ben Ainsworth collaboration

#CulturalCapital #ProductivityReframed #IndigenousEconomies #FirstNationsLeadership #SystemicChange

www.firstnationsaffairs.com

[email protected]

🎙️ Episode 2 Title: Two Economies, Two Value Systems
Podcast Series: First Nations Economics

Episode Description:
In Part 2 of the First Nations Economics series, Ben Ainsworth explores what happens when we stop asking First Nations businesses to conform to Western models and start valuing Indigenous economic systems on their own terms.

This episode unpacks why “economic participation” doesn’t always mean joining the mainstream. Instead, Ben dives into the core differences between First Nations and settler economies, from values and motivations to what constitutes success, and lays out a vision for coexistence that doesn’t rely on convergence.

Read the article here.
📍 A First Nations Affairs × Ben Ainsworth collaboration

#TwoEconomies #CulturalCapital #SelfDetermination #IndigenousLeadership #ESG #FirstNationsAffairs

www.firstnationsaffairs.com

[email protected]

🎙️ Episode 1 Title: Why Social Programs Alone Won’t Close the Gap
Podcast Series: First Nations Economics

Episode Description:
In this opening episode, Gija man and First Nations economist Ben Ainsworth reframes inequality through an economic lens. For too long, First Nations issues have been treated solely as social challenges but economic exclusion and structural barriers have played a central role in the persistent gap.

Ben introduces a foundational model to guide this series: the relationship between society, law, and economy. Through it, he explains why current approaches fail and what it would take to build real pathways to economic participation for First Nations people.

This episode sets the stage for a bold rethinking of how systems, structures, and value are defined in Australia.

🔗 Read the accompanying essay: [HERE]
📍 A First Nations Affairs × Ben Ainsworth collaboration

#FirstNationsEconomics #ClosingTheGap #SystemicReform #IndigenousBusiness #EconomicJustice

www.firstnationsaffairs.com

[email protected]