Themes in the North’s Recent History

Abstract

The last 50 years of north Australian history has been characterised by high profile conflicts surrounding major conservation campaigns, big resource developments and contentious government policy directions and outcomes with respect to Indigenous development. These conflicts draw much breath from major cultural divides between northern and southern Australia. The south has the finances, population and the locus of political power to exert major influence over the north. In the interests of the future of the nation as a whole, however, both the north and the south need each other, and a real effort is needed to reconcile these cultural differences. As a foundation for the balance of this book, this chapter explores where the future of the north may head without such reconciliation. It also considers the need for a clear forward agenda.