The Birrarung Act: Between a Decolonial Nation-State and Settler- Colonialism
Keywords:
birrarung, yarra river protection act, decoloniality, legislative analysis, settler-colonialism
Abstract
The Yarra River Protection (Wilip-gin Birrarung murron) Act 2017 (Vic) established a #x2018;new and independent#x2019; body as the #x2018;voice of the river. The Victorian state government considers it to be at the legislative forefront in the emancipation of First Nations Australians. Whilst attempting to replicate some of the languages behind other political settlements agreed between settler- colonial states and First Peoples over rivers and their guardianship, the Victorian Act grants no legal personhood to the Birrarung. It does not establish First Nation Australians as the legal guardian of the river, either. Instead, the Act sets up a statutory advisory body which mandates at least two Indigenous Traditional Owner representatives out of twelve appointees (representing other stakeholders), as made by the Minister for Planning (Yarra River Protection (Wilip-gin Birrarung murron) Act). Despite the limited representation of Indigenous Peoples in the advisory body, the legislation does contain substantive provisions, indicative of a minor #x2018;decolonial moment#x2019; in the face of sustained #x2018;coloniality#x2019; by the nation-state. A philosophical analytical framework of #x2018;coloniality#x2019; is applied to the legislation to undrape exactly where the cutting edge of First Nations#x2019; emancipatory legislation actually is.
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2021-01-15
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