Indigenous

Fortescue Metals Group’s recent awarding of $179 million in contracts to Aboriginal businesses highlights two different approaches to indigenous development.

Two Aboriginal businesses have been awarded $179 million of contracts by Fortescue Metals Group, with chief executive Elizabeth Gaines saying the miner was focused on practical initiatives to end disparity.

Kalgoorlie business Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils, which supplies global fashion brands including Estee Lauder, has become the first Australian organisation to win the United Nations’ Equator Prize.

More than 1,300 people attended a National Reconciliation Week breakfast this morning in Perth and heard newly installed minister Ken Wyatt deliver a positive message about progress to date and urge optimism and trust for the future.

Five indigenous students are the inaugural recipients of the Dr Tracy Westerman Aboriginal Psychology Scholarship at Curtin University, with its patron, Western Australian governor Kim Beazley, officially launching the program at Government House.

Woodside Petroleum, Curtin University, Lendlease and Qantas are among a raft of prominent organisations to join the country’s big miners, major law firms and finance businesses in pledging support for the politically contentious Uluru statement.

One of the state’s largest indigenous contractors, which counted Fortescue Metals Group and Roy Hill Holdings among its clients, has been placed into liquidation.

Fortescue Metals Group has agreed to revise the alignment of its Eliwana rail line, currently under construction in the Pilbara, to avoid damaging Aboriginal heritage sites. FMG’s decision is a win for Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation.

Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation has failed in its attempt to overturn a key state government ruling concerning Fortescue Metals Group’s Eliwana iron ore project.

Big business has stepped up its campaign in favour of a constitutionally enshrined ‘voice’ for indigenous Australians, with BHP Group chief executive Andrew Mackenzie using a speech in Perth this morning to endorse the proposal.

Indigenous contractor Gumala Enterprises has secured a $16 million contract at Rio Tinto’s West Angelas mine, in what is the company’s single biggest contract win in the past five years.

The state government has reluctantly accepted an improved offer from the Commonwealth for remote housing funding.

Kimberley Wild Expeditions, a member of the Indigenous Champions Program, won the tourism industry’s highest prize over the weekend, just days after the Tourism Council WA called on the state government to maintain funding for Aboriginal tourism.

Indigenous contractor Gumala Enterprises has secured a series of new contracts, including with iron ore miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, worth a combined $15 million.

Andrew Forrest-led GenerationOne, in partnership with the federal government, has today launched an Indigenous vocation training and employment centre at the Acacia Prison, with accommodation group Ebenezer Aboriginal Corporation (EAC) appointed as the program operator.

The state government has formally commenced seeking a UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Burrup Peninsula, which is home to some of WA’s largest industrial facilities and signalled any new projects will need to meet the highest environmental standards.

Majority Aboriginal-owned business Wilco Electrical recently secured distributorship across the state for cutting-edge US technology that draws water from air.

SPECIAL REPORT: An emerging indigenous contractor has called for a strategic rethink of the sector after a tumultuous year.

SPECIAL REPORT: Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation is a registered native title body that has evolved rapidly in recent years to have growing commercial operations supported by strong governance and financial practices.

A joint venture between indigenous group Njamal Services and Pilbara Resource Group has added to its work book as a sub-contractor to MACA on a major lithium project.

A joint venture established by global waste management company Veolia and indigenous partner Our Country has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract covering Rio Tinto’s entire Pilbara iron ore operations.

A team of talented young indigenous artists has brought colour to the walls of a retail space in Watertown, owned by Lendlease, with the opening of a new gallery led by 21-year-old Noongar man Peter Farmer Jnr.

New Century Resources has awarded a mining services contract to an indigenous joint venture as part of what the company claims to be an Australian-first agreement with traditional owners.

Aboriginal communities in Western Australia's Kimberley region have had their native title rights recognised over 12,050 square kilometre of land on the Dampier Peninsula, including James Price Point.

A Supreme Court judgement and a stoush with the state government over a new iron ore mine have shone a revealing light on the activities of the Eastern Guruma people and their business interests.

Australian Aboriginal Mining Corporation chairman Daniel Tucker is confident the company will become the first Aboriginal-owned and operated iron ore miner this year, after signing a mine gate sales deal with Fortescue Metals Group.

Roebourne-based indigenous group Ngarluma Yindjibarndi Foundation, which employs more than 50 people at its business operations throughout the Pilbara, has been placed into voluntary administration.

Fourteen females have been inducted into the WA Women’s Hall of Fame today as part of International Women’s Day, while a new report out reveals a spike in female board appointments to start the year.

A unique initiative launched earlier this month based on the six seasons of the Noongar calendar aims to grow indigenous leadership skills through culturally appropriate training, according to co-founder Rishelle Hume.

Collaboration is key for the launch of the West Australian Ballet’s 2018 season, as ballerinas and indigenous dancers come together to perform the contemporary work Milnjiya, while opera singer Deborah Cheetham provides support with a score of traditional indigenous sounds.

A fashion collaboration between internationally renowned Jimmy Choo, local designer Alvin Fernandez, and Western Australian indigenous artist Peter Farmer was brought to Perth earlier this week for a temporary exhibition.

Indigenous contracting group Eastern Guruma, which has contracts or joint ventures with the likes of Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group, NRW Holdings and Carnegie Clean Energy, has been placed into administration.