ABSTRACT
North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA) has been operating since 2001, representing Traditional Owners and Native Title Holders throughout the North. This chapter describes either the chair or CEO of NAILSMA since its inception. It explores a collective Indigenous view that North Australia development should be based on a decolonized land tenure system with an associated economic use that is both compatible and inclusive of Indigenous rights, knowledge and practices. Indigenous leaders come to the formal engagement process about northern development without partisan politics, without ideology. For the sake of sustainable development and reliable prosperity for those who live in the North, there comes a time when this ideological war must end. North Australia's Indigenous leaders have identified key underlying economic fundamentals requiring policy development and reform as a necessary pre-condition for northern development. There is an emerging northern economy based on traditional owners' connection with and knowledge of their country.
