ABSTRACT
The Aboriginal movement is the most beleaguered of any of the new social movements in this study: its support base is extremely limited and official policies towards indigenous Australians have long contributed to the fragmentation of their communities and rendered political mobilisation difficult. The numerical and political isolation of indigenous Australians, combined with the effects of economic weakness and social dislocation, renders the Aboriginal movement powerless within the parliamentary political system. As a social movement, the Aboriginal movement has had to cope with the immense difficulties attendant upon the destruction, discrimination and disadvantage endured by indigenous Australians in all aspects of their existence: economic, political, social and cultural. Ironically, such independence can only be granted to indigenous people by non-indigenous people; entrenched power relations therefore place limits on the extent to which the Aboriginal movement can operate autonomously. Moreover, any protection ecotourism might provide to indigenous Australians is limited by the interests of more powerful players, notably mining companies.
