Written by Ralph Johnstone

Across the Internet, you can find countless stories of ‘cool burns’ and the genius of First Nations land managers who for thousands of years have been strategically shaping and nurturing Australia’s wilderness through the power of fire. But try to search for traditional river management tools and techniques, and the ground gets as murky as a Murray River tributary after the rains.

“You won’t find any of this information online, because our mobs don’t want to lose control of it,” explains Uncle Mike Gilby, acting CEO of the First People of the Millewa-Mallee Aboriginal Corporation, and a legendary steward of the southern Murray-Darling Basin. “We don’t want this information to be exploited. We’ve been there and done that – we’ve got at least 10 tee-shirts! If you want to know this kind of traditional knowledge, you have to come and sit with us. We have to build trust from the start, together.”

In many decades living in the basin, Uncle Mike has learned dozens of vital bushskills that his people have been using for millennia to manage and keep these rivers healthy. As a youngster growing up in northwest NSW, he learned about the purifying qualities of the granite and river sands that kept water clean in the legendary Byrock rockholes. As a young ranger, he saw how the sedges and phragmites in the Macquarie Marshes trapped impurities and created plankton-rich areas vital for native fish. And later, during the Millennium Drought, he helped to deflect an “awful” proposal to poison simultaneous infestations of weeds and rabbits on Victoria’s Chowilla Floodplain – instead convincing local authorities to flood the area, drowning the weeds and enabling easy capture of the rabbits.

Geoff Reid, the First Nations Engagement Lead at One Basin CRC, likes to quote that Chowilla story as testimony to the “beautifully simple” solutions of traditional First Nations river managers – solutions that have either been ignored, disparaged, or misappropriated without any of the approvals or acknowledgements that are, belatedly, becoming a part of cultural and ecological research practice.

“In recent times, we’ve been so focused on poisons and pesticides that we’ve usually been working harder, not smarter,” says Geoff. “We have these amazing natural weapons in fire and flood that can help us solve many of our land and water challenges without any chemicals. Sometimes you have to take a step back and ask the right questions to the right people – and of course, those are often the people who have thousands of years of wisdom behind them.”

Identifying Indigenous priorities

As it prepares to embark on its third year, One Basin CRC is stepping up work on one of its five core organisational priorities: to become “an exemplar of embedding First Nations in water management and research”. That not only means more projects that specifically target First Nations priorities, but raising the organisation’s own Indigenous representation and knowledge, and promoting opportunities to build the capacity and engagement of Indigenous people across all of its programs.

One Basin is already walking the talk when it comes to First Nations involvement. As well as First Nations representation on its board with two members, and representatives on its four Regional Advisory Committees, the CRC in July appointed its first First Nations Research Lead, a deeply passionate academic called Troy Meston, who’s spent his first few months auditing the Centre’s projects and consulting with academic and industry partners to identify opportunities for elevating its First Nations research focus. In November, Troy presented a series of principles to promote traditional science across One Basin’s research portfolio, as well as economic, employment, and training opportunities for Indigenous people. The principles, which will be presented to One Basin’s board in late February, are based on broad recognition of the displacement, misappropriation, and unceded sovereignty that have characterised recent relationships in the Murray-Darling Basin, and the need for ‘practical self-determination’ to ensure Indigenous communities and scholars are supported as equal partners in the Centre’s research going forwards.

“We have to be honest about past injustices in the Murray-Darling Basin,” says Troy. “It wasn’t long ago that our traditional knowledge was being blatantly misappropriated by researchers in some of these areas, and even parts of our ancestors were being taken overseas in the name of research. For many Aboriginal people, there still has to be restitution for these injustices before they’ll want to contribute our First Nations knowledge to any modern scientific research.”

The First Nations principles prepared for One Basin’s board propose the establishment of a ‘First Nations Applied Management Advisory Committee’ – comprised of representatives from outside the basin – to guide the selection and co-design of projects with a primary First Nations focus, and advise management on issues of policy, ethics, and the protection and potential commercialisation of Indigenous knowledge.

“Our policy aims to bring One Basin up to speed with the international movement to bring Indigenous scholars into mainstream academic circles, where their voices have only really been heard in Australia since the turn of this century,” explains Troy. “With the CRC’s clear organisational commitment to including and valuing traditional science in its research, we can finally see the possibility of research that has real meaning to our people – and the purpose and participation that this can engender.”

Five new projects

In addition to the CRC’s current Stories of One Basin project, which aims to build a unique database of First Nations research and a community of best practice for future research, the new policy will support a number of new projects with specific First Nations priorities and goals. They include exploring the commercial potential of native grains and biochar from cotton residues, culturally-appropriate ‘data ecosystems’ to protect nature-based IP, and a potential white paper by ANU researchers to promote a basin-focused wealth fund for economic empowerment.

The fifth project, called simply ‘The Billabong Project’, offers the intriguing possibility of bringing emaciated wetlands back to life simply by adding water. The project is based on the first-hand experiences of Ngemba leader Uncle Feli McHughes, who gained considerable acclaim among ecologists in 1997 when his “instinctive” decision to pump half his 900-megalitre water licence into a parched billabong in the Upper Darling Basin brought the wetland – instantly and quite miraculously – back to life.

Now, Uncle Feli is hoping to turn his “epiphany” into a replicable, scientifically-informed model of natural restoration that could resurrect 200km of dehydrated billabongs along the Barwon River – together with associated programs of fish restocking, bushtucker regeneration, and floodplain repair.

Although Feli has worked with scientists from CSIRO and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, has built several medical clinics and a youth employment scheme, he says the one legacy he’d love to leave his people is the resurrection of his beloved billabongs.

“Billabongs develop the antibiotics for the whole river system,” he says. “At the moment, so many of these billabongs are stagnant, lifeless… We know as First Nations people that they’re laboratories, where fish breed and frogs spawn. They absorb nutrients and flush out pollutants – they’re vital for the rivers’ health.

“When I pumped that water in, the billabong came back to life in a matter of weeks. Grasses grew, frogs spawned, fingerlings appeared… it was teeming and joyous again. People said: you’re mad wasting a water allocation like that. But the proof is right there. A billabong knows when you’re in sync with it.”

“Sometimes people will say things like: ‘We’re doing research with wine – we don’t want to have First Nations people involved’. Or even: ‘We’re going to be working with irrigators, and they have a difficult history with First Nations people, so maybe it’s better not to bring them together’. Really? Bringing people together is the whole point!”

– Geoff Reid, First Nations Engagement Lead, One Basin CRC

In 2009, Feli started working with river scientists on a management plan for billabong and wetland restoration. But it wasn’t until 2022, at One Basin’s first annual event in Albury, that a plan started to coalesce to combine his work with the nutrition needs of Indigenous communities, where fish are disappearing from local diets. Under the CRC’s First Nations Research Policy, the organisation will fast-track a proposal to explore co-funding opportunities for the Billabong Project with a number of Commonwealth agencies.

“We mustn’t be afraid to think big,” says Feli. “It’s human spirit that makes big changes, not just technology. Right now, we have two people with a special spirit in [One Basin CEO] Mike Stewardson and [MDBA CEO] Andrew McConville. In fact, I’ve never seen two leaders with such a quality to bring people together around important issues… it gives me confidence that something can be done for our rivers.”

Facing up to history

While One Basin CRC is undoubtedly in a unique position to bring Western and Indigenous researchers together, and to begin restoring confidence in a landscape rocked by historical injustice, Mike Stewardson warns that real progress will depend on building lasting relationships and engaging wholly with Aboriginal ways of knowing and doing things.

“There’s such a long history of exploitation in Australia’s freshwater resources, which is obvious to all First Nations communities but not necessarily to every researcher in the basin,” Mike says. “We need to be really clear how we’re going to work with First Nations communities, respect their sovereignty, let them lead the conversation. We have to go with open hearts and really listen to people.

“There’s so much distrust stemming from all the disrespect and misappropriation of recent years… That’s the context of the conversations we have to have here.”

Peta Jeffries, a social scientist at Charles Sturt University’s School of Indigenous Studies who is leading the Stories of One Basin project, says modern researchers have a huge responsibility to work with First Nations knowledge holders in ways that acknowledge and begin to repair the inequities of the past.

“The first colonial scientific explorers in areas today known as the Murray-Darling Basin survived because of First Nations knowledge and direction,” Peta says. “Across time and place, the use of this expert guidance was forgotten, denied, and erased. As researchers and decision-makers today, we have a responsibility to Country – and to each other – to become relationally accountable.”

Few are more cognisant of the importance of this cross-cultural responsibility than Mike Stewardson, who says he’s proud to have the advice of elders like Uncle Feli and a group of emerging leaders who are supporting the CRC’s work. At the recent annual event in Mildura, one of the most powerful sessions was an all-Indigenous panel hosted by Troy Meston, which struck a note of cautious optimism in the potential for One Basin to rebuild links between university research and on-Country knowledge on riverflows and drought mitigation.

The mood was captured by Justin Saunders, CEO of the Goondiwindi Native Title Corporation, who urged researchers interested in traditional river management methods to “truth it with us”. “Take your research lens off for a moment when you come,” said Justin. “Then you’ll get real engagement.”

Sonia Cooper, a Yorta Yorta policy expert and co-author of the landmark Australia State of the Environment report, warned that Indigenous people will only participate in research they can see tangible benefits from. “We’re not necessarily prepared in the language of research, but we’re highly prepared in knowledge of our Country,” said Sonia. “When the right ethical approach happens, and we’re listened to and not dictated to, then we will say yes [to participating].”

For Mike Stewardson, this reciprocity is vital. “Wherever we go in the basin, we hear about this importance of getting out on Country and meeting traditional owners and knowledge holders. Our projects are not just an opportunity to engage marginalised people and provide them with a new source of income or some resources – they’re really an opportunity to develop new connections between Western and Indigenous researchers, between communities and agencies and irrigators, to discuss new river management solutions that could genuinely benefit First Nations communities.”

A never-ending journey

In order to build steady progress towards authentic cultural awareness, Troy and Geoff have embarked on a systematic process that includes regular knowledge-sharing across the CRC’s vast research network, visits to partner universities, ‘cultural competence’ training, and the appointment of a working group to guide formal reconciliation activities.

In terms of education, the first stage of cultural awareness training was completed by 21 CRC staff members through the University of Sydney’s online program in November, and is being followed by 16 board members and PhD students this month.

“Like all important things, cultural competency is a never-ending journey,” says Geoff. “But we’re starting with a strong foundation, and a genuine commitment to getting it right… There’s no magic bullet for any of this, but studies show it’s the regular contact that has a real impact, which is why these conversations, this training, meeting elders on Country, are all so important. From what I’ve seen, I’m hopeful that we can embed and inspire people with a new way of thinking.”

“It’s hard to be optimistic when you’ve been cut out of the conversation for 230 years. But ‘Rivers for Generations’, the centrality of water for human beings, can transcend this. It shouldn’t matter what your skin colour is, what your postcode is, water is bonding – even more so in the face of climate change.”

– Professor Troy Meston, First Nations Research Lead, One Basin CRC

In Mildura, Hub Manager Peter Forbes is supporting Troy and Geoff’s work with plans to take One Basin’s PhD students and post-doctoral researchers through some “location-specific” cultural training and on-Country visits during 2025.

“I think it’s really important that while they’re here, they can hear some of the local stories of dispossession, hope and resilience, and can help us think about more proactive ways of engaging local First Nations communities and their incredible banks of knowledge into our wider research program,” says Peter.

To better structure its First Nations work, and begin building stronger relationships with the basin’s 50-plus Nations, One Basin is fast-tracking the development of its own Reconciliation Action Plan, or ‘RAP’. Geoff has overseen the establishment of a staff working group with 10 volunteers, who are documenting a series of ‘deliverables’ covering everything from Indigenous participation in decision-making, to cultural events, training, procurement, and governance.

“There’s a really strong appetite in this organisation, from the CEO down,” says Geoff. “With our history and society, a lot of people have unconscious biases against our community. We can’t just correct that in a five-hour training session – we need to follow up with regular communications and events and on-Country experiences where you do some real truth-telling. And hopefully in a couple of years, people will be saying: ‘I can’t believe I used to think that way; I definitely think differently now.’”

For Uncle Mike Gilby, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

“There’s definitely goodwill in the MDBA and One Basin CRC, but it’s going to take a lot more than goodwill,” he says. “We need to be a part of these projects, so we can see ourselves in this work. Up to now, it’s been about exploiting us for our knowledge, but we’re tired of our IP being exploited for the benefit of others. It’s not happening any more. This is the feeling of communities across the southern basin – and you’re going to hear it more and more in the northern basin.

“People like Andrew McConville and Mike Stewardson are our allies, but they also need to be informed to be able to advocate for First Nations communities. It’s very difficult for one person to deliver a message from across the basin… Research to date has been all about academics doing desktop studies and authoring papers. They need to get out on Country and listen to our stories. Come and sit and talk and listen to us.

“Aboriginal people used to be irrigators,” says Uncle Mike. “We used high rivers to irrigate our land, but in the past few decades a lot of these systems have silted up. Tributaries in the mid Murray that would flow two ways, they no longer come back out, so the tributaries get silted up and the native fish and amphibians get landlocked. That’s the result of 200 years of ‘river management’!

“But please look at the 60,000 years before that. Western scientists may have the answers to get the funders, but we have the knowledge to keep these natural systems safe. We want to see the coming together of science and First Nations knowledge to go forward. We need to bring these two knowledge systems together, and really learn from each other.”