Beau Austin
PhD Candidate
 |
B Business, B Arts (Hons) |
Contact details Email: beau.austin@cdu.edu.au |
Primary: Prof Stephen Garnett
Associate: Dr Natasha Stacey
Thesis Title
Endogenous Factors of Success for Indigenous Wildlife-based Enterprise
Research interests
The emergence of a significant wildlife product industry in Australia will create unique opportunities for economic growth, social and cultural development, cultural preservation and natural resource management for Indigenous Australians. Indigenous people are placed in a unique position in this industry and have some comparative advantages in the form of land ownership and traditional knowledge (Gorman et al. 2008). This offers substantial potential for Indigenous economic development (Altman 2007).
The development of appropriate economies in Australia’s north can be viewed effectively through this wildlife-based enterprise lens. The nature of Indigenous wildlife-based enterprise is such that it provides opportunities for cultural preservation, socio-economic improvement, and the conservation of biodiversity and natural ecosystems. Consequently, the potential for Indigenous wildlife-based enterprise success needs to be investigated so as to provide the best opportunities for realisation of these benefits.
In this thesis I am concerned with factors that can be controlled by Indigenous people and their communities. I seek to enhance the ability of Indigenous people to make decisions about their future through the exploration of one of the means of economic development that appears to be at their disposal – i.e. wildlife-based enterprise.
The thesis is structured around the analysis of specific wildlife-based industries. It is important that an industry analysis is taken so that it can take into account the past, present and prospective actors in the industry. The three industries that have been chosen are the crocodile, Terminalia ferdinandiana, and buffalo industries.
Publications
