In this episode I discuss several of the customary land related reviews initiated in 2023 by the Rabuka led Coalition Government in Fiji. These include:
The Review of the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC).
And, as foreshadowed by Prof Steve Ratuva in his public lecture celebrating Ratu Sakuna Day celebrations, and requested at the meeting of the GCC on Bau Island in late May,..
the proposed Review of the iQoliqoli (Fishing Ground) Compensation Policy; and
the proposed Review of the iTaukei Land Trust Board (iTLTB).
This provides a segue into a broader discussion on the April 2023 Cabinet Decision to Review of the Regulation of Surfing Areas Act (2010).

©️ Spike Boydell 2023

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

In this episode I explore how becoming a Republic and crafting a new Constitution fit for purpose in the 2020s offers Australia the perfect opportunity to truly recognise the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 'Voice'.

An Australian Republic means we need to replace the Crown and the Crown's superior interest in the land with something. If that 'something' is an acknowledgement of the guardianship of the land through Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander stewardship, would this, could this, or should this affect the underlying way that we as 21st century citizens in Australia relate to real property?

The current discussions about holding a referendum in Australia to make changes to the archaic 1901 Constitution (an Anglo-centric model crafted during the Empire of Queen Victoria) to create an Aboriginal Voice fails to deal with the significant issue that we are perpetuating King Charles III as 'King of Australia'. Imagine instead , if you will, what might change in terms of our identity as citizens if Australia were to become a Republic – something that many see as inevitable, albeit a situation which is yet to become a reality.

In this episode I draw heavily on my paper A 21st Century Citizen in a Brave New Republic.

I also reference Stan Grant's 'Australia Day' and 'The Queen is Dead'.

©️ Spike Boydell 2023

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

Differing worldviews constitute the 'Plurality of Registers' and the tension of navigating between customary and traditional relations to land as 'ours' versus the western materialism of possessive individualism that sees land as 'mine'.

In part, this episode is triggered by the anachronism of a coronation in 2023, particularly when former empire and commonwealth is viewed from the plundered and brutalised indigenous perspective. The associated myth, embeddedness and tradition leads me to reflect on our recent proposal for a CLS team to review the role in Fiji of a contemporary Great Council of Chiefs to lead iTaukei society. These two events provide a segue to look at the customary counterpoint of the Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence Alliance (MILDA) from the perspective of Joel Simo (Symoh Joel) in a talk he gave at a meeting of AID/Watch in Sydney (14 November 2014 - the transcript is on pp.11-14 of this paper). As outlined in their Declarations, MILDA are against and form of land registration or leasing of customary land. This is a view that is reinforced by Act Now in PNG (see their 90 second very powerful video on 'The Real Value of Customary Land'). I also refer to the Declaration and Resolutions of the 2002 South Pacific Land Tenure Conflict Symposium.

A vodcast (video version) of the podcast is also available here.

©️ Spike Boydell 2023

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

In this episode I sit down for a far-reaching conversation about the valuation of unregistered land with Mike McDermott PhD MA FAPI FRSA. Mike is an International Land Policy and Valuation Implementation Consultant who is also the author of Wicked Valuations and Landed Property. He has advised a diversity of governments, development agencies, donors and professional organisations.

Traditional valuation approaches are increasingly recognised as being insufficient to address the wicked valuation problems of the diverse peoples and groups that inhabit the globe from north, south, east to west. We discuss land policy, land reform, customary land, peri-urban developments, fitness landscapes, compulsory acquisition, due diligence, market value, solatium and the principle of equivalence. We explore the importance of the the personal, cultural values and norms which underpin our assessment of "value", and how to incorporate these in the valuation of unregistered land. Mike's innovative approach to Wicked Valuations develops a means of engaging with highly complex valuation problems.

©️ Spike Boydell 2023

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

Leases are a common tool to enable surplus (or non-reserve) native land, tribal land or customary land to be used productively, be it for primary production, commercial or residential purposes. When properly crafted and managed, leasehold tenure should enable inalienable customary land to be used productively for the benefit of landowners, tenants and governmental development.
Unfortunately through a series of historical events, certain aspects of leases seem to have been ‘lost in translation’ from their original design in Victorian England to their subsequent application in parts of Australia and then the Pacific. Notably this variance relates to the ‘ownership’ of any improvements on the land, and there seems to have been an inadvertent alienation through leasehold that has occurred.
In this episode, I draw heavily on my lived experience to piece together why this ‘problem’ may have occurred and explain why leases should still be part of the ‘solution’ for customary land.

©️ Spike Boydell 2023

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

In this episode I sit down with Prof. John Sheehan AM to reflect on and explore lessons from the Timber Creek case.

Our far-reaching discussion includes recognition (and extinguishment) of inalienable customary land rights, which are precarious, Native Title, s.51 xxxi of the Constitution of Australia ('just terms' compensation), and the relationship to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People's. The Timber Creek case provides helpful guidance about compensation (for extinguishment) that recognises the 'cultural loss' relating to the indigenous connection to the land (rather than 'solatium').

Full High Court of Australia background to the Timber Creek case can be accessed here.

The Judgement of the High Court in the Timber Creek case is here.

John also refers to his co-authored paper with Jasper Brown and Kenneth Rayner 'On solatium: towards a rethinking of compensation'.

For those who prefer to watch a video version, it is provided here.

©️ Spike Boydell 2023

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

In this episode we explore who 'owns' Customary Land... and it isn't as obvious as you may think!

The episode is built around a paper that I co-authored with a former lawyer colleague, Krishn Shah, in which we explored customary land ownership using Fiji as a case study. Using Fiji is helpful, as Native Land Records have been kept since the time of the Deed of Cession to Queen Victoria in 1874. This sets Fiji apart from its Pacific neighbours, as well as many over Indigenous groups. Moreover, since 1940 indigenous 'landowners' in Fiji have had their surplus land managed by the Native Land Trust Board (now the iTaukei Land Trust Board), meaning the customary 'landowners' have benefited from having legal and property specialists representing then in all land dealings.

Paper by Spike Boydell & Krishn Shah
'An inquiry into the nature of land ownership in Fiji'

Paper by Joeli Balendrokadroka
'The Fijian Understanding of the Deed of Cession Treaty 1874'

Music: Battle Drums by Kyle Preston

©️ Spike Boydell 2023

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

In this episode we introduce 'Customary Land' and use land related articles from the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN DRIP 2007) to explain its importance in contemporary society.

For example, among the many important Articles in the Declaration:

00:14:16 Article 18 & 19 provide the framework and authority for an Aboriginal Voice' in the current constitutional amendment discussions in Australia.

00:20:29 Article 25 discusses 'ownership', spiritual relationship, and intergenerational responsibilities over customary land, territories, waters and seas. Article 26 & 27 expand this into land tenure systems.

00:23:40 Article 28 provides the framework for restitution and/or compensation relating to Customary Land.

00:28:04 Article 32 sets out the requirements for resource exploitation on Customary Land - this is particularly important for Mining Companies, as well as Banks and Financial Organisations (including Superannuation Funds) and State Governments.

00:33:41 Article 39 provides the basis financial support from States for technical assistance and professional advice (akin to the exemplar of the iTaukei Land Trust Board in Fiji). This is expanded into UN level support in Article 41.

Resources referred to:

UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

UN Food and Agriculture Organisation Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security

Music: Battle Drums by Kyle Preston

©️ Spike Boydell 2023

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).