Large-scale irrigated production of food, fuel and fibre has received new impetus from rising population and consumption levels and from structural changes in agribusiness, notably financialisation and vertical and horizontal consolidation. In Australia, these trends have provided new justifications for pre-existing economic and nationalist aspirations for water and irrigated agricultural development in the pastoral-dominated tropical north. Indigenous Australians have the longest history of past attachment to northern land and waterscapes, the highest degree of current socioeconomic marginalisation, and the strongest focus on the intergenerational equity and sustainability of development. This qualitative study undertaken with senior Indigenous custodians in two North Queensland catchments identified that major irrigation development posed significant risks, but may also contribute to diversified local Indigenous livelihoods. In particular, well structured development may enable the employment-related resettlement of depopulated traditional lands in the upper catchments, inverting the more commonly reported relationship between dam development and local residence. Yet the catchment-scale impacts from such development means that any complementarity between local Indigenous and developer aspirations in the immediate development zone does not necessarily entail complementarity with downstream Indigenous livelihood needs and aspirations. Regional coordination of Indigenous livelihood plans is required to establish effective baselines for negotiating sustainable development outcomes.
