Joint managed national parks as a refraction of unsettled settler Australia: the question of trust

Paying attention to Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations in the unsettled settler space that is constituted by Australia’s National Park network, we explore the faultlines which threaten to undermine the success of joint management approaches. Central to our discussion is the matter of ‘trust – or lack thereof’, as it shapes and influences investment in Indigenous Law and culture as a central pillar for management. We argue that it is a lack of trust that inhibits faith in Indigenous decision-making models and propagates unwillingness to accept Indigenous authority as the primer for care and conservation efforts.