ABSTRACT

Using a policy tracing approach, we analyse the legislating of the Strategic Aboriginal Water Reserve (SAWR) in the Northern Territory, Australia. The SAWR is a share of the consumptive pool allocated to eligible Indigenous landowners in water plan areas, providing water resources for future economic development. Drawing on parliamentary and policy sources to reveal competing interests and ideologies, and the challenges of codifying water rights, this study finds that legislating water rights alone is insufficient to achieve water justice – water justice measures must respond to power imbalances and inequities by empowering people with the capabilities to implement their rights.

摘要

使用政策追踪方法，我们分析了澳大利亚北领地的战略土著水资源保护区 (SAWR) 的立法。SAWR 是分配给水计划区内符合条件的土著土地所有者的消耗池的一部分，为未来的经济发展提供水资源。本研究利用议会和政策来源揭示相互竞争的利益和意识形态，以及将水权编入法典的挑战，发现仅通过立法水权不足以实现水正义——水正义措施必须通过赋予人们权力来应对权力失衡和不平等行使权利的能力。