The Governance Tree

“Strong tree, strong people, strong culture.
 
The sun, the leaves, the branches, the flowers, the seeds, the water and the bark are all parts of governance.
 
The trunk of the big tall tree is an elder passing on knowledge and wisdom. The bark covers the trunk and holds it together.
 
The branches are networks. The yellow leaves are the old people who need to be looked after.
 
The seedlings in the waterhole are the young people listening to and learning from the elders, who are watching and supporting them.
 
The sun is looking to see who’s going to be a strong leader in both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. This system provides strong governance – everything’s inter-connected, allowing the tree to provide good fruit.”
– Illustration and story by participants at the “Sharing Governance Success Workshops” of the vision for their strong future governance, 2007.¹Sharing Governance Success Workshops, held in 2007 in Sydney, Port Hedland and Mt Isa. An example workbook from the Mt Isa workshop can be found here: https://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/Workbook_Mt_Isa.pdf