The complexity of this political context, and how MLDRIN operates today, can be examined in relation to the election processes for the MLDRIN candidates. Because the alliance is about respecting the self-determining decision-making processes of the Nations, there is no uniform election method for the delegates. Election depends on the governance structures of the respective Nation group. The election process of each Nation is influenced by a number of factors; put briefly these include:

These influences can impact on the capacity of a Nation to choose its delegates and on how information is distributed throughout Nation networks. The Nations without the current capacity to meet regularly have been encouraged by MLDRIN to establish incorporated bodies to represent their Nation. With incorporation, that body could receive funding and administration support from the alliance for Nation meetings. Moreover, incorporation increases accountability for external Nation business, as the incorporation process includes a naming of the representatives of that Nation. This also creates a clear governance structure for government to communicate with. Knowing who to contact among the informal networks of traditional owners is often unclear for government (Forward NRM and Arrilla-Aboriginal Training & Development 2003: 77), and the current informality of these communication networks is open to manipulation both by individuals within the Nation and by the government. The MLDRIN coordinator is working with those Nations that have asked for assistance in the incorporation process.

The business of electing MLDRIN delegates in each Nation reveals both the diversity of governance structures in operation, and the way in which informal traditional authority makes use of Indigenous organisations that have been created and funded by government. Traditional owners are generally not funded to be traditional owners, or to mobilise themselves into an organisation of traditional owners. The logistical and funding constraints experienced by the Nations means that an opportunity to meet for a matter which is funded by government also becomes an opportunity to deal with other decisions that require a Nation meeting. The following information has been collated largely from the information supplied by each Nation at the time of election to the MLDRIN co-ordinator Steven Ross, one of the authors of this paper. At some of these meetings, Steven has attended and given a presentation about the work of MLDRIN prior to the election of the delegates.

The Wiradjuri face a problem common across most of the Nations, that of being a political identity with responsibilities to country but operating as such without organisational support. The Wiradjuri have an Elders Council which meets regularly, but there is no Wiradjuri organisation that is truly representative of all the families and/or communities. Some clan groups within the Wiradjuri Nation have formalised their governance to the extent of becoming incorporated bodies. MLDRIN is supporting a Wiradjuri governance project to assist this Nation and its delegates. This will involve establishing a traditional owner steering committee that will draft a governance framework, which will then be put to the Wiradjuri people at a series of Nation meetings for amending, endorsement and implementation. When it came to electing a MLDRIN delegate in 2004, the Wiradjuri were able to take time out from a meeting in Wagga Wagga that had been organised by the Murray–Darling Basin Commission as part of their consultation processes with Indigenous communities.

Another important forum for the election of MLDRIN delegates has been the meetings of the former North-West Clans Group in Victoria. The North-West Clans was a coalition of traditional owner groups—the Dhudoroa, DjaDjaRung, Wergaia, Wadi Wadi, Latji Latji, Wamba Wamba and Barapa Barapa—as organised within a Victorian government cultural heritage administration region. The Barapa Barapa and the Wadi Wadi selected their delegates through the North-West Clans heritage group meetings. In 2006, the passage of Victorian cultural heritage legislation disbanded this administration region, and cultural heritage is now administered differently. The Barapa Barapa have since become incorporated and will now select their delegate out of this legal entity. The Wadi Wadi will probably select their delegate through their native title meeting.

The two MLDRIN delegates for the Wamba Wamba represent the two geographic population centres of Wamba Wamba descendents—Deniliquin (in New South Wales) and Swan Hill (in Victoria). The Swan Hill Wamba Wamba delegation was originally selected at the meetings of the North-West Clans Group, and is now selected at their native title meetings in Victoria. The delegate from Deniliquin is selected through a process held between the Yarkuwa Indigenous Knowledge Centre and the Deniliquin Local Aboriginal Land Council. Yarkuwa is a traditional owner-based group that records genealogies and offers cultural services. The land council is a government legislative body whose membership is based on residence. However, because of the profile of the resident Indigenous population, approximately 95 per cent of this membership are Wamba Wamba. Together these organisations select a MLDRIN delegate, who is then endorsed at a land council meeting by the traditional owners. Deniliquin land council has an internal protocol that only traditional owners within their boundaries can make decisions on Nation matters.

The Yorta Yorta have formalised their governance structures through the process of incorporating under federal legislation as the Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation. This corporation is charged with advancing Yorta Yorta self-determination, which includes holding and managing Yorta Yorta rights and interests in trust. Yorta Yorta governance is established on genealogical connection to country, and is centred on 16 Yorta Yorta families. The 16 families elect a Council of Elders and a governing committee. The MLDRIN delegates are selected by this Council of Elders.

The Mutti Mutti have recently become incorporated as the Mutti Mutti Aboriginal Corporation, under a genealogical model similar to Yarkuwa, and will select their delegate through that corporation. Previously, their MLDRIN delegates were selected during Nation meetings, which were supported by the New South Wales Department of Natural Resources and MLDRIN. The Taungurung, the newest Nation member of MLDRIN, are already incorporated as the Taungurung Clans Aboriginal Corporation. Their MLDRIN delegates are selected at the annual general meetings of this Corporation.

Native title meetings also provide an opportunity to elect MLDRIN delegates. Both the Wergaia and the Latji Latji elect their delegates at their native title meetings. However, native title claims are not always organised along the lines of a match between traditional owners and their country, and are thus not as representative of the traditional owner group as they might be. As discussed earlier, some of the traditional owners have lodged ‘single-state claims’. The Wamba Wamba have two election processes for their delegates to ensure broader representation. Native title has also influenced the Ngarrindjeri delegation from South Australia. In 2003 the Ngarrindjeri split their native title claim and the northern half of the claim became a separate body, which includes the Riverland peoples made up of Ngarrindjeri, Latji Latji and Mauraura claimants. In early MLDRIN meetings the Ngarrindjeri had four delegates to cover the north and south of their traditional country. The MLDRIN delegation currently comes from the southern part of Ngarrindjeri country, selected through their Ngarrindjeri Heritage Committee and Native Title Committee meetings.

The election processes of the delegates engage with issues of scale and identity, geography, logistics, interactions with existing Indigenous organisations, and the transformation of traditional owner identities since colonisation. One of the tools that MLDRIN has embraced to manage these complexities is the process of becoming incorporated. However, incorporation creates another layer of complexity, and is changing the way decision making is occurring within the Nations.