Paper short abstract:

Australian environmental thought - dominated by comparisons between indigenous and settler perspectives - has yet to fully engage with the contributions of non-Anglo migrants. This paper asks what kinds of environmental belonging emerge among migrants and refugees in the Mildura region (Vic.).

Paper long abstract:

Questions of belonging in relation to both society and nature in Australia have been extensively discussed in recent years in terms of the indigenous/non-indigenous binary. Australian environmental thought - influenced by comparisons between indigenous and settler perspectives - has yet to fully engage with the contributions of later migrants, particularly those of non-Anglo background. This paper asks what kinds of environmental belonging emerge among migrants and recently arrived refugees in Australia. Using examples from Mildura-Robinvale (Vic), one of the most ethnically diverse regions in rural Australia, the paper considers how diverse people and plants come to belong, or not. In showing the complex ways in which ethnicity and migration history influence environmental relations and understandings, the paper throws light back on to embedded assumptions in the indigenous/settler binary.