In this episode of The Customary Land Podcast, Spike Boydell reflects on a question that is becoming increasingly urgent in the age of artificial intelligence: what happens when machine systems begin to shape not only how we work, but how value itself is understood?

Drawing on Indigenous and customary worldviews across the Pacific and Australia — including vanua, fonua, fanua, whenua, and songlines — this episode argues that some of the most important forms of value are relational, sacred, lived, and non-substitutable. They cannot be reduced to data, market price, or optimisation logic without losing their meaning.

The episode places this question in conversation with the wider concerns explored in recent instalments of the series on mining legislative reform, the IVSC Exposure Draft, and partnership valuation. Together, these conversations point towards a common concern: that customary and Indigenous worlds are too often approached through inherited legal, economic, and technical frames that struggle to recognise value beyond extraction, compensation, and exchange.

This is not simply an episode about AI. It is about the limits of machine reasoning, the integrity of Indigenous knowledge, and the enduring importance of human-centred, place-based ways of knowing in a time increasingly shaped by codification and control.

If machines come to value everything, who will defend what cannot be valued?

If you would like to receive the current manifesto draft that informs this episode, please email contact@customarylandsolutions.com

The Customary Land Podcast explores customary land, Indigenous land, valuation, governance, legitimacy, and development across the Pacific and beyond.

©️ Customary Land Solutions Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

In this episode of The Customary Land Podcast, Spike Boydell reflects on why compensation is often not enough in customary land, tribal land, and Indigenous land contexts.

What may appear at first to be a reasonable lease, licence, compensation package, or revenue formula can, over time, narrow customary authority, weaken stewardship, and leave future generations with less room to decide. The deeper issue is not simply the size of the payment. It is whether development is legitimate, properly authorised, governable across generations, and structured in a way that strengthens rather than hollows out the customary system that made the opportunity possible.

Spike introduces Partnership Valuation as a more honest and durable way of thinking about economic engagement. Rather than treating customary people as passive recipients of impact, Partnership Valuation begins from the reality that they are often inside the creation of value itself. The question then becomes not merely what compensation is payable, but what form of partnership is fair, legitimate, accountable, and intergenerationally responsible.

The episode also situates this discussion within SUITU, an emerging governance legitimacy spine that asks whether valuation should proceed at all before deeper questions of stewardship, rights, intangible values, tenure security, and integration over time have been properly held together.

This is a reflective episode on valuation, legitimacy, governance, customary authority, and the need to move beyond compensation-first thinking in Fiji, across the Pacific, and beyond.

To request more information on Partnership Valuation, or to enquire about SUITU and the SUITU Governance Integrity Platform, email: contact@customarylandsolutions.com

©️ Customary Land Solutions Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

The International Valuation Standards 2028 Exposure Draft makes an important advance by recognising informal, communal, collective and tribal land interests more explicitly than many earlier standards have done. But when viewed through the realities of customary land, it still raises a deeper concern: what happens when a global technical valuation framework tries to make sense of customary land without first understanding what customary land is?

In this episode of The Customary Land Podcast, Spike Boydell reflects on why that matters, why customary land cannot simply be treated as an awkward variation within an inherited valuation system, and why legitimacy, stewardship, authority and intergenerational responsibility must be held before valuation is allowed to arrive. I also explain why concepts such as market value, highest and best use, and valuation-date closure may be too narrow when dealing with customary, tribal and Indigenous land.

A video version is available here.
To request a copy of our full submission to the International Valuations Standards Council, or to receive more information about SUITU and the SUITU Governance Integrity Platform, please email:
contact@customarylandsolutions.com

©️ Customary Land Solutions Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

Fiji is currently reviewing the Mining Act 1965 and the Quarries Act 1939. In this episode of The Customary Land Podcast, Spike Boydell reflects on why that matters for customary landowners, and why compensation, royalties and consultation are not enough unless legitimacy, stewardship and long-horizon responsibility come first.

This episode explores the deeper structural mismatch between inherited extractive law and living customary systems, and asks what must be in place before development on customary land can be treated as legitimate at all

A video version is available here.
To request a copy of our full submission to the Fiji Law Reform Commission, or to receive more information about SUITU and the SUITU Governance Integrity Platform, please email:
contact@customarylandsolutions.com

©️ Customary Land Solutions Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

This podcast episode “Riding the Tides of Justice: Indigenous Sovereignty Across the Pacific” explores the rising global movement for Indigenous sovereignty, sparked recently by Senator Lidia Thorpe’s powerful call for land justice during King Charles III’s visit to Australia. It delves into how this cry resonates across the Pacific, connecting global demands for Indigenous land rights with local traditions of stewardship. Highlighting discussions from last week’s CHOGM in Samoa, the podcast emphasizes the importance of balancing economic growth with cultural preservation, advocating for equitable frameworks where traditional landowners are true partners in development. Through storytelling and thoughtful reflections, the podcast invites listeners to consider how the Pacific can lead by example in fostering development partnerships and hybrid compensation frameworks that prioritise sustainable, inclusive growth that honours both heritage and progress.

Keywords;
Indigenous sovereignty, Pacific land rights, Senator Lidia Thorpe, King Charles III, CHOGM Samoa 2024, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice, Customary land stewardship, Pacific community empowerment, Economic development vs cultural preservation, Hybrid compensation model, Indigenous resource management, Sustainable growth in the Pacific, Maori Treaty settlements, Traditional land ownership, Intergenerational equity, Community-based tourism Fiji, Balancing development and heritage, Indigenous rights in the Commonwealth, Land and sea cultural significance, Inclusive development partnerships, hybrid compensation

©️ Customary Land Solutions Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

In this episode I discuss several of the customary land related reviews initiated in 2023 by the Rabuka led Coalition Government in Fiji. These include:
The Review of the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC).
And, as foreshadowed by Prof Steve Ratuva in his public lecture celebrating Ratu Sakuna Day celebrations, and requested at the meeting of the GCC on Bau Island in late May,..
the proposed Review of the iQoliqoli (Fishing Ground) Compensation Policy; and
the proposed Review of the iTaukei Land Trust Board (iTLTB).
This provides a segue into a broader discussion on the April 2023 Cabinet Decision to Review of the Regulation of Surfing Areas Act (2010).

©️ Customary Land Solutions Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

In this episode I explore how becoming a Republic and crafting a new Constitution fit for purpose in the 2020s offers Australia the perfect opportunity to truly recognise the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 'Voice'.

An Australian Republic means we need to replace the Crown and the Crown's superior interest in the land with something. If that 'something' is an acknowledgement of the guardianship of the land through Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander stewardship, would this, could this, or should this affect the underlying way that we as 21st century citizens in Australia relate to real property?

The current discussions about holding a referendum in Australia to make changes to the archaic 1901 Constitution (an Anglo-centric model crafted during the Empire of Queen Victoria) to create an Aboriginal Voice fails to deal with the significant issue that we are perpetuating King Charles III as 'King of Australia'. Imagine instead , if you will, what might change in terms of our identity as citizens if Australia were to become a Republic – something that many see as inevitable, albeit a situation which is yet to become a reality.

In this episode I draw heavily on my paper A 21st Century Citizen in a Brave New Republic.

I also reference Stan Grant's 'Australia Day' and 'The Queen is Dead'.

©️ Customary Land Solutions Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).

Differing worldviews constitute the 'Plurality of Registers' and the tension of navigating between customary and traditional relations to land as 'ours' versus the western materialism of possessive individualism that sees land as 'mine'.

In part, this episode is triggered by the anachronism of a coronation in 2023, particularly when former empire and commonwealth is viewed from the plundered and brutalised indigenous perspective. The associated myth, embeddedness and tradition leads me to reflect on our recent proposal for a CLS team to review the role in Fiji of a contemporary Great Council of Chiefs to lead iTaukei society. These two events provide a segue to look at the customary counterpoint of the Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence Alliance (MILDA) from the perspective of Joel Simo (Symoh Joel) in a talk he gave at a meeting of AID/Watch in Sydney (14 November 2014 - the transcript is on pp.11-14 of this paper). As outlined in their Declarations, MILDA are against and form of land registration or leasing of customary land. This is a view that is reinforced by Act Now in PNG (see their 90 second very powerful video on 'The Real Value of Customary Land'). I also refer to the Declaration and Resolutions of the 2002 South Pacific Land Tenure Conflict Symposium.

A vodcast (video version) of the podcast is also available here.

©️ Customary Land Solutions Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.

Host: Spike Boydell

Website: TheCustomaryLandPodcast.com

Email: contact@thecustomarylandpodcast.com

Royalty free music used in this episode is from my Artlist.io subscription.

DISCLAIMER: The views, insights and opinions shared on the Customary Land Podcast are those of the Host, any Guests, and others they may cite. They do not constitute legal or financial advice and should not be construed as such by any individual, group or organisation. Before undertaking any dealing or action relating to customary land, individuals, groups or organisations should obtain professional advice from a qualified lawyer, experienced valuer and/or certified accountant with specialist expertise in your particular country. Alternatively, you can contact Customary Land Solutions for advocacy, advisory and capacity building solutions for customary and indigenous landowning groups and trusts on land management, leasehold, valuation and resource compensation issues (E: contact@customarylandsolutions.com).