The company that gave Oscar nominees a small piece of land in the Queensland outback as part of their luxury goodie bags at the Academy Awards has been accused of using photos and information from an indigenous group without permission.
Actors and directors nominated for an Academy Award took home a lavish gift bag worth an estimated $150,000 – containing vouchers for plastic surgery, beauty products and even vacations to Canada and the volcanic island of Ischia.
The nominees also received a 1 square meter piece of land in the Western Downs region of Queensland from environmental company Pieces of Australia.
Pieces of Australia sells these small plots – the largest of 10 m² costs $200 – and plants two trees for every square meter purchased.
Because the land is privately owned, it is protected from exploitation and human development and “provides a safe haven for flora and fauna to continue to thrive undisturbed.”
But the “Conservation Gift Packs” in the goodie bags contained handbooks with photos and information supposedly taken without permission.
Pieces of Australia is the company that gave Oscar nominees a small piece of land in the Queensland outback as part of their luxury goodie bags. They have been accused of using photos and information from an Indigenous group without their permission (pictured is Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party)
A now-deleted subheading in the handbook was titled ‘A Native Aboriginal Perspective’.
“When most non-Indigenous people look at the land, they often see something they can exploit, an asset they can develop and use to make a profit,” says a section of the handbook that has since been amended: The protector reported.
‘An Aboriginal, on the other hand, sees land as something more. They see a living, breathing thing that is deeply connected to their past, present and future.
“Organizations such as the Indigenous Carbon Industry Network (ICIN), which acts as an industry association, provide valuable resources to Indigenous local organizations.”
There were also pictures of Aboriginal people performing firefighting.
Actors and directors nominated for an Academy Award took home a lavish gift bag worth an estimated $150,000 put together by Distinctive Assets (founder Lash Fary is pictured)
The CEO of the ICIN, Anna Boustead, claims that the organization was not contacted until their information was taken.
“ICIN has not granted permission to reproduce our information, publications or photographs in support of the ‘Goodie Bag’ or ‘Pieces of Australia’ Oscars,” she said in a statement.
“In particular, it has not authorized any photographs on our website or publications showing Aboriginal people performing firefighting by any third party to support the Oscars’ Goodie Bag’ or ‘Pieces of Australia’ in any way.
“ICIN does not agree with its brand or the hard work of our members being linked to the Pieces of Australia programme. We take our own commitments to traditional owner rights and free, prior and informed consent very seriously.”
The ICIN is an Indigenous owned charity owned by 23 Indigenous organizations across Australia and has taken legal action over the use of their materials.
‘As you can imagine, this incident has put a great strain on our small organization (with only 4 employees across Australia) and other affected individuals and parties,’ said Ms Boustead.
Anna Boustead, CEO of the Indigenous Carbon Industry Network, called out Pieces of Australia for using their material and photos without permission. She said the organization had no connection to the Oscars or the gift bag
“It highlights the need for a third party to conduct thorough due diligence on claims of affiliation with an Indigenous organization.”
Niels Chaneliere, the founder of Pieces of Australia, told the publication that any content that was “inappropriately used” related to the ICIN has now been removed.
A Pieces of Australia spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that they had been in contact with ICIN legal representatives.
“Our aim is to promote awareness of the Australian environment through our gift packs and we want to involve everyone, including the country’s rich history,” they said.
“We realize there have been some missteps in the process of doing this and as a new company we are actively making amends where necessary to improve this and apologize to any communities that feel this is insufficient /insensitive is done.’
The group said their product was to “provide land permit agreements” for people around the world to participate in conservation efforts with Australia.
“At no time was it intended to appear culturally insensitive or disingenuous in our communications to First Nations people, or to ‘give away’ land to people overseas as reported in the press,” the spokesperson said.
Pieces of Australia was one of several brands to shell out $4,000 to include their products in the goodie bags.
The company recognizes Aboriginal people as the traditional custodians and owners of the land on its website.
The Oscars gift bag was curated by Distinctive Assets, with founder Lash Fary saying he did not know if Indigenous groups had been contacted about the Pieces of Australia contribution.
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