Teasing Ethical Decision Making Dilemmas: A Case Study of Land Rights Issues

The purpose of this paper is to highlightthe complexities in making decisions in an ethical wayevidenced by the current dispute over native landrights in contemporary Australia. The caseillustrates an example of a moral issue that involvesmaking a management choice. One approach which givespractice in four questions that the managementpractitioner can ask when faced with a moral dilemmais described. The case involves an on-going situationin which the Australian Government was faced withsupporting the land claims of either indigenousgroups or land holding pastoralists. TheGovernment, therefore, was on the horns of a classicdilemma, having to decide between two groups eachseeking `justice' and `fairness'.The paper refers to contemporary authorities such asRawls, De George, Paine and Badaracco (Jnr). In thecontext of ethical decision making, the main eventsleading to the present dilemma are presented. Thecase study includes a summary outlining the AustralianGovernment's Ten Point Plan response to thedilemma and a summary of the perceived problems forbusiness development where native title is recognised. These can be used to provide students in businessethics classes with an opportunity to recognise anddebate the rights, wrongs and complexities of moralissues as well as appropriate managerial decisionmaking.