The New Zealand Business Roundtable 2010 Sir Ronald Trotter Lecture, 'Pathways to Prosperity for Indigenous People', was delivered by Noel Pearson on 2 November at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
The youngest son of Glen Pearson, from the Bagaarrmugu clan, and Ivy Pearson, from the Guggu Yalanji peoples, Noel grew up at Hope Vale, a Lutheran Mission in Cape York Peninsula.
The fight for Indigenous land rights has occupied the best part of the past 20 years for Noel Pearson, including co-founding the Cape York Land Council and negotiating the Native Title Act. While he continues to champion land rights, sharp focus has been applied to striving for wholesale Indigenous policy shift, notably in relation to welfare, substance abuse, child protection, economic development, and indigenous participation in the ‘real’ economy.