May 03, 2002 Media Release

PROTESTORS TO BLAME FOR ADMINISTRATOR'S DELAYS

Protesting members of the Wellington Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) are themselves to blame for the extended appointment of the administrator to the LALC, according to the NSW Aboriginal Land Council.

"If these people had cooperated with the administrator and allowed him to fulfill his terms of reference, he would be finished by now and the LALC would be back in the hands of the members," Chairman of the NSWALC, Rod Towney said.

Mr Towney said the Wellington LALC Chairman, Mr Amatto, was well aware that the appointment of the administrator by NSWALC was both lawful and necessary under the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act.

The administrator, Peter Scolari, was appointed to run the Wellington LALC and put the books in order in August 2000 after the LALC received an unsatisfactory audit in 1998-99. Under the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act, an administrator may be appointed if their annual external audit is unsatisfactory.

Mr Towney said that due to the lack of cooperation from Mr Amatto and members of this faction, Mr Scolari was reappointed as Administrator in December 2000 and was attempting to complete his job by April.

He said Mr Scolari's efforts have been continually hampered by the refusal of office bearers to hand over financial and administrative documents which would allow him to fulfill his terms of reference.

Further set backs eventuated when office bearers sacked the officer coordinator, Jodie Chester, and instigated legal action against the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs over the legality of Mr Scolari's appointment. The action against the Minister went to court in December 2001 and a decision was handed down validating Mr Scolari's appointment.

Further to this, Ms Chester was reinstated as office coordinator following an unfair dismissal hearing at the Industrial Relations Commission in January.

Mr Towney said he was disappointed with comments from both Mr Amatto and Mr Roy Ah-See in the media which he said were misleading and caused further division in the community.

"They talk about NSWALC and the Minister disempowering Aboriginal people and complain about housing and services on Land Council property," Mr Towney said.

"We are all about the empowerment of Aboriginal people. But we can only be empowered if we accept this comes with accountability and responsibility. Rents must be paid if services are to be provided.

"We must comply with the Act and be responsible with our money and responsible to ALL members of our communities. If the office bearers are not accountable, how can they expect the people to be otherwise?

"I urge this faction and other members of this LALC to get behind Mr Scolari and Ms Chester and assist them to do their duties so we can get the management of the LALC back to where it belongs - in the hands of the members."

Mr Towney also appealed to the wider community, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, to support those who are acting lawfully and with integrity in this situation.