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Wednesday 1 October 2003, Media Release

HANDS OFF NSWALC

The Beauman Report tabled in the NSW Parliament has recommended the elected representatives on the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council be sacked and replaced with a Government appointed administrator. In this article NSWALC Chairperson Les Trindall takes a critical look at the investigator's report. He calls on the State Government to reject its key recommendation and says the public are not being told the whole story.

This year is the 20th anniversary of the passage of the land rights act in New South Wales. Instead of celebrating we find ourselves fighting for our survival.

We face a real threat to our independence as the elected representatives of our people.

It comes from the recommendations contained in a report from an investigator into NSWALC. The investigator was appointed in May this year by the Deputy Premier and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Dr Andrew Refshauge.

He subsequently tabled the investigator's report in the NSW Parliament on September 16. NSWALC is due to formally respond to its recommendations on October 14.

Let's be clear.

There are valid criticisms in the report and we have already stated we will accept the majority of its recommendations.

We have not shied away from these criticisms.

There is much room for improvement in our track record but we are well on our way to addressing the concerns outlined by the Minister in appointing the investigator.

NSWALC, however, has unanimously rejected the report's principal recommendation that an administrator be appointed for eighteen months and the 13 elected members of NSWALC be sacked.

We have done so for two reasons.

Firstly, the report contains no hint of our advice to the investigator of dramatic changes to our operating environment.

Secondly, the principal recommendation cannot be sustained on the basis of the factual material presented in the report.

This will be the central basis of our formal response to be lodged with the NSW Government next week.

We have adopted and implemented new governance policies and procedures.

NSWALC has done so unanimously and with a newfound sense of unity and purpose.

We have also appointed a new Chief Executive Officer, Mr William Johnstone, who is widely respected in Aboriginal Affairs, at both the State and Federal levels.

Minister Refshauge has described Mr. Johnstone as a "Mr Fixit."

He has been at the helm of our administrative arm for just over a month and enjoys the respect and confidence of all councillors.

He is working closely with the elected arm to ensure our new corporate governance regime is fully adopted and observed and there is a clear demarcation-or separation of powers-between the elected and administrative arms at NSWALC.

We have provided the Minister with an undertaking that Mr Johnstone will report to him once a month on our operation.

We are confident we can pass any objective test on our new governance regime as long as we ensure we observe it.

NSWALC has experienced great difficulty getting our message across to the public on our criticisms of the report.

The Sydney Morning Herald, which helped spark the investigation into NSWALC, has closed down public debate on the issue within its columns.

The newspaper ran a series of prejudicial feature articles on NSWALC last year and followed these up with news reports and a feature article following the tabling of the investigator's report in Parliament.

It has declined to print a series of letters, news releases, and a feature article I submitted to put NSWALC's point of view.

Its readers are not being given the full story.

The article I sent to them was written in response to an editorial in the SMH on Friday September 26, which said Dr. Refshauge should not hesitate to appoint an administrator to take control of NSWALC, "on the basis of the Beauman report."

The editorial said the "the purpose of appointing an administrator-ensuring that whoever sits on the board of the council knows how to run it-cannot be achieved by leaving matters as they are."

I pointed out that the report does not reflect NSWALC as it is today.

I also pointed out that a preliminary analysis by Council of the 300-plus page report had revealed major flaws and discrepancies in it.

I'll provide just one example to illustrate my point..

The Minister would be acting unlawfully should he be minded to act upon the principal recommendation.

The legislative provisions for the appointment of an administrator to take over all of the functions of NSWALC, and the actions which must flow from this, are clearly set out in the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act (1983).

The Minister and the investigator ought to have a close look at regulation 99 on the election of officers of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council following the appointment of an administrator.

It clearly states that for the purposes of Section 226 (2) of the Act, after the appointment of an administrator to take over all of the functions of NSWALC, the Minister must determine a date for fresh elections for councillors after consulting his appointee.

This must occur no later than 12 months after the appointment of an administrator.

The is a serious error. One of many in a report which has cost the Aboriginal people of NSW one million dollars.

Our concerns with the report are not the primary reason for our decision as a Council to unanimously call on the Minister to reject the report's principal recommendation.

In our view there is no need for an administrator to be appointed "to get the land council back on track," as claimed in another article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

We are now on track.

We are firmly united in our resolve to keep it that way.

There is nothing an administrator can do that we cannot do, and better, given our unique status elected representatives of the Aboriginal people of NSW, if we continue to adopt and practice good governance.

What an administrator cannot do is to claim to have a mandate as an elected person to work to preserve, and improve, our land rights system.

We have that mandate and we are working to preserve and improve the economic, social and cultural outcome for our people.

Land rights in NSW is at a critical phase.

Our Council and CEO are passionate in their commitment to the objects of our Act and we remain committed to working with the State Government.

We are determined to bring about the changes in our policies and procedures that are required to ensure that NSWALC pursues the objects of land rights effectively and efficiently for the benefit of the Aboriginal people of New South Wales.

NSWALC should now be left to carry on this work under our new governance policies and procedures.