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Tuesday 16 September 2003, Media Release

PUTTING OUR HOUSE IN ORDER

The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council is confident the State Government will not need to appoint an administrator following today's public release of a report into the affairs of NSWALC by a Government-appointed investigator.

NSWALC has accepted that much of the criticism which led the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs to appoint an investigator to NSWALC on May 29, this year was justified. We do not walk away from that.

However we have taken a number of significant steps between then and now to address those concerns.

We are optimistic those steps will lead to a significant improvement in NSWALC's performance and, subject to the normal checks and balances, obviate the need for any further action by the Minister.

We have kept the Minister and his advisers informed of our progress in this regard.

In recent months NSWALC has engaged in a root and branch examination of its governance policies and procedures.

The Council has now adopted clear guidelines and policies on how it will conduct its business in future.

They have been unanimously endorsed by all Councillors.

The formulation of these new policies and procedures and their adoption has been a major task for NSWALC in recent months.

It has generated a level of unity of purpose within Council which has not been present in the recent past.

This comes at the same time as the appointment by NSWALC of an experienced and widely respected Chief Executive Officer, Mr William Johnstone.

He enjoys the confidence and respect of Council.

NSWALC's statutory fund has also been performing extremely well, given the investment climate, and the outlook is better for the coming 12 months that it has been over the previous two years.

We have also adopted comprehensive policies on how NSWALC will fund and assist Local Aboriginal Land Councils and Regional Aboriginal Land Councils.

We are confident these policies will significantly improve the performance of all Aboriginal Land Councils over the next two years.

NSWALC firmly believes it now has its house in order.

We are confident anyone who takes the time and effort to have an objective look at what has been achieved in recent months will agree with this assessment.

We ought now to be given the opportunity to work with our administration arm to implement these new policies and procedures free from the fear of any further political intervention from the State Government.

We believe the new policies and procedures will, and have already, markedly improved our efficiency and effectiveness.

We agree with Minister Refshauge's statement to the Parliament on May 29 that the "NSWALC system is an extremely important representative structure for Aboriginal people."

We accept his assurance that "I will continue to work with them to protect their rights to self determination."

We also agree with his statement that "while self determination is of vital importance for Aboriginal people, it is also crucial that the financial affairs of the New South Wales Aboriginal Council are efficiently and effectively managed."

We look forward to working with him to advance our key vision to "liberate and empower Aboriginal people in New South Wales through economic and social independence."

Our one disappointment is that the Minister has provided us with a briefing on the contents of the report only an hour or so before its public release. We will issue a detailed response to the report once its contents and recommendations have been analysed.

Les Trindall
Chairperson
September 16, 2003