APY Lands, Governance

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (14:27): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation questions about governance of the APY lands.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: I refer the minister to his previous answers and his comments this morning on the radio, as well as an article in yesterday's InDaily, which I am sure he is aware of. It is my understanding that the government has now restored some of the withheld funds to the APY at the same time that the interim general manager has resigned. The interim general manager, Lesley Johns, has confirmed that she has commissioned KPMG to fix the financial issues referred to in the report 'Accounting for Good'. The minister has also stated that a separate independent report will be commissioned by the government into the APY accounts.

The Accounting for Good report also says that good governance of the APY relies on a strong and competent financial controller and that, in the absence of one, the system fails. It is apparent that there has not been one in place since October. The previous financial controller, Mr Kevin Chan, actually made an effort to correct the chronic financial issues by investigating allegations of impropriety and mismanagement and lodged it with the Auditor-General, after which he went on leave, presumably stood down by the executive. The report itself says the APY administration had not produced an overall budget in a number of years and had no idea of its current financial position. My questions therefore to the minister are:

1. Given that there is currently no general manager, no financial controller—which is required for the system to operate—and no financial accountability, why has funding been restored to the APY Executive? How much funding has been restored?

2. If the interim general manager has commissioned with taxpayer funds a report into the finances of the APY, why does the minister feel it necessary to do the same? How can the minister justify this as efficient?

3. With all this in mind, why is it the minister's preference to work with an APY Executive which has allegations of financial impropriety hanging over it, rather than appointing an administrator immediately to sort out this mess and delay APY elections until the conclusion of the Layton report?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:29): I thank the honourable member for his important question and again note his very genuine and very long-standing interest and concern in relation to these matters. Members would recall that I informed the chamber that a few weeks ago I met with representatives of the APY Executive. I, my office and my department have continued discussions with the APY Executive and their representatives, as well as other people with a genuine interest in this matter, including members opposite and other members of both houses of parliament.

As the honourable member alluded to, an agreement has been reached to release a single quarter of funding. The figure was asked for, and it is approximately $443,000, subject to very stringent and very specific conditions. The agreement requires APY to meet higher standards of accountability and transparency. These additional accountability and transparency provisions include that the APY Executive Board commits to proactively disclosing monthly financial reports against the approved budget on their website, publication of minutes of the monthly APY Executive Board meetings published on their website, and the publication of annual reports to be published on their website.

An experienced and high-level independent auditor will be engaged for the purpose of obtaining evidence on financial transactions, including payroll, and assessment of APY's compliance with expenditure delegations and an assessment of financial controls in place. Any release of further funding will be subject to the findings of an independent audit which will assess APY Executive's delegations and financial controls. Such a forensic audit of all financial accounts has been agreed to by the APY. I will be able to provide the honourable member and the chamber with further details somewhere in the near future.

The honourable member asked about the powers to appoint an administrator and, as I have expressed before, while I am not opposed to using the new powers under the act to appoint an administrator, I would prefer to reach a consensus position with the APY. Whatever the future holds for the APY in terms of both who is elected in the future and the exact government structures, it must represent a break with the past and a move towards restoring confidence in the board.

As I said, I know there are a number of members in this chamber, particularly the Hon. Terry Stephens, who have a long-standing interest in this matter. Members should continue to feel free to ask me questions at any time they like, not just in question time, as many members have. I will, as matters progress, bring answers back to this chamber and also keep members, particularly members of the Aboriginal Lands Standing Committee, informed of progress.