Question Time

APY Executive

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:29): Thank you, Mr President. It is good to see that you are only three minutes late to the start of this afternoon's session, not 9¾, like this morning. My question is to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Can the minister advise how much the APY Executive has spent on legal fees to support the proceedings in the Supreme Court and, before, in the Civil and Administrative Tribunal, to prevent the public disclosure of the employment contracts of the general manager and his wife, and what has the minister done to assure himself that such spending is appropriate in these circumstances?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:30): I thank the honourable member for his question. I don't have that information. I can certainly ask the APY administration if they are prepared to provide it. I don't control the administration of the APY, so I will ask them if they are prepared to provide information on exact details, and I will get back to the honourable member in due course. The second part of the question was?

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: What have you done to assure yourself—

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: On the second part of the question, in terms of governance on the APY lands there have been very significant improvements in governance on the APY lands, very significant improvements over the last few years. There is no doubt it is a difficult and challenging area of administration on the APY lands: the remoteness of the location, the often fraught political environment and the location. There has been much that has been achieved in recent times in terms of accountability, in terms of the financial operations of APY.

There has been a 2016-2019 strategic plan; there has been preparation for Telstra towers going up on the lands; commencement of governance officers working on the lands with APY through ORIC; new board members, both men and women, have been elected following changes that this parliament made; and all of the stages of the road, the $109 million joint state-federal road program, are progressing across the APY lands, which has necessarily involved the APY and the APY Executive.

Ernst and Young APY policies and procedures for financial management are being implemented. There have been new maintenance sheds and facilities built for APY. OH&S manual policies and procedures for APY businesses have been completed and implemented, and I understand that the 2016-17 audit is expected to be an unqualified audit, which is the first time I can recall that happening.

I absolutely agree that there is always room for improvement, and that is why the state and the federal government are jointly funding an ORIC officer—that is the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations—a joint governance officer, who I understand is on the APY lands at the moment doing anything that is possible to further improve governance, transparency and accountability on the APY lands. I have to say that I would like to place on the record my thanks to the federal government for their very strong support, not just for the ORIC officer who is on the lands at the moment but, as we have heard, Ernst and Young and others do work in the APY lands, for working together and jointly funding some of the programs that we are doing there.

In fact, I think it was Wednesday or Thursday last week that was the most recent time the federal minister, Senator Nigel Scullion, called me, and we had a discussion about how things are going on the APY lands, and I very much appreciate his restated support for making sure that the governance and administration is the best it can possibly be, given many of the challenges that are faced.