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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-08-29 Daily Xml
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Davenport Community

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:00): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs a question about the Davenport Community.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: The Davenport Community, a small Indigenous settlement on the northern fringe of Port Augusta, which is home to about 100 people, has been the centre of controversy in recent years after the council which managed the community was put into administration and an external manager appointed after serious allegations of financial mismanagement were raised.

Prior to being removed, the council was the housing and services provider for the Indigenous community for almost 40 years. In recent years, the community has fallen into a state of disrepair, with many of the common facilities, including the community centre, trashed by vandals. Crime is rife in the community, with allegations elderly members are being threatened with rocks being thrown at them and at their homes.

Earlier this year, I asked the minister a series of questions about Davenport, including if he was aware of why the council was placed into administration by the Aboriginal Lands Trust and whether any evidence of misappropriation and/or fraud emerged from the administration. I have since received further information that a leading Adelaide law firm was instructed under the previous Aboriginal Lands Trust CEO and that serious issues were identified as a result, including the theft of heavy vehicles and equipment worth tens of thousands of dollars. My questions to the minister are:

1. When can the minister provide a response to my initial question?

2. Can he provide the findings of the investigation conducted by the law firm?

3. Is there a current police investigation underway into the disappearance and presumed theft of the heavy vehicles and equipment?

4. What is the government doing to reduce the crime rate at Davenport and repair the common facilities that were damaged?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:03): I thank the honourable member for his question. I am not aware of any current police investigation. Certainly, I am not aware of any findings of any criminal nature against anyone involved at the Davenport Community. I am aware of disputes that have occurred in recent years within the Davenport Community.

I am aware that the Aboriginal Lands Trust, under the relevant section of the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act, appointed an administrator for the Davenport Community, which lasted, from memory, some two or three years. My understanding is that administration has finished, and I understand that the Aboriginal Lands Trust is working with the Davenport Community Council Incorporated (DCCI) in relation to the administration of the lands at Davenport.

Davenport is one of a number of communities around South Australia whose land forms part of the Aboriginal Lands Trust estate. Many of the places that form part of the Aboriginal Lands Trust estate are former missions, and that is no different for Davenport, centred around the Umeewarra Mission that was set up on the outskirts of what is now known as Port Augusta.

In relation to investigations by a law firm, I think there was an Adelaide law firm that was engaged by the Aboriginal Lands Trust for matters that were connected with the administration of and disputes with the Davenport Community Council Incorporated. I am not aware that a law firm has conducted any investigation into the issues that the member alleges to do with fraud or vehicles, but I am happy to check on that and, if there has been one, to report back.

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