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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-11-28 Daily Xml
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Aboriginal Governance

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:31): I seek leave to break a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Aboriginal affairs a question about Aboriginal corruption.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: There is a great deal of concern on the part of senior Aboriginal leaders across the state about the lack of capacity, governance, poor performance and also corruption, misappropriation and fraud in many Aboriginal corporations in our state. Ten of these respected leaders met with former Premier Steven Marshall in the previous Liberal government, pleading for a parliamentary inquiry into Aboriginal governance. They included the then chair of the State Aboriginal Heritage Committee, past chair of APY, CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement, the past native title commissioner of South Australia and the current SA Senior Australian of the Year, and others of similar seniority.

The former Premier agreed to the inquiry, where these respected elders raised serious concerns about the prevalence of corrupt Aboriginal men gaining control of these corporations, established to protect, support and assist their people and, using that corporation's funds to instruct lawyers to act on their behalf, effectively protecting them and making them untouchable.

This government, including you as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, opposed the recommendations of that inquiry and then closed down the standing committee. I have been informed this week that former corrupt police officer Deborah Lee Buckskin, jailed in 2009 for nearly three years after pleading guilty to two counts of abusing her position by providing a police incident report and car registration details to an alleged drug dealer, is now deputy chair of the South Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation Network (SAACCON)—the state government advisory committee and its key institutional adviser on Aboriginal policy, which I am told receives about $5 million a year in government funding. My questions to the minister are:

1. Was he aware of Ms Buckskin's appointment as deputy chair of SAACCON, and does he agree with it, given her criminal history?

2. Does the government have any governance over SAACCON appointments? Mainstream Australia would never accept this type of appointment, so why should it or the Aboriginal community be expected to tolerate this sort of leadership within Aboriginal organisations?

3. How do you respond to concerns from a growing number of respected Aboriginal elders that you continue to deny the crisis taking place in many Aboriginal corporations, and that your actions are proof of you trying to protect people?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:34): I thank the honourable member for his question. The government has no role in appointing members to an Aboriginal community-controlled organisation. By its very definition, it is community controlled.

What I do, though, is reject the notion that is seen to be proffered by some previously that there is something inherent about Aboriginal people or Aboriginal organisations that leads to corruption at a much greater rate than anywhere else in society. I completely reject that notion. If people have concerns about any act or incidence of corruption, I would highly recommend they take those to the relevant authority.

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