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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-04-02 Daily Xml
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First Nations Voice Committees

The Hon. L.A. HENDERSON (15:16): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Attorney-General regarding Aboriginal affairs.

Leave granted.

The Hon. L.A. HENDERSON: During Budget and Finance Committee on 11 March 2025, Mr Colin Marsh, the Director of the First Nations Voice Secretariat, was asked a question regarding the remuneration allowances and expenses for the advisory committees, which are yet to be established. Mr Marsh's response focused on the salary rates of the State Voice members but did not provide any details regarding budget allocations. My questions to the minister are:

1. What is the overall budget allocated to the advisory committees?

2. How has this budget been distributed across the four committees, and what are the specific items and associated expenditure?

3. What measures are in place to ensure transparent reporting and independent auditing of the expenditure for these committees?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (15:17): I thank the honourable member for her question. As has been traversed a number of times, particularly when the legislation was being proposed some two years ago, the overall budget is about $1.5 million a year for the administration, reasonably split between the administrative costs of the secretariat as well as the costs for the quite low sums of money that are paid to members—$3,000 a year—as a recognition of the work that each of the 46 put in from members of their local Voice.

I haven't got the figures in front of me, but it rises to, for the two presiding members of the State Voice, who do a remarkable amount of work, about $18,000 a year, as recognition of the work that they do, which when you compare to things like government councillors, is I think quite modest in relation to payment. In relation to committees to be set up, as I responded to the Hon. Ben Hood in a question, they are yet to be set up, so any budget impact will be taken into account once that's done.

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