Central Land Council slams Price, Liddle, Thorpe’s calls for land council inquiry

The Central Land Council has slammed a motion introduced by senators Jacinta Price and Kerrynne Liddle, supported by Lidia Thorpe calling for an inquiry into Indigenous land councils.

The Central Land Council has slammed a proposed senate inquiry into the governance and accountability of Indigenous land councils and other organisations as “wasteful”.

On Wednesday, NT senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and South Australian senator Kerrynne Liddle introduced a motion to refer land councils and similar organisations to the Finance and Public Administration References Committee.

The proposed inquiry would look into the role, governance and accountability of land councils, the scope of services delivered by land councils and other organisations and how they affect communities.

It would also probe how Traditional owners are consulted in decision-making and how councils and governing bodies assess applications for funding.

Senator Price said the inquiry would “give us the opportunity to hold these organisations to account and ensure that they’re working effectively and efficiently to improve the lives of our most marginalised”.

Senators Kerrynne Liddle and Jacinta Price introduced the motion on Wednesday. Picture: Matt Loxton

“The government claims they want to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, this is a practical step that we can take now,” she said.

The push has been backed by independent Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe who said Aboriginal corporations were currently not helping communities on the ground as they were aloof from the needs of the public.

“People in the Latrobe Valley are so poor we have young people stealing food from our old people and we have a deadly Native Title corporation up the road that’s raking in millions,” she told the Senate on Wednesday evening.

“We want accountability and transparency and corruption to end so that our people get what these organisations are meant to be giving.”

Central Land Council chief executive Les Turner has said an inquiry would only duplicate existing independent processes, labelling it “wasteful”.

But Central Land Council chief executive Les Turner rebuffed the calls, saying an inquiry would only duplicate existing independent processes that have “confirmed the CLC’s effective representation of Aboriginal Territorians”.

“Northern Territory land councils are among the most-successful and most reviewed organisations in the country and the CLC has demonstrated over and over that we are well-governed, transparent and effective,” he said.

“Only two months ago we welcomed an intensive performance audit by the Australian National Audit Office, one of a series of audits of NT land councils to be tabled this year alone.”

He urged the Senate to reject the motion, saying it would be “wasteful” and would only duplicate the ANAO’s rigorous reviews.

“An additional review would force us to direct our limited resources away from serving some of the poorest Australians,” he said.

“As we have heard loudly and clearly during this year’s Garma Festival, more waste and duplication and more of the same are unacceptable, and no substitute for a positive agenda for remote communities.”