Murray-Darling: Cash for wisdom on water wasted

An Indigenous group which has ­received almost $1m since being set up to advise on how to manage the Murray-Darling river system has been shut down.

Indigenous senator Jacinta Price. Picture: Martin Ollman / NCA NewsWire

An Indigenous group which has ­received almost $1m since being set up to advise on how to manage the Murray-Darling river system has been shut down by a government agency.

In answers to questions on ­notice asked by Nationals senator Perin Davey, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority confirmed it had closed the Northern Basin Aboriginal Nations organisation ­because it “no longer had confidence” in the group’s capacity to address internal challenges.

The organisation was set up to provide strategic advice on First Nations’ water rights to the MDBA, which is a requirement under the basin plan, but has ­failed to meet contractual obligations. “The decision to finalise the MDBA’s contractual arrangements with NBAN was carefully considered, but ultimately taken as the MDBA no longer had confidence in NBAN’s capacity to ­address organisational challenges and to rectify outstanding deliverables,” the MDBA said.

The MDBA said the organisation had failed to undertake progress or financial reporting ­requirements – outlining the ­activities in the agreement that were delivered and income and related expenses – as agreed to under its contract and did not hold enough community events in the basin region.

The MDBA revealed it had paid the organisation more than $984,000, or just below its agreed contractual funding amount of $1.25m.

Indigenous senator Jacinta Price questioned why taxpayer funds were spent on a body which had not been able to meet proper accountability and governance standards. She has been pushing for a parliamentary inquiry into the funding of all Aboriginal organisations.

“What we could have here is an organisation that has received taxpayer funding but does not ­appear up to the accountability and governance standards we would expect,” Senator Price told The Australian. “Incomplete work and outstanding reports are not acceptable in other industries.

“Why are there gaps in these structures for Aboriginal organisations? If you receive public money, the public expects value for it in return. This is why I ­believe a forensic audit across the board of funding to Aboriginal ­organisations is essential.”

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek accused the opposition of “complaining about a contract which was entered into and ­reviewed” when the Coalition was in government.

The Northern Basin Aboriginal Nations organisation was first granted federal funding in 2018, with concerns about the body’s contractual obligations first raised from November 2021.

Ms Plibersek said the former Coalition government “comprehensively failed to deliver every aspect of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan”.

“The Liberals and Nationals are complaining about a contract which was entered into,” Ms Plibersek said. “If they thought there was something wrong with it, why didn’t they do anything?

“They got multiple warnings the plan was late and off track. They promised $40m for First Nations water in the basin but never delivered a cent.”

Amid concern the closure of the organisation could jeopardise the government’s management of the river system, MDBA chief executive Andrew McConville said: “The MDBA is committed to listening to First Nations’ voices and we continue to explore with First Nations peoples and groups across the basin our approach to engaging with them.”

The MDBA said it had worked “actively” with the organisation to address organisational challenges since November 2021 to help it deliver on contractual commitments and rectify contract performance issues. The agency said it had no plans to form an Indigenous advisory group to represent the northern basin. The Northern Basin Aboriginal Nations organisation was contacted for comment.