Larry Joe Woosup pleads not guilty on first day of bauxite mine deal fraud trial

The fraud trial of a Cape York traditional owner who a court heard signed an agreement with a bauxite mining company without telling his community and then withdrew more than $200,000 from trust accounts has begun in Cairns.

THE fraud trial of a Cape York traditional owner who a court heard dishonestly signed an agreement with a bauxite mining company without telling his community and then withdrew more than $200,000 from trust accounts has begun in Cairns.

Larry Joe Woosup pleaded not guilty to two counts of dishonestly obtaining a benefit of more than $30,000 on Tuesday in the Cairns Supreme Court as part of a trial that is expected to last five days.

In her opening address, Crown prosecutor Claudia Georgouras explained to the court how Mr Woosup was one of two surviving Ankamuthi native title applicants who had lodged a native title claim in 1998 over an area of country spanning from the Dulcie River in the south to the Skardon River in the north, as well as a separate triangular section of land to the north.

Ms Georgouras said the Crown case, and what the jury would hear from the Ankamuthi people called as witnesses, was that mining company Gulf Alumina had proposed the Skardon River Project to mine bauxite on the Ankamuthi people’s traditional land.

There were lengthy negotiations, but by 2010 they had “essentially come to a stalemate”, Ms Georgouras said.

The company wanted to pay royalties in the order of 50c a tonne, while the Ankamuthi people wanted 90c a tonne, the court heard.

Ankamuthi traditional owner Larry Woosup. PHOTO: BRENDAN RADKE.

Ms Georgouras read out an excerpt from an outcome of a meeting in 2010: “Taking a pessimistic view – if the gap between Gulf Alumina’s offer of 50c and the (traditional owners)’ proposal of 90c is not able to be bridged, then there is effectively no agreement.”

“And no agreement was made in 2010,” Ms Georguras added.

“From this point on, Mr Woosup continued without the permission of the community.”

The court heard by May 2013 Mr Woosup had recommenced negotiations with Gulf Alumina about the proposed mine – without taking the proposals back to the community.

Ms Georgouras said Mr Woosup along with two others finalised an agreement with the company allowing them to mine on traditional land and for royalties to be paid at 50c to the tonne in December 2013 and that eight days after a mining deed was signed by the then Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Mr Woosup set up a trust account with the Commonwealth Bank on behalf of the Ankamuthi community.

The account was set up with an overdraft facility, and without depositing any money into the account he withdrew $110,000, Ms Georgouras said.

The court heard that on the same days Mr Woosup withdrew $50,000 cash and then later, $10,000 cash, the same amounts were deposited into his personal bank account.

Ms Georgouras also told the court how Gulf Alumina sent Mr Woosup on February 24, 2014, a $95,000 cheque payable to the Ankamuthi community in accordance with the agreement.

Three days later he brought the cheque in to the Queensland Country Credit Union where had set up another community trust account, and deposited it there, Ms Georgouras said.

Between February 27 and April 30, the entire amount disappeared in cash withdrawals, fees, and automatic transfers.

A further payment under the agreement of $255,562.56 was to be made to the Ankamuthi people, but lawyers involved in the deal exercised a lien over the money, as did the Commonwealth Bank and the Ankamuthi people, the court heard.

Of that money only $1267.25 was returned to the community, Ms Georgouras said.

The trial before Judge Dean Morzone QC continues.

Originally published as Larry Joe Woosup pleads not guilty on first day of bauxite mine deal fraud trial