Just Think, All This Could Have Been in the Constitution!

When Anthony Albanese launched his disastrous “Voice” referendum, many naturally questioned why an “advisory body” needed to be enshrined in the Constitution. “So it can’t be abolished by a future government, like ATSIC was!” was the answer. Yet, the former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission was abolished for very good reasons: it was unrepresentative and hopelessly corrupt.

Still, at least the Aboriginal Industry learned from their ATSIC mistake. No, not stamping out corruption. The only lesson they seem to have imbibed is: if you’re going to be corrupt and unrepresentative, try and get it protected by a dodgy Constitutional amendment.

Australians, meanwhile, can breathe a sigh of relief that they so wisely dodged such a bullet. Could you imagine this lot, protected under the Constitution?

The board of Australia’s largest Aboriginal legal service knowingly appointed a chair who pleaded guilty to a horrific domestic assault against his pregnant partner, having stood on her stomach, pushed her to the ground, slammed her arm in a door and yelled degrading slurs at her in front of their two-year-old child.

Hugh Woodbury, 42, who became head of the board of North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency in March, served a 12-month good behaviour bond and was fined $200 without conviction after his partner, whom The Australian has chosen not to name, reported the assault to police in 2020 […]

In his role, Woodbury oversees more than $20m a year in federal government funding, administered by the Northern Territory government through the National Legal Assistance Partnership.

Presumably, the appointment was made on the same logic as the Ardern government handing millions to biker gangs to run drug programs: if you’re going to deal with vicious criminality, might as well call in the experts.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg of alleged corruption at the NAAJA.

The embattled NAAJA has recently lost dozens of staff and was experiencing a critical shortage in crime-ridden Alice Springs earlier this year […]

The mass exodus of staff also came amid extensive reporting in The Australian of claims of corruption, fraud, bullying and drug use within the NAAJA, including serious allegations that [former chief executive Priscilla Atkins], CFO Madhur Evans and [former chair Colleen Rosas] misused thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds.

As I’ve previously reported for The BFD, the allegations include that Evans siphoned tens of thousands into the bank account of Rosas. For her part, Rosas allegedly requested payments to be made to a credit card, so as not to alert the Tax Office and threaten her Centrelink pension. For their part, Evans and Rosas countered that Atkins used company funds to buy multiple cars.

The NT Police wrapped up investigations into allegations made by Ms Atkins against Ms Rosas and Ms Evans and found no wrongdoing.

The outcome of the Federal Court case is pending.

NAAJA is currently being provided $83m under the five-year National Legal Assistance Partnership, which is set to expire in 2025.

So, that’s where at least some of the $34 billion a year we taxpayers pour into the Aboriginal Industry goes.

As for why the NAAJA experienced a mass staff exodus:

Former acting CEO Darryl Pearce told The Australian earlier this year that staff predominantly left the organisation from being burnt out. “When you’re taking on 30, 40, 50 matters regularly, it just wears you down,” he said.

The Australian

Here’s a thought: Stop breaking the law, arseholes!