Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Firstly, let me say I welcome the opportunity to speak in this cognate debate. I principally want to address the amendments that update the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976. I do intend to move an amendment, and I will move it now whilst my colleague is in the chamber. I move:

That all words after “That” be omitted with a view to substituting the following words: “whilst welcoming many positive measures contained in this Bill and the related Bills, the House is of the opinion that:

(1)

the Government should respond immediately and comprehensively to a recent report commissioned by the Office of Indigenous Policy Co-ordination, which found red tape and short-term, ad hoc funding arrangements were severely debilitating the Indigenous corporate sector. This legislative reform will not address these external causes of instability to corporate governance;

(2)

the Government must ensure adequate funding for training and assistance for the Indigenous corporate sector to build their governance capacity and facilitate a smooth transition to the new regime – particularly as many Indigenous corporations deliver essential services. This was a unanimous recommendation of the Senate Inquiry into the Bill;

(3)

there are significant outstanding concerns in relation to the level of regulation and extent of the Registrar’s powers in the Bill, particularly given the lack of full independence of the Registrar from Ministerial and political interference;

(4)

for the next three financial years ORAC should include in its annual report a review of the operation of the new legislation and results of a statistical survey of stakeholder satisfaction to ensure that the impact of the legislation is closely monitored and with appropriate transparency; and

(5)

the Government should ensure a review of the operation of the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act by parliamentary committee within three years having with particular regard to:

(a)

the effective and proper use of the Registrar’s powers under the Act; and

(b)

the effectiveness and appropriateness of the Act as a regime of corporate law for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”.

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