Senate debates
Tuesday, 2 July 2024
Questions without Notice
North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency
2:58 pm
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Minister Wong. In recent weeks, we saw shocking revelations that the man appointed as the chair of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, Mr Hugh Woodbury, stood on his pregnant partner's stomach, slammed her in a door and repeatedly yelled derogatory slurs at her in front of their toddler. So far as we can tell, the only action taken by this government is to ask the board to participate in a discussion, without taking any concrete action. Does NAAJA continue to receive Commonwealth funding?
2:59 pm
Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Thank you to Senator Nampijinpa Price for the question. I first start by saying that violence is unacceptable, and the sort of violence which was described in her question and which has been reported is completely unacceptable and is very disturbing.
The first point I would make is that the government—and, I know, Minister Burney—expects all organisations funded by the NIAA to uphold high standards of governance and financial management.
Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Obviously, the government is very concerned by the situation at the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency.
Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The advice I have is that—I'm sorry; I'm just trying to work out where this brief is from. Minister Burney and the Northern Territory Attorney-General have met with the board. It is critical that the board ensure that Aboriginal people that need services from NAAJA get them. We do agree that it is time for the board of NAAJA to show leadership when it comes to family violence. We all have a responsibility to lead by example.
Honourable senators interjecting—
Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Order! I've called you to order. Senator McKenzie and other senators, order! Senator Nampijinpa Price, first supplementary?
3:00 pm
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The board continues to defend the chair. However, does the government agree with the Territory Labor domestic violence minister, Kate Worden, who said that it was totally inappropriate for Mr Woodbury to lead NAAJA and said that it was a matter for the federal government to intervene?
3:01 pm
Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
First, if I could correct something I said in my first answer, what I should have said is that the Attorney-General has met Ms Burney and the Northern Territory Attorney-General in relation to this matter.
The advice I have is that the view of the Attorney-General is that the board needs to show leadership when it comes to family violence and that we all have a responsibility to lead by example.
In relation to funding—I'll take Senator Ruston's interjection—the expectation of the government is that all organisations funded by the NIAA are to uphold high standards of governance and financial management.
Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Are they?
Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
I think the question that the NAAJA board should answer is whether or not they are doing so.
Honourable senators interjecting—
Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
Order! The senator is on her feet. I invite other senators to make a contribution at some other time, not question time. Senator Nampijinpa Price, second supplementary?
3:02 pm
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (NT, Country Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
NAAJA is an organisation that's been badly mismanaged. It's failed to deliver. It's stopped taking criminal cases in Alice Springs. It's an organisation that repeatedly took a taxpayer funded trip to Darwin against legal advice. It is an organisation that has had its most senior female executive resign, and, as we learned last week, it's an organisation that was found by the Federal Court to have unlawfully sacked its former CEO after she raised allegations of corruption. Will the government step in and take responsibility for an agency that receives federal funding? (Time expired)
3:03 pm
Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source
The advice I have is that the Attorney-General did take action to divert Commonwealth funding to the NT Legal Aid Commission to ensure that Aboriginal people in Central Australia would continue to have legal representation. The advice I also have is that, as soon as concerns about financial management and governance at NAAJA arose, the NIAA put a grant controller in place. Since December 2023 the grant controller has been receiving all NIAA funding to NAAJA to ensure it is used appropriately. I'm also advised that the NIAA has issued NAAJA with a breach notice under its funding agreement, with a response required by mid-July, which I think deals with the issues you raised. On that basis, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.