General News
9 April, 2025
Indigenous corporations need oversight, says MP
Situations like Dajarra's could be avoided if the state provided more support, claims Robbie Katter.
The Jimberella Cooperative Society’s financial problems are a result of the state government walking away from its oversight of Indigenous organisations.
That’s the view of Cloncurry Shire mayor Greg Campbell and Traeger MP Robbie Katter, who say the plight of Indigenous housing in Dajarra also exposes the lack of senior government officials on the ground in the North West that can make enforceable decisions.
Cr Campbell said the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality among Brisbane bureaucrats resulted in Jimberella not lodging required reports and financial data with the Office of Fair Trading and other bodies for at least a decade without triggering any alarm bells.
He said this also occurred despite repeated warnings raised by his council.
Cloncurry Shire Council is now owed $1 million in unpaid rates from Jimberella and has issued “grounds for forced sale” notices to the co-operative.
Cr Campbell said he would write to Attorney-General Deb Frecklington to request an internal investigation into the lack of action from relevant government departments that should have expected regular updates from Jimberella.
Mr Katter told North West Weekly there should be a dedicated state government employee based in Mount Isa who liaised with Indigenous cooperatives across the North West to provide a single point of contact for oversight and assistance.
He said this role should include attending board meetings of co-operatives, receiving regular financial updates and being able to take action if a group has been non-compliant for more than six months.
Mr Katter said it would fit into a broader policy ambition to establish a regional office of cross-department government workers who were able to make policy decisions across a range of portfolios.
“I think the lack of use of any discretionary powers are a problem because I would say there are a lot of Indigenous co-ops that are on the decline across Queensland, and I haven’t had many people argue with me about that point,” the MP said.
“I think there is a lot to be answered for among the government departments that are meant to be provide oversight.
“It is hard to point the finger at any particular department because all of the co-ops have different ownership structures, which means they come under different departments and that only adds to the complications.
“The government just handed the keys to these Indigenous people 30 or 50 years ago and just said ‘well, good luck’ – that’s proven to have been completely unreasonable.”
Having returned from a series of meetings with government ministers in parliament last week, Cr Campbell said the “only obvious option” moving forward was for Aboriginal Partnerships Minister Fiona Simpson and Housing Minister Sam O’Connor to work together on offering increased oversight and guidance to Jimberella Cooperative Society.
“The new people involved in Jimberella want to see their rate debt cleared one way or another – they want to see the houses functional, they want to see people paying rent and they want to see the people going forward,” he said.
“That is exactly what we all want to see at council and the state government should want the same thing.”