Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee, , 4:11:25 to 4:15:18
The NIAA explains the legal inability to prevent the sale of Aboriginal housing in Mount Isa by the local council, noting that Queensland legislation overrode existing caveats intended to protect the properties.
Topics: First Nations, Social services
Speakers: Hon Malarndirri McCarthy, Julie-Ann Guivarra, Senator Lidia Thorpe, Dr Simon Gordon, Unknown Speaker
Uh thank you for appearing today. Uh my first question is about Mount Isa. Um this is to the minister. Um Minister McCarthy, when did you and your office become aware of issues with a housing provider that was responsible for managing ainal housing in Mount Eiza?
>> Sure. Thank you. Uh Senator Thorpe, I know we've um provided information to you uh in the Senate in terms of your OPD. Uh I believe I responded to your question on this uh in the Senate that I first became aware of it in April.
>> April. >> Uh thank you. So according to your
department's understanding of the Katsy act, what steps were available to you and NY to prevent the loss of these homes that were under the corporation's management and so many people including elders losing their homes.
Yeah, look, we went through quite a lot of um steps and many processes in terms of uh firstly what could we do with the corporation and uh I'll I'll go to the uh NIAA in a moment, but I do want to [laughter] put on the record uh there was considerable work done between uh the NIAA office in Mounter with staff here. Uh certainly I went to Mount Eiser uh to meet with families uh trying to look at uh working [clears throat] with the Mountaer Council. Uh they were perhaps my first port of call to really see uh if this debt could be waved for starters. Uh just what was it that they wanted. I reached out to the Queensland government uh for uh their assistance as well given there was a legacy issue around the houses in terms of former agreements with the state uh and of course through um Oric itself to see if uh we could look at other options in terms of trying to assist uh these families. But I'll I'll hand over to NIAA in terms of some of the more technical aspects of it. Senator,
>> Um, thank you, Senator. Um, as the minister said, uh, we, uh, became aware of the situation with the houses in Mount Eiza when it was actually the Mountaer Council that reached out to us um, seeking uh, the withdrawal of caveats which were over the properties. Those caveats existed back from when uh the organization in question was actually um uh under ATSIC. Uh and uh we actually did look at that issue around whether those caveats uh would apply in a circumstance where a local council was actually seeking to um uh basically reclaim rates through the sale of those properties. it. We we found through the legal advice that in fact um the Queensland government and local government acts in Queensland actually gaze any uh rights we had to um prevent those sales from happening through the caveat itself. Um as the minister has also noted, we did go through a a range of different consultations with the Mountaer Council at every level. So I had uh meetings with the um the mayor and and counselors. The minister did as well. Um our office in uh in Mount Aiza had done similarly throughout this process. >> Um we'd also reached out to the department of housing and public works in Queensland who are actually responsible for social housing. >> Could