GANDANGARA Local Aboriginal Land Council (GLALC ) is being investigated for the second time in 12 months after state Aboriginal Affairs Minister Victor Dominello granted the request of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council for an independent investigation of the organisation.
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The land council has a proposal for a $1 billion housing and commercial development in west Menai before the State Planning Department.
The inquiry is not believed to relate to this proposal.
The council’s chairwoman Cindy Cronan announced last January that its chief executive Jack Johnson had stood down amid allegations about his businesses dealings.
Later that month, Ms Cronan said an independent inquiry had cleared Mr Johnson of wrongdoing.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption stated last June that its preliminary inquiry into Mr Johnson’s activities had found no evidence he had acted corruptly.However, the council is under scrutiny again — by an independent consultant.
A spokesman for Mr Dominello confirmed that O’Connor Marsden & Associates had been appointed to investigate the land council, with the inquiry due to be completed in about a month.The spokesman would not disclose why the council was being investigated or what had sparked the inquiry, saying it was ‘‘not appropriate to comment on the details of a current investigation’’.
According to information contained in the council’s annual report, the investigation began last October.
The NSW Aboriginal Land Council is the peak body overseeing all local Aboriginal land councils. Despite requesting the investigation, the NSWALC declined to comment on the investigation.
The latest investigation has exposed a growing rift between the NSWALC and the local council, with Gandangara chief executive Jack Johnson telling the Leader that his organisation had ‘‘very real and strong objections’’ to the investigation.
He said it related to a previous investigation undertaken by ICAC into his activities as chief executive which found he had no case to answer.
Mr Johnson said the NSW body was ‘‘threatened’’ by Gandangara’s model that had ‘‘provided more practical services for Aboriginal people than any other land council in NSW and more than the peak body itself’’.
News of the inquiry follows a failed audit of the organisation by Lawler Partners.
The Leader has obtained a copy of Lawler’s letter to the local council which describes why Lawler was unable to complete an audit of the council.
The letter was attached to the land council’s financial statements for the year to June 2012 and presented to members at its annual meeting on December 12.
Signed by Lawler partner Clayton Hickey, the letter — dated November 1, 2012 — states that after making inquiries across a range of areas including contingent liabilities and transactions between the council and its subsidiaries, ‘‘several inconsistencies from previous representations’’ were uncovered.
The Leader contacted Mr Hickey who confirmed Lawler had attempted to perform an audit of the council, but declined to make any further comment.
In his letter, Mr Hickey states that inconsistencies in information given to Lawler meant they were ‘‘unable to ensure that all information and explanations have been provided to allow us to perform procedures to ensure that all transaction and events are appropriately stated in the financial report’’.
The letter goes on to say that the significance of the inconsistencies and the matters they involved meant Lawler had ‘‘not been able to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence to provide a basis for an audit opinion as to whether the financial report is in accordance with section 41(B) of the Public Finance and Audit Act 1983 including giving a true and fair view of Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council and controlled entities’’.
Because of these problems the letter states that Lawler was not expressing an opinion on the financial reports.
CHIEF CONFIDENT
The Leader asked GLALC CEO Jack Johnson (pictured) if he was concerned about the failed audit.
In response, he said: ‘‘Gandangara’s audit is complete, presented to members and to NSWALC and any actions required have, and will, be taken.
‘‘The audit shows Gandangara to be a highly successful LALC both in terms of its financial status and its service delivery.’’
