Tricia Stroud,the registrar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations,said in a statement last month that the Bunurong Land Council was put into administration after an examination of the council’s books.
“The examination identified serious concerns with respect to the standard of corporate governance of the corporation,” she said.
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A spokeswoman for the registrar said the council’s responsibilities and operations as a registered Aboriginal party continued “business as usual” whether a special administrator was in place or not.
The key allegation from this masthead’s report in May was that former Bunurong heritage manager Robert Ogden and former general manager Dan Turnbull took fees of up to $5000 a week they should not have received over a one-year period up to February 2018.
The fees were for attending informal meetings with property developers,archaeologists and local councils seeking advice from the land council on cultural heritage. Ogden and Turnbull have both strongly denied the allegations.
“All the evidence is I’ve done nothing outside of my contract,” Ogden was reported in May as saying. “It’s purely political by the new board … it’s personal conflicts relating to family issues.”
Turnbull has also said he did nothing wrong. “Every payment we received was documented and was added to our contract when we received them,so it’s all completely legitimate. That’s the truth.”
The council areas affected by possible project delays include Wyndham,Melton,Casey,Bayside,Hobsons Bay,Mornington,Frankston,Cardinia,Kingston,Glen Eira,Port Phillip,Bass Coast,South Gippsland and Baw Baw.
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A spokeswoman for Kingston said the council was working on more than 15 projects that required cultural heritage management plans,but it was not aware of any impacts to the projects caused by the collapse of the Bunurong Land Council.
A spokeswoman for Mornington Peninsula Shire also said she was unaware of any direct impact on projects as a result of the administration.
“Any delays with the cultural heritage management plan process are connected to industry-wide challenges,specifically the high demand for resources such as archaeologists,which is surpassing the available capacity,” she said.
A spokesman for the Department of Premier and Cabinet said:“Under the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Act,Registered Aboriginal Parties placed into special administration remain registered and can continue to deliver their services,including services relating to Aboriginal cultural heritage – this includes Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation.”
Opposition planning spokesman James Newbury said the delays showed the Allan government was asleep at the wheel.
“We cannot have our economy put at risk because ... projects across a swath of Victoria are going to be delayed for at least six months,” he said. “The Labor government have lost control of Victoria’s planning system.”
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