A DISPUTE between a central figure in a Federal Government
inquiry into financial mismanagement at a remote Aboriginal
community and his estranged wife has exposed a litany of corrupt
practices that robbed the impoverished community of millions of
dollars for more than 10 years.
The dispute centres on Steve Hanley, who was the acting chief
executive officer at the community of Papunya, 280 kilometres west
of Alice Springs, and Alison Anderson, a former Papunya CEO and
ATSIC commissioner.
The disagreement, apparently sparked by Mr Hanley's refusal to
stay in Perth at his wife's insistence to avoid interrogation by
federal investigators, has been dismissed by officials of Chief
Minister Clare Martin's Northern Territory Labor Government in an
attempt to avoid a damaging public controversy.
Ms Anderson won the seat of MacDonnell for Labor in this year's
NT elections in a landslide. She has been heavily promoted by Ms
Martin as a high-profile indigenous MP with a promising future.
This week, NT police cleared Ms Anderson of allegations that she
bribed Papunya elders with TVs, whitegoods and other household
items to secure their support in the election. Her husband had
earlier told police that he arranged the distribution of goods on
her behalf.
But the Papunya controversy appears far from over.
In an interview with The Sunday Age, Mr Hanley has
detailed for the first time how hundreds of thousands of dollars
— possibly millions — was siphoned from the community
social club over 10 years to benefit a select few, while the tiny
community of 350 struggled to cope with chronic substance abuse and
health problems.
Inquiries by The Sunday Age indicate that NT officials
attempted to cover up the recent whitegoods bribery allegations and
that the subsequent police inquiry may have been compromised.
Mr Hanley, who was acting CEO for almost five years, said the
social club slush fund — accumulated by raising prices 70 per
cent in the general store — was used to buy an estimated 90
vehicles, including top-of-the-range four-wheel drives.
"From 1992 until now I reckon $4.5 million was spent on cars.
One member of the council received $180,000 worth of cars. On a
trip to Melbourne I bought 32 of them," Mr Hanley, 50, said.
Mr Hanley claimed vehicles bought by the council were
distributed at the direction of Ms Anderson in what he said was
"influence peddling" to further her political career. "She had been
the CEO since 1985 — she decided what was what," he said.
Mr Hanley's claims about the diversion of funds are backed by
the community's former accountant of 30 years, Peter Vroom, who
confirmed that at least 60 cars were bought in recent years from
funds diverted from the Papunya Social Club to the council.
The Federal Government investigation also identified a large
unexplained exodus of funds — more than $513,000 — from
the social club from 2003 to 2004 when Mr Hanley was CEO. "When I
was CEO I tried to stop the practice, but Alison told me this is
blackfellas' money and I should shut up," he claimed.
Federal Government investigators did not ever question Mr Hanley
over $250,000 in missing work-for-the-dole payments, which he told
The Sunday Age he knows nothing about.
Inquiries also reveal that the rorting was not confined to the
purchase of vehicles.
Other instances of underhand practices included:
■The purchase of two $40,000 motor vehicles so two
community elders could drive to a conference and claim more than
$5000 in petrol and car allowances. Although the council bought the
cars, the elders claimed them as their own.
■Excessive payments of travel allowances to council
officials that in some cases almost doubled their income. Federal
Government auditors found that although the CEO's position was
fixed at about $50,000 a year, in 2003 travel expenses of $39,000
were claimed and in 2004 a further $15,000 was claimed.
■Double and triple-dipping of petrol and car allowances
between the council and indigenous organisations.
■The provision of free fuel and new housing to favoured
community members, including some of the Anderson family.
■Attempts to claim payment for work never done. In one
instance Mr Hanley's daughter attempted to claim pay for working in
the general store when she was in Alice Springs. The Sunday
Age has obtained a copy of her time sheet.
The rorting of accounts took place while Mr Hanley and Ms
Anderson managed the community's finances. Ms Anderson was CEO of
Papunya from 1985 until 2000, when she handed the position over to
Mr Hanley.
Papunya, once a centre for desert painting, has been battling
some of the worst rates of substance abuse in regional Australia
for more than a decade.
Various council administrations have been unable to establish an
effective anti-petrol-sniffing program despite the free flow of
money into the community.
Last year, World Vision quit Papunya after a bitter dispute with
another acting CEO, Scotty McConnell, a close friend of Ms
Anderson's.
A recent auditor's report by accounting firm Deloittes found
that $1.2 million in assets — including many motor vehicles
— had been written off and could not be located. Local
government records also revealed that in two years alone, more than
40 council vehicles had been written off.
A spokeswoman for Ms Anderson refused to comment on Mr Hanley's
claims, saying Ms Anderson had no formal positions at the Papunya
community and nothing to do with its management. "I don't know why
you are asking her questions, it's got nothing to do with her," the
spokeswoman said.
Doubts remain about the thoroughness of the police investigation
into Mr Hanley's whitegoods bribery allegations. Although Mr Hanley
admitted to distributing the goods on his wife's instructions,
police did not interview the alleged recipients until weeks
later.
During these weeks Ms Anderson had free access to Papunya as a
traditional owner. When the recipients were interviewed it was
during a week when Ms Anderson hosted a rare visit to Papunya by NT
Police Minister Paul Henderson.
A long-term resident who asked not to be identified said: "The
VIP visit was a big Alison Anderson benefit. The unstated message
was: we back her 100 per cent, so don't cause any trouble. The
investigation never went anywhere after that."
A spokesman for Mr Henderson denied the investigation had been
compromised by the minister's visit. "The police act independently
of the government, we cannot and don't tell them how to conduct
their investigations," the spokesman said.
During the week, Ms Anderson released a statement on Mr Hanley's
bribery allegations: "I have always said I have done nothing wrong
and the findings of the police investigation have proved it once
and for all.
"The police investigation has revealed these allegations for
what they are — an attempt to damage my reputation and hurt me
by a former partner during a difficult relationship break-up."
Inquiries on the white-goods bribery allegations reveal evidence
of an attempted cover-up by the NT Government.
A document obtained by The Sunday Age shows that an
official in the NT Government apparently drafted a letter for Mr
Hanley to sign saying he had sold the goods legitimately and had
not given them to elders as he later claimed to police.
A draft of the letter, dated September 1 and addressed to Allan
Van Zyl in the policy division of the NT Department of Justice, was
faxed to Mr Hanley on the same day. Even though Mr Hanley had not
signed the draft, it already had scrawled on it Mr Van Zyl's
handwritten notation saying: "No further action required."
Mr Hanley said the letter had been forwarded to him by a
"friend" who had been talking to Mr Van Zyl and who told him to
sign the letter so the issue of the missing goods would "go
away".
Mr Van Zyl has refused to comment to the media.
Former accountant Mr Vroom, whose services were recently
terminated by the council, described the lack of proper governance
at Papunya as a "disgrace" because local government officials never
enforced regulations.
"They would issue non-compliance notices and do nothing about
it. No matter what government is in power these communities are
untouchable. Nobody wants to know about them."
Mr Vroom, who describes Mr Hanley as a flawed administrator not
equipped for the CEO's position, said the real power at Papunya was
not Mr Hanley, but Ms Anderson.
"Even though she holds no formal positions out there she runs
the show, make no mistake about that. She is always out there
telling them what to do," he said.
Apart from auditing the council and social club accounts, Mr
Vroom was the acting CEO after Mr Hanley quit late last year and is
understood to have clashed with Ms Anderson.
On the rorting of the social club accounts, Mr Hanley said the
way it worked was simple. "Alison would tell the social club to
make a donation to the council and that money would be used by the
council to buy a car for whoever she nominated. Alison had a
political career to look after and this is how she went about it,"
he said.
"No records were ever kept of who owned the cars."
by Russell Skelton
