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please report any broken links or other errors to › want to come back later? click here to add this page to your bookmarks / favourites Aborigines seek lost wages worth $350m
May 5 2004 - Aboriginal leaders are preparing to launch a class action against the NSW government to recoup what they believe could be as much as $350 million in stolen wages. The move follows the government's declaration that potential claimants will have to provide evidence the money is owed to them, despite a secret ministerial report saying they shouldn't have to. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) eastern NSW commissioner Rick Griffiths said the class action had the full support of the entire national board and the matter could be voted on as early as next week. If the move goes ahead, other state governments such as Victoria and Western Australia could be next in the firing line. "We have total support from the board," Mr Griffiths said, noting ATSIC still continued to function despite being dismantled by the federal government. "We believe the figure could be as high as $350 million." The figure is five times the most generous state government estimate so far of up to $70 million owing. Even that figure was suppressed in a 2001 draft cabinet minute that has yet to be made public. It is believed around 11,500 former apprentices, pensioners and their successors could be eligible. Premier Bob Carr has unveiled new criteria that claimants will have to fulfil to recoup wages, pensions and other payments paid into state government trust funds between 1900 and 1969. Despite admitting that records of the funds are at best woefully inadequate and at worst missing or destroyed, Mr Carr said some evidence would be required. Claimants would need either documents showing they are owed money, or that money was paid in but no evidence of it being paid out or "other evidence" showing money was "likely" to have been deposited but never paid. The original minute by former community services minister Faye Lo Po said claims should be accepted at face value because the government's records were so appalling. Mr Griffiths said anything less generous than the Lo Po framework was not good enough, hence his decision to pursue the matter through the courts. But Mr Carr said Mrs Lo Po's approach was "lazy". "We want it to be a serious, evidence-based scheme," he said. Aborigines are furious they may miss out on what they are owed because of previous governments' destruction or misplacement of their records. Marjorie Woodrow, who has been waiting 60 years for her entitlements, has managed after years of effort to dig up only a few months worth of documentation from a six-year long apprenticeship. "We've got to produce all this evidence? Those trust account books have disappeared out of the archive!" her son Des Benton said. Les Ridgeway, who is trying to reclaim monies owed to his mother, grandmother and great-aunts, said: "How do we get to prove anything when they've got no documents?" But the premier said anyone with evidence of a valid claim would receive their due entitlements - as opposed to a fixed rate - plus interest. Oral evidence also would be considered, he said. "Where people are owed money, they will be paid," he said. A panel comprising an Aboriginal lawyer, a regional council chair and a former top bureaucrat will now embark on a six-month quest to consult potential claimants and develop a workable framework. It will report back to cabinet in October. Mr Griffiths joined the claimants in questioning the panelists' knowledge of the issue and what sway the government would have over them. Source: AAP
By Sean Nicholls and Paola Totaro May 6, 2004 - The State Government will repay up to $70 million to thousands of Aboriginal workers who were forced to pay their wages into trust funds between 1900 and 1969, only to have the money stolen or lost from their accounts. The Premier, Bob Carr, said a three-member panel would develop a scheme to identify who was eligible for compensation and how to pay them, with a report due by October. The panel members are Brian Gilligan, a former director-general of the National Parks and Wildlife Service; Sam Jeffries, chairman of the Murdi Paaki Regional Council in western NSW; and Aboriginal lawyer Terri Janke. Mr Carr said there would be no cap on the size of payments, which collectively could run to between $40 million and $70 million. "I want to assure the Aboriginal community that if we can establish any individual is owed money, they will have it returned," he said. In February it was revealed that a draft report prepared for state cabinet in 2001 by the then community services minister, Faye Lo Po', said successive state governments had resisted returning the money and that, in some cases, government officials had stolen funds. The report outlined a scheme to return about $69 million and named 11,500 potential claimants. In March Mr Carr pledged to return money to anyone who could prove they were owed it, but the Government has resisted making the draft report public. Asked yesterday why a new scheme was needed, he said the proposal would ensure claimants were not forced to surrender their entitlement to legal action and also did not cap the payouts. The ATSIC NSW east zone commissioner, Rick Griffiths, said last night ATSIC's board of commissioners was preparing a class action to recover what they claim could be up to $350 million in stolen wages. A decision on whether to go ahead with the action could be made as early as next week. The panel will use three criteria to establish if a claimant is owed money:
Andrea Durbach, the director of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, which represents about 50 potential claimants, urged the Government to ensure oral evidence would be acceptable, as many records had vanished. Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Media Release
Democrats Senator for NSW and Indigenous Affairs spokesperson, Senator Aden Ridgeway, said as the process appears to be reliant on documentary evidence; claimants must not be disadvantaged in their access to any Departmental archives. "Claimants are now largely elderly and impoverished and do not have time or money on their side," said Senator Ridgeway. "I endorse the choice of panel members and I encourage them to consult primarily with the individuals who have been driving this process for many years in an attempt to expedite the resolution of these unpaid monies. "The panel must also provide a way through for those who have a claim, but cannot locate the required documents through no fault of their own but due to poor and inadequate Government record keeping. "The NSW Government must avoid the conflict and heartbreak the Queensland stolen wages offer produced and do the right thing first up. "In Queensland this has now become an issue of industrial justice, with the Queensland Council of Unions supporting the Aboriginal workers' fight for their money. "I urge all involved in the process to put justice and compassion to the forefront to show NSW can lead the way in dealing with this type of unfinished business," concluded Senator Ridgeway. Source: Australian Democrats
NSW stolen wages response 'outstrips' Queensland Media Release
5 May 2004 - The offer by NSW Premier Bob Carr to set up a process for paying back stolen wages, savings and money owed to Aboriginal people across that state far outstrips the equivalent process in Queensland say executive members of the Stolen Wages Working Group. Mr Carr announced today he had established a panel to consult with indigenous people about setting up a system of paying back money held in trust by governments over the past century but never returned. Stolen Wages Working Group Executive Member Tiga Bayles said after looking at what the NSW government had proposed it was clear they hadn't followed the Queensland example. "They've obviously learned something from the Queensland experience," he said. "As opposed to what's happened here in Queensland, it seems the NSW offer will not be capped and will be available to the families of deceased workers and claimants. "And most importantly they don't have to surrender their legal rights to further claims down the track." Mr Bayles also said the idea of a flat payment for everyone had always seemed unreasonable to Aboriginal people and supporters of the stolen wages campaign in Queensland. Aunty Ruth Hegarty, also a member of the Working Group executive, said signing away legal rights was one of the many things people felt was unfair about the Queensland government offer. "The thing that has hurt us the most about this is the fact we can't ever go back to it again after we have signed even though many of us have done so because we needed to have something before it was too late for us," she said. "According to the Queensland government after you've signed it's all over and done with and we should be happy with that but I can tell him we're not. "We all worked for different periods of time and under different conditions, we all got shifted around and told what we could buy or not buy and how we could buy it, we missed out on our child endowment and other payments but according to Peter Beattie that $4000 pittance he has offered us should be the end of the matter. "What happens if some of our people manage to find further evidence of what they were owed, what happens to their inheritances from the other members of their families who worked? "It's good to see the NSW Government has not followed the Queensland Government so far in this regard." Mrs Hegarty said the three main messages of the Queensland campaign appear to have been endorsed by the NSW government and she called on the Premier to listen to the community and change the Queensland Government's offer accordingly. The messages, embedded in the current Stolen Wages Postcard campaign and supported by unions and community groups as well as claimants and their representatives, are:
Source: Stolen Wages Campaign Working Group Executive
Press conference excerpt on Aboriginal trust funds New South Wales Government
CARR: Well ladies and gentlemen as you know the Government's been working on this question of how you make good the taking of money owing to Aboriginal people, money that belongs to Aboriginal people through trusts, the records having vanished over the years. As you know from previous occasions when we've addressed this Aboriginal people in many circumstances were required to place their money in trusts. The system applied from 1900 to 1969. The paternalism of the time said these people aren't capable of managing their own money, the government would do it for them through these trusts. Scandalously some money disappeared. It wasn't returned to Aboriginal people or their heirs. And this is the situation we're trying to make good. We didn't want to the lazy thing of just saying look there will be a flat rate paid out to anyone who makes a claim, makes an assertion. We want an evidence-based scheme. Nor do we want, we don't want to limit the capacity of people to take money from this scheme and still exercise their right to go to court. We want to protect that. So our scheme is different from the Queensland scheme in that respect. No ...(inaudible)... flat payment and no obligation to surrender legal entitlements down the track. So we want to be a serious evidence-based scheme with evidence focussed on whether documents established that a person is owed money. Whether documents show that money was paid into a trust fund but there is no evidence of the money being paid out. So assumptions will made in a case like that. Whether other evidence can be produced showing that money was likely to have been paid into a trust account and never paid out. Now they're the three criteria we've got. The panel we're announcing today will look at clarifying that criteria, setting up a proper workable scheme, but consult widely among people who've been in this position of having money taken from them, never returned. And where there are pressing claims, settle them now, even before the criteria are clarified. Now the members of panel are Brian Gilligan, former Director-General of the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Sam Jeffries, chair of the Murdi Paaki Regional Council in Western NSW. And Ms Terri Janke, an Aboriginal lawyer. I thank them for undertaking this job. I end my remarks with this simple assurance. Where people are owed money they will be paid. We've set up a system to see that Aboriginal Australians who have money paternalistically removed from them and placed in a trust, but never see it again, will get justice. I'm sorry that this has taken so long. But there is an absence of records. Records have gone missing. And in some cases we know the money has gone missing. But we'll try as hard as we can to make this good. JOURNALIST: ...(inaudible)... CARR: We think it's been stolen. How firm are we about that? TEBBUTT ...(inaudible)... CARR: In some cases not in all cases we think some of the money was stolen in the past. We're talking about things that happened before 1960. This is a long time ago. TEBBUTT That's right the money was collected, placed into trust funds between 1900 and 1969. Basically since the 1969 there has been no repayments from the trust funds, and the money that was transferred across to the predecessor of the Department of Community Services was far less than what the money that should have been collected and remained in trusts. So we just don't have the records to ascertain clearly what's gone on. There are records there. There's records there of the Aboriginal Protection Board, and the Aboriginal Welfare Board but they discontinued. There's been problems with the records being in such a form that they actually allows us to clearly to determine what's happened. Nonetheless, it's obvious that there were significant payments made into trust funds that have not been repaid. So clearly some of that money may well have gone missing. So we're talking about things that happened before 1969. JOURNALIST: Four years ago ...(inaudible)... something should be done, and now today four years later, you're saying something should be done. TEBBUTT Well what we're outlining today is a very clear process whereby the panel that has been appointed will go out and consult with the Aboriginal community so that we can further details about types of claimants, the number of the claimants, the types of money that we're talking about. They will provide then a report that I will take back to cabinet in order to repay the money that is owned. There has been lot of work that's been done over the last two years in order to further refine the detail that we have. As I've said there are records but the records are incomplete. They're patchy. And they're certainly ...(inaudible)... date to be able to determine claims in the usual manner that you would like to. And that's why we're asking the panel to do this particular work whereby they can further refine the ...(inaudible)... criteria that the Government's set out. JOURNALIST: ...(inaudible)... CARR: Simon, today we're announcing two things. We're announcing the establishment of a panel that will pay out the money, and we're announcing the criteria on which the money will paid out. JOURNALIST: ...(inaudible)... CARR: And I've certainly clarified that any urgent claims will be settled even before the criteria is further clarified. Any urgent claims will be settled before any forms are printed. JOURNALIST: How do you ...(inaudible)... an urgent claim ...(inaudible)... ? CARR: Well there might be a claim being mounted by an older person. There might be a claim mounted by someone who has not long to live. I would say that would be urgent. JOURNALIST: In cases where there the records are incomplete and documents missing, will be there an assumption, ...(inaudible)... err on the favour of the assumption that money will be paid out. CARR: According to this criteria, According to the three criteria we're spelling out here. And we need, that's where need further work to be done. So that we're dotting the "i"s and crossing "t"s. But the three criteria we're announcing today provide guidance on that. JOURNALIST: How much in total will the government be up for and will that include interest? CARR: Well, it will include interest and there are only rough estimates. TEBBUTT That's right. The work that's been done today has put such a broad cost scale on the type of repayments that need to be done, that it's really not terribly useful. That's why we need the panel to actually undertake the consultation with Aboriginal communities, scope the claims and give us some further advice. JOURNALIST: ...(inaudible)... TEBBUTT That's right. The work that was done by Ernst and Young and then refined by the Department of Community Services put the figure between $40 million and $70 million. However, as we know, that's based on patchy records and there needs to be further scoping and refinement so the government can be very clear about the costs of such a scheme. JOURNALIST: Are you embarrassed by how long it has taken to actually give justice to the ...(inaudible)... ? TEBBUTT Well the as the Premier has already indicated, we are sorry for the delays. And certainly we taking the steps necessary to address actions of our predecessors that were unjust and did the wrong thing by Aboriginal people. JOURNALIST: ...(inaudible)... allegations ...(inaudible)... destroyed evidence..? CARR: Well we seeing that.... JOURNALIST: ...(inaudible)... CARR: ...well we're establishing a panel that is going to look at that. And we don't want any injustices to be perpetrated. We don't want any injustices to persist out of this. And we will look at recommendations from the panel about those areas where you've got all the evidence a fair assumption can be made where an Aboriginal person says listen, my family, my friends here, other people in this community can confirm that money was taken and put into this trust. And the panel will find ways of working that through. JOURNALIST: What's the deadline for the panel to actually get back ...(inaudible)... ? CARR: Well first of all let me emphasise the panel is charged with making payments with adjudicating claims as those claims come in and are considered urgent. But I think the panel will be moving very smartly to see that the criteria is flesh out to the extent it needs to be. JOURNALIST: Premier, the flip side of ...(inaudible)... may well be a free for all ...(inaudible)... that possibility? CARR: Well, if it were the sort of scheme that you just said listen if you make a claim we're going to give you a simple cash payment and that buys you out, you can't then go to court. And under those circumstances you might see that. But what we're doing here is different. We're saying this is going to be evidenced based. It's not capped. And third you don't have to surrender your claims to legal action down the track. And this makes it different from simple ...(inaudible)... claims that say you've got a $4,000 payment simply because you assert that this occurred. We want some evidence, but we're not the capping claims, and we're not asking you to give up, to sign away your entitlement to take the Government to court for additional money. JOURNALIST: In the cases where records, official records have been destroyed what sort of evidence could a claimant ...(inaudible)... CARR: ...(inaudible)... the panel to determine that. To look at the partial evidence there might be, what supporting evidence a claimant can make to say here's a gap, but despite the gap in records we can reasonably make these assumptions. That's the sort of work I expect them to be engaged in. JOURNALIST: Where you do have records will the panel try to seek out the people to who the money is owed, or does the onus ...(inaudible)... CARR: No, no. Where records can be assembled, people are to be tracked down. It might be necessary in cases. JOURNALIST: ...(inaudible)... CARR: That's because I looked at that, and we need a scheme that carries credibility. We haven't settled on a lazy way out of saying look if you make a claim we're not going to really worry about the evidence, we're just going to give you a flat payment that will be capped. You may get more than that, and you'll have to sign away any legal entitlement. We're saying there will be no capping and people will keep their right to take us to court, to take the Government to court, to take the State as they used to say in the old days, take the Crown to court. JOURNALIST: What's the panel's deadline? CARR: Can you give me a deadline. TEBBUTT October. JOURNALIST: ..speak to a member of the panel... CARR: Sure, absolutely. JOURNALIST: Perhaps Mr Jeffries or Ms Janke. JOURNALIST: In terms of your knowledge of the Aboriginal community how do you think they will respond to the ...(inaudible)... ? JANKE Well we're hoping to consult with the Aboriginal people, that's part of our role to make sure that it's a fair and equitable process for the claimants. JOURNALIST: Do you expect a flood ...(inaudible)... ? JANKE I don't know, I hope we can alert everyone who has a potential claim to come forward and hopefully consult with them. We'd like to ensure that everyone who has money stolen from them has the opportunity to retrieve that. JOURNALIST: Do you expect ...(inaudible)... reaction from some of these potential claimants where ...(inaudible)... ? JANKE Well possibly yes. We will be listening to people and hopefully determining priorities as well. JOURNALIST: ...(inaudible)... JANKE I'm not sure - we've got a deadline of October, but we were working on it straight away. JOURNALIST: Premier ...(inaudible)...
CARR: You can't have a member of Parliament, a member of Parliament can't do that job. You can't have a politician, who by the definition of his or her job is seeking votes, deciding over a panel that hands out money. JOURNALIST: ...(inaudible)... CARR: I think you can trust these people. They're charged with delivering justice. They're going to be talking with Aboriginal communities. They've got a set of good criteria. It's a fair dinkum scheme. It doesn't require people to surrender their right to sue, and it's not capped. And they know that we all want this issue ...(inaudible)... Money was stolen from Aboriginal people. We're seeking a criteria to have it returned to them with interest, without the loss of their right to sue, and without being capped. I think it's a fair outcome. Source: New South Wales Government
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6
May, 2004 - The Australian Democrats have welcomed the beginning of the process
to bring justice to NSW Aboriginal people over stolen wages and welfare benefits,
but say the Government must make all of its records fully available to any potential
claimants.
5
May 2004 - Premier Bob Carr, Minister for Community Services, Carmel Tebbutt and
Terri Janke
ours
+ others photo 