Exclusive breaking news: Native title bombshell - racism at its worst

FMG’s Native Title “Racism” Unravels - Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation
6 February 2013
Gerry Georgatos of the National Indigenous Times writes “abuse and trampling of inalienable rights” in FMG’s native title dealings with the Yindjibarndi People is racist, and calls for a Royal Commission. This week he reports new evidence of intermeddling involving former FMG staffer, Michael Gallagher.

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PHOTO (by Gerry Georgatos): Wendy Hubert, wife of WYMAC Chairman Bruce Woodley

Last November, whistleblower, Chairman and most senior Elder of the Wirlu-Murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (WYMAC) Board, Mr Bruce Woodley, complained about FMG’s interference in the affairs of WMYAC on ABC’s 7.30, and said that he was frustrated by former FMG Land Access Division manager, Michael Gallagher, “because he manipulates our Board”, and that it was “time for him to move on – to hit the road Jack, FMG too.”

Yesterday, WMYAC office manager Michelle Adams, released to the media a statutory declaration signed by Bruce Woodley in which he states, “I was encouraged to make those statements by Kerry Savas [and] was also encouraged by a journalist from the National Indigenous Times, Gerry Georgatos, to make statements and appear on national television.”

In response, Mr Georgatos writes:

EXTRACTS: At 6pm on the Tuesday Wendy Hubert, Mr Woodley’s wife and Mr Woodley himself phoned me from Roebourne to tell me they did not understand what Mr Woodley “had been forced to sign”.

They swore to me they had not contributed to any of the statements within the Declaration and they had no knowledge of what 60 year old Mr Woodley was signing.

“We don’t have any idea about what was in the papers they had Bruce sign. They took him to Gary (the local Justice of the Peace) and he signed them,” Ms Hubert said.

“Because I am Chairman of the Board they tell me I have to sign this and that and they bring papers to me all the time,” Mr Woodley said.

Mr Bailey said Mr Woodley was accompanied by a young lady who appeared to be a lawyer. Mr Woodley said the contents of the Statutory Declaration are the work of the WYMAC manager, Michael Gallagher.

I emailed Mr Gallagher to explain his role in the manufacture of the Statutory Declaration. I have asked Mrs Adams, the WYMAC Office Manager, to identify who wrote its contents and who contributed to them. There have been no responses.

Mr Woodley and Ms Hubert restated to the National Indigenous Times they continue to stand by Mr Woodley’s original testimony to the National Indigenous Times which was audio-visually recorded.

“I said the truth and I just want the best for my people,” he said. “Little has been done for us. They need to let us speak for ourselves. For us to be the boss, not Michael (Gallahger) or anyone else who is not us.”

Mr Gallagher’s wife, Lillian Maher was a former senior executive with the NNTT and at one time a West Australian State Manager of the NNTT, however she is currently the subject of an NNTT external inquiry relating to claims of undeclared conflicts of interests with companies she and her husband own […]

I can let you know Professor Marcia Langton and former Eddie Mabo barrister, Greg McIntyre looked at the land use agreements offered to the Wirlu-murra by Fortescue. Mr McIntyre said to the Wirlu-murra, “You can do better.” Professor Langton said “It’s shit.”

[…] what we have before us in the Pilbara are evident sleazy practices which steamroll Native Title claimants and their communities and that indeed the mining companies have carte blanche to do what they want while all the major Native Title and Government agencies either sit idly by […] It’s not just immoral, I believe it is illegal. What cuts to the bone with me is the racism and how ugly it is.

Inter-generational poverty and lack of education among many of the claimants should not have any opportunity to be manipulated. This abuse and trampling of inalienable rights is racism.

In other developments during this last week, the only non-Aboriginal voice of reason within the Wirlu-murra, their former Business Manager, Bruce Thomas, who expended considerable energy in trying to right wrongs within the organisation and pointing out one impropriety after another […] has been effectively run out of town.

It is indeed time for the Federal Government to launch a Royal Commission into Native Title and one Aboriginal corporation CEO after another backs this call.

END OF EXTRACTS

LINK to on-line story at National Indigenous Times - Exclusive Breaking News: NATIVE TITLE BOMBSHELL - RACISM AT ITS WORST

http://nit.com.au/news/2437-native-title-bombshell-racism-at-its-worst.html

Native Title bombshell – racism at its worst

Gerry Georgatos - NATIONAL INDIGENOUS TIMES, February 6, 2013
In recent months The National Indigenous Times has investigated the long standing divide between the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC) and the Wirlu-murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (WYMAC). The National Indigenous Times brought to the fore two whistleblowers – lawyer Kerry Savas, who worked for the WYMAC for 18 months and the Chairman of the Board of the WYMAC, their senior most Elder, Bruce Woodley. At the same time as these whistleblowers told the nation of orchestrated underhandedness by one of the nation’s wealthiest resource companies, of Native Title swindles and of an "inside man" parachuted into an Aboriginal corporation to pull the strings for a mining company.

The National Indigenous Times also exposed the links this and other resource companies and their "inside men" have to the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) and as a result the President of the NNTT, Graeme Neate has launched an external inquiry.

What you are about to read is a story that goes to much more than just an "inside man" trying to control an Aboriginal organisation and the mining company trying to ensure it can get everything it wants from Country. It is far reaching, with national significance, going straight to the heart of Native Title – a failed concept – and right through to the NNTT, to the conduct of our State and Federal governments and to the Office of the Registrar of Aboriginal Corporations (ORIC). Australians know there is no standard justice for Aboriginal land rights and instead in many ways it is the Wild West, as many Aboriginal corporate executives have said to The National Indigenous Times. However, what is about to be exposed in what you will read has to be called exactly what it is – racism. This is racism at its ugliest, the utter humiliation of people, their rights not only trampled but dismissed altogether.

They are down-trodden and there are those who are turned into "yes men", the whole mission management mindset. The National Indigenous Times has seen it in person and it has broken our hearts and we will not allow this racism to go unchallenged.

Some resources companies try to play it straighter than other companies however the many companies that do not play it straight with the Aboriginal Corporations and the Native Title claimants have therefore tainted the whole Native Title process for everyone, according to Aboriginal corporate executives.

It is indeed time for the Federal Government to launch a Royal Commission into Native Title and one Aboriginal corporation CEO after another backs this call. The Federal Government won't do it unfortunately but that is more because of its fear of what will be unearthed than the justice a Royal Commission would deliver.

In a staggering development last week it was claimed Mr Bruce Woodley allegedly signed a Statutory Declaration recanting his testimony to the National Indigenous Times when he made serious allegations about the conduct of Fortescue Metals Group and a white manager, allegedly installed with the knowledge and approval of Fortescue to control the Wirlu-murra Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation in a bid to dismantle the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, which is the 2005 federally determined body corporate.

The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation had been in a tense battle with Fortescue over mining rights on Yindjibarndi Country.

The claims in the alleged Statutory Declaration was that Mr Bruce Woodley had in fact been improperly encouraged to provide the testimony by lawyer and fellow whistleblower Kerry Savas and furthermore by myself. The Statutory Declaration was made public on Tuesday afternoon. At 6pm on the Tuesday Wendy Hubert, Mr Woodley’s wife and Mr Woodley himself phoned me from Roebourne to tell me they did not understand what Mr Woodley “had been forced to sign”.

Ms Hubert called me to ask me to investigate “unfinished houses and buildings in Cheeditha community” and I said I would certainly look into this before we started to discuss the surprising Statutory Declaration released only hours earlier by the Office Manager of the WYMAC, Michelle Adams.

They swore to me they had not contributed to any of the statements within the Declaration and they had no knowledge of what 60 year old Mr Woodley was signing. But Mr Woodley has said otherwise. “Because I am Chairman of the Board they tell me I have to sign this and that and they bring papers to me all the time,” Mr Woodley said.

“We don’t have any idea about what was in the papers they had Bruce sign. They took him to Gary (the local Justice of the Peace) and he signed them,” Ms Hubert said.

Mr Woodley and Ms Hubert restated to the National Indigenous Times they continue to stand by Mr Woodley’s original testimony to the National Indigenous Times which was audio-visually recorded. Three visits were made to Mr Woodley to ensure the integrity of his allegations and the National Indigenous Times offered him the opportunity, on several occasions, to amend or withdraw the allegations he was making. The National Indigenous Times read the whole article to Mr Woodley, line by line, before it was published and he reaffirmed his position. The National Indigenous Times has spoken to Mr Woodley, usually in person, on a number of occasions since the publication of his testimony and at all times he has continued to stand by his statement

“I said the truth and I just want the best for my people," he said. "Little has been done for us. They need to let us speak for ourselves. For us to be the boss, not Michael (Gallahger) or anyone else who is not us.”

Ms Hubert said her people continue to languish in poverty. “We are poor people and still there is nothing meaningful for us from this big company (Fortescue). I went to school with Andrew Forrest in Onslow when he was little and we took care of him. He came in every day by helicopter and all of us we took care of him and now he has let us down. All the white people who come to our town let us down. Where are the park benches? Where are the green lawns and parks and areas for our peoples? There are no air conditioners in our homes and no real opportunities for everyone. In Cheeditha the houses need to be finished. We are people too you know and we need a little slice of the beauty and happiness in this world that most others enjoy.”

On Wednesday morning the National Indigenous Times phoned Gary Bailey, the Justice of the Peace in Roebourne who witnessed Mr Woodley’s signature. Mr Bailey is a Roebourne councillor. He said a Justice of the Peace does not scrutinise or query any of the content within a Statutory Declaration. It is his job to witness the signature, authenticate the person signing it and hope the person who signs it understands what he or she is signing. Mr Bailey said Mr Woodley was accompanied by a young lady who appeared to be a lawyer. Mr Woodley said the contents of the Statutory Declaration are the work of the WYMAC manager, Michael Gallagher.

Mr Gallagher has many allegations laid against him by various whistleblowers who have described him as Fortescue’s "inside man" within the Wirlu-murra. Mr Gallagher was employed by Fortescue from 2005 to 2010 and just prior to the formation of WYMAC in 2010, after the divide between Yindjibarndi peoples over the drawn out mining rights negotiations (Indigenous Land Use Agreement) with Fortescue, he commenced a consultancy with the Wirlu-murra before taking complete control of the organisation.

Mr Gallagher’s wife, Lillian Maher was a former senior executive with the NNTT and at one time a West Australian State Manager of the NNTT, however she is currently the subject of an NNTT external inquiry relating to claims of undeclared conflicts of interests with companies she and her husband own and which were engaged by the Wirlu-murra during Native Title determinations. Allegations have been raised of favourable dispensation in terms of approval checks for exploratory rights and future acts by mining companies linked to the Wirlu-murra. Ms Maher had been with the NNTT since its inception since 1994 and resigned in August, 2012 after the conflicts of interests gained traction in the news media. To complicate the story even further, their daughter, Lisa Maher works for Fortescue as the company's Heritage Manager.

At this juncture in the story I will take the opportunity to inject what are the real issues. I have been investigating the issues much longer and more intensely than others. I have made four trips to Roebourne. I have spoken to 1 in 20 of all Yindjibarndi peoples. I have met with Fortescue’s CEO, Nev Power and their Deputy Chairman, the legendary Herb Elliott and I spent three days with Mr Power and Mr Elliott at their Pilbara operations to ensure I got all sides. And yes indeed, I have got all sides and I know what is happening. It would be improper and remiss of me to not state what we have before us in the Pilbara are evident sleazy practices which steamroll Native Title claimants and their communities and that indeed the mining companies have carte blanche to do what they want while all the major Native Title and Government agencies either sit idly by or allow some within their agencies to dispense illegal favours. It's not just immoral, I believe it is illegal. What cuts to the bone with me is the racism and how ugly it is. I have academically studied racism, with two Masters in trying to understand it and a PhD near completion and it is my light as day assessment that racism is what is being dished out in Roebourne against the Yindjibarndi people.

Last Tuesday night I wrote to Mr Gallagher and I noted to him Mr Bruce Woodley had denied the assertions contrived in the Statutory Declaration. Many argue the capacity to discover the truth is outstripped by the ability to manifest deceit. Furthermore I let Mr Gallagher and other parties know that “Wendy and Bruce have said this evening that you will be by in the morning to collect them for Bruce to sign more statements.” I asked him if Mr Woodley and Ms Hubert were correct. There has been no response.

The Justice of the Peace, Mr Bailey, shocked me with his honesty. “It is my duty to witness signatures,” he said.

“However, I know what goes on in this town, we all do. Nothing surprises me. I’ve seen people sign this and that. In this town you can sell ice to an Eskimo and sand to the Arabs.”

The National Indigenous Times will seek from various authorities they investigate the integrity of the Statutory Declaration.

I emailed Mr Gallagher to explain his role in the manufacture of the Statutory Declaration. I have asked Mrs Adams, the WYMAC Office Manager, to identify who wrote its contents and who contributed to them. There have been no responses.

The following questions were sent to Mr Gallagher:

“Michael, do you consider your actions in how you have gone about in securing the Statutory Declaration as racist actions?”

“Do you understand what racism is?”

“Are you a racist? Are you opportunistically exploiting people and not just their predicament? In light of ongoing allegations against you, myriad, and your conduct at WYMAC over a long period of time, would you consider yourself conflicted in ‘assisting’ or ‘writing up ‘ affidavits for Bruce? In light of the myriad allegations against you would you not consider it beneficial that a public inquiry – demarcated – should be conducted into WYMAC issues?”

“In light of what Wendy and Bruce have said to me and to other parties this evening do you consider it appropriate in continuing to secure statements from them after they have alleged they do not know what is in them?

On Tuesday night Wendy said to me, “Bruce and I don’t know what’s in the statements Michael wants Bruce to sign tomorrow morning. We don’t know but he said he will come by with them.

“What do you have to say to Wendy’s and Bruce’s comments to me?”

Once again I wrote to him, “You are welcome to call me. I am not interested in any phone calls from any lawyer or you abusing the legal system to hardball me – I can assure you this will not work on me. I go by the book at all times.”

Last year the National Indigenous Times brought to the fore what other news media had not been prepared to do - fearing a swathe of defamation writs and in being ostracised by Fortescue, one of the biggest resource companies in the country, the world’s fourth largest iron ore producer. After in depth research and investigation it became clear what the problems were and that indeed a divide had been capitalised upon, widened as a chasm and then used as an instrument to manipulate access to resources on Country.

The National Indigenous Times with its through-care style took it upon itself to play a conciliatory role and asked Fortescue and the Yindjibarndi peoples – YAC and WYMAC – to come to the table and conciliate. The National Indigenous Times packed away three damaging stories to some of these parties which remain on file and we hoped this opportunity for peaceful discourse would eventuate. There appeared to be some light on the hill despite the long history of distrust. Now it appears it has all fallen over. In recent weeks it seemed likely Mr Gallagher, once a well reputed person and reasonably respected anthropologist, would leave WYMAC and there would be at long last Black control of Black affairs. It was also expected maybe Fortescue would nudge him on. However he has been aided and abetted and is hanging on for dear grim life at the expense of the Yindjibarndi people.

The onus should not be on resource companies and Native Title claimants to come to a suitable deal. It is just not the case 100 per cent of the time. Aboriginal corporate executives are calling for a Royal Commission into the disaster that is Native Title and in its pursuit this may generate terms of reference and settlement agreements as pro forma - that there are legislated standards rather than the delusion within the Native Title Act “that negotiations are in good faith”. Inter-generational poverty and lack of education among many of the claimants should not have any opportunity to be manipulated. This abuse and trampling of inalienable rights is racism.

In other developments during this last week, the only non-Aboriginal voice of reason within the Wirlu-murra, their former Business Manager, Bruce Thomas who expended considerable energy in trying to right wrongs within the organisation and pointing out one impropriety after another and the National Indigenous Times is in possession of corroborating hard copy evidence, has been effectively run out of town. He is working from a Perth "office" and the sense is his days with WYMAC or whoever pays his wages are numbered. However the National Indigenous Times will keep its promise to Mr Woodley, to Ms Hubert, to Mr Savas, to Mr Thomas and to several Wirlu-murra who are confidential sources to us – The National Indigenous Times will continue to support their right to be heard and for justice to be sought.

I can let you know Professor Marcia Langton and former Eddie Mabo barrister, Greg McIntyre looked at the land use agreements offered to the Wirlu-murra by Fortescue. Mr McIntyre said to the Wirlu-murra, “You can do better.” Professor Langton said “It’s shit.”