home | news l

Leak exposes wages 'rip-off'

by Janelle Gullo

20 June 2002 - A leaked document on the 'stolen wages' issue proved Aboriginal people were being ripped off in the Queensland Government's current offer of compensation, the Aboriginal Coordinating Council said yesterday.

The representative body for the State's 15 Deed of Grant in Trust communities said a document prepared by the Queensland Aboriginal & Islander Legal Services Secretariat had recommended a more generous settlement.

The council's deputy chairman Alfred Lacey said the document was leaked to Aboriginal communities across Queensland this week.

Mr Lacey said the document showed indigenous people did not have all the facts on the impact of previous government policies that withheld wages and savings from indigenous people.

He said the lack of information invalidated Queensland Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Policy Minister Judy Spence's claim the "silent majority" wanted to resolve the stolen wages issue via the Government's current offer of reparations.

"So far, all our community has heard by way of explanation for the offer on the table is that 'if you take us to court you will lose," Mr Lacey said.

"Why have our communities seen this [leaked] document before now? And why is the Government's negotiating team out there pressuring members of our community to sign an agreement which offers no legal recourse into the future?"

He said the council supported the provisions contained in the leaked document, which recommended payments of $25,000 for people who worked five years or less, $30,000 for people who worked five-10 years, $35,000 for 10-15 years' work, $40,000 for 15-20 years' work and $45,000 for more than 20 years work.

But a spokeswoman for Ms Spence said those recommendations were part of a submission made two years ago by the Queensland Aboriginal & Islander Legal Services Secretariat during the negotiations with the Government.

The spokeswoman said those negotiations broke down and the secretariat reviewed its position, supporting the Government's current offer of $2,000 or $4,000 per claimant in recent discussions.

Source: Cairns Post

$500m lost wages claim goes missing

By David Potter

19 June 2002 - A 37-page report documenting a $500 million claim for compensation for Queensland Aborigines was withheld from negotiations with the State Government.

The document, drafted by the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Legal Services Secretariat, claims from $25,000 to $45,000 each for up to 16,400 Aborigines who had their savings and wages controlled by state governments between the 1890s and 1972.

Many say they either never received the money or it was placed in a welfare fund beyond their control. News of the document's existence sparked angry responses from Aboriginal leaders who have described a $55.6 million settlement offer from the Beattie Government as an insult.

The offer of up to $4000 a person was made at a meeting with the QAILSS negotiating team headed by ATSIC deputy chairman Ray Robinson on May 15. As part of the deal, which has an August 9 deadline, Aborigines would lose the right to sue and Premier Peter Beattie would apologise to them in Parliament.

Brisbane Aboriginal elder Ruth Hegarty, who was present at the May 15 meeting as a member of the government-appointed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Board, said the negotiating committee had decided to enter negotiations with a minimum $200 million claim after studying the QAILSS document the previous day.

``We decided if the offer was less (than $200 million) we'd walk out. Then instead of walking out, QAILSS just argued over the consultation fee,'' Ms Hegarty said.

Mr Robinson, who has described the Government's offer as ``very generous'', did not return calls yesterday.

Aboriginal Co-Ordinating Council deputy chairman Alf Lacey said the QAILSS document represented a much fairer settlement which should have been accepted by the Government.

A spokesman for the Premier and Aboriginal and Islander Policy Minister Judy Spence said neither had seen the document.

QAILSS chairman Russell Bellear said the Government had been sent ``a letter'' claiming around $180 million ``some time ago''.

``But they never came back with an offer,'' Mr Bellear said. ``We were told more or less on May 15 `take it or leave it', that the offer ($55.6 million) was capped.''

Mr Bellear, who is travelling around the state putting forward the offer to eligible indigenous people, said the response had been mixed. Mr Lacey said the people were being forced to make an uninformed decision.

``Would they take the money being offered if they knew what they should have been offered?'' Mr Lacey asked.

``Personally, I hope the people say they're not happy with the offer and tell the negotiating committee to go back to the original claim.''

Source: The Courier-Mail

‘Robbed Generation’ Seeks Stolen Wages

13 September 2002 - State governments face the largest back-pay claim in Australian history as indigenous Australians seek redress for more than 70 years of systematic under-payment.

Armed with QC advice that a claim would be successful in the courts, the ACTU Indigenous Conference this week passed a resolution backing a claim for reparations against the Queensland Government.

The Beattie Government has offered to pay a one-off $55.4 million to indigenous workers employed under the Protection Acts, which governed wages and conditions for most Aboriginal Queenslanders.

Under the Queensland Government's offer, Aboriginal people over the age of 50 would receive $4000 per person as total settlement while people aged 45 - 49 would receive $2000 per person as total settlement. This would be backed by a written apology to all claimants

Those negotiations have broken down because the Queensland Government is refusing to negotiate further with those entitled to compensation.

From the 1890s to 1972 the Queensland Government controlled the wages of most Queensland Aborigines. Some Aboriginal workers lived on settlements or missions and most were not paid. .

Some Aboriginal people were sent out to work under a licensing system where the Government paid the wages. Most received around 66% of the white rate but at times adjustments were not made and this rate fell to as low as 25% of the white rate.

However, even with this reduced rate, Aboriginal workers only ever received 30% of their total wage with the balance going to tax and a number of forced savings schemes.

Permission was never asked for nor given for the deduction of money for these forced savings schemes. Some of the money was used to buy Aboriginal people clothing, dental work etc. Evidence is available that these schemes were poorly managed with all kinds of trustee and fiduciary implications.

Control over employment of Aboriginal people ceased in 1968, control over relocations ceased in 1971 and control over the savings of Aboriginal people stopped in 1972.

Workers Online understands that if successful, similar claims would be pursued by indigenous workers in other states and federally - although the claims will depend on the form of 'protection' regime that was in place in each jurisdiction

NSW Labor Council's Adam Kerslake, who attended this week's conference, says the whole issue of underpayment of indigenous workers is a can of worms that must be addressed.

"Beattie does deserve some credit because his Government was first off the mark," Kerslake says.

"The sting in the tail is that this will become an issue in every State in Australia. The challenge for the union movement is back the calls from our black activists."

Source: Workers Online

Further information: stolen wages issues page - includes news index and external links

|| click to go to the top of this page