8 August 2024
Topics: Tasmanian Audit Office findings on the Tasmanian Community Fund Yes Campaign funding
E&OE
Senator Duniam:
Well, today’s release of a report by the Tasmanian Audit Office is a damning review of the Tasmanian Community Fund’s approach to handling what is a finite resource – taxpayers money. The TCF was set up to support Tasmanians in need through projects and proposals, through community groups that actually improve the lives of Tasmanians. Now the TCF over time have done a lot of good work, but they’re awarding a $557,800 to effectively the Yes campaign at the last referendum to the Voice to Parliament is not one of those. The fact that the board, as has been demonstrated in this damning audit report, failed to keep documents relating to how they’ve reached their decision, how risks were assessed and managed, how conflict of interest was managed for its board members making this decision. I’ve not read many audit reports, but this one as far as I can see, is particularly damning. And now it’s over to the Tasmanian Government to act on this. Tasmanians have had their faith in this organisation shaken. They expect that group of people, the board, to make decisions that are in their community’s interests. How the government now responds to reign in what effectively is an organisation, sadly, that has become activist is very important and I think action does need to be taken off the back of this report. And I would also add, this is not about whether you’re pro or anti Voice. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, this is about due process and it’s about the Tasmanian community getting what it is due. And frankly, had this funding gone to the No campaign in the same manner, the same questions would be asked and the Tasmanian Audit Office would have come across the same shortcomings in this organisation. And the TCF board need to accept these findings, accept responsibility and consider their future as a result of this.
Journalist:
Do individuals, I guess, need to consider their future at the TCF as well. If they were the ones who were involved in the decision making?
Senator Duniam:
Well the board chair, in response to communication with me when I first raised this issue toward the end of last year, said the board had unanimously decided to back in the Yes campaign and award this funding. They now can speak for themselves. If they think it is a good use of taxpayers money to support one side or another of a national political debate, then they need to explain to Tasmanians why that’s OK. They couldn’t explain it to the Tasmanian Audit Office, they couldn’t provide paper trails to back in, in accordance with public accounting standards, how they reached that decision, what process they went through and why it was OK to do it. So they’ve got a lot of explaining to do and frankly I don’t think they’ll be able to get out of this one.
Journalist:
You were quite closely involved with the No campaign. Do you happen to know if anyone from the No side received any grants?
Senator Duniam:
Definitely no one from the No campaign received any grants from the Tasmanian Community Fund. If they did, I’d be again asking the same questions. I had a look at the report and when the report of the Audit Office tells me that $120,000 of those $550,000 were spent on a national media campaign, how does that help Tasmanians, whether they’re indigenous or not? Funding a national media campaign is not in Tasmania’s interests. It is not poor business for the TCF. They should get back to what they were set up to do, and that is help Tasmanians in need, communities that need a handout and a bit of assistance to get to where they need to. This proves they have lost their way and changes need to be made.
Journalist:
The TCF have justified this by saying they at that time were focused on improving the lives of indigenous Tasmanians. In your view, could they have done that better through granting to other organisations?
Senator Duniam:
Look, absolutely they could have, and a proper process in place for the TCF board would have ensured that’s where their money was going. The fact that you’ve got heads of Aboriginal organisations here in Tasmania saying that this was a terrible use of money. Selena Colgrave McGuire from the Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation said this is a terrible use of resources that could have gone to work on ground in communities that actually would benefit from it. Instead, TCF decided they’ll play in national politics and be a part of this divisive referendum. So, there are better ways they could have used that funding. This is a terrible failure on their part.
Journalist:
The state government is going to consider amendments to the TCF Act. What sort of amendments would you be suggesting they make?
Senator Duniam:
Well I think they need to make it very clear to any future board that the funds available to the TCF to distribute into the community need to be used specifically for Tasmanian benefit. There need to be hard and fast rules. And the TCF, which is largely unaccountable other than to a minister or to the governor who makes the appointments on the advice of the minister, the TCF needs to be answerable to the people who are elected by Tasmanians. So I would hope that there are greater accountability measures, but also the aims and remit of the TCF are tightened up in a way that would prevent such grants from being awarded into the future. $550,000 dollars, 10% of their annual giving, gone to a political campaign, doesn’t pass any test in any pub anywhere in this country.