The Great Barrier Reef Foundation is being sued by the daughter of Indigenous land rights campaigner Eddie Mabo after it allegedly cancelled a contract for a $1m traditional owners forum.
In documents filed in the Townsville district court, the foundation is accused of repudiating a contract with Gail Mabo and Joanne Margaret Keune in September, two months after they allegedly reached a deal that would have seen the pair paid $1m over two years to plan and run the three-day forum.
Mabo and Keune are seeking a court order that would compel the foundation to comply with the terms of the $1m contract, saying they are “ready and willing” to carry out their side of the alleged deal. They also seek $200,000 in damages, or damages assessed by the court.
The foundation, which previously hit the headlines after it was controversially awarded a $444m federal government grant, is yet to file a defence.
It is alleged that the pair was told by phone on 14 July that their application for a position advertised online had been successful.
The lawsuit, first reported by the Courier-Mail, alleges the pair was told in a subsequent meeting they would be engaged to manage the forum project, and would be paid $200,000 by the end of 2020, and the remaining $800,000 in three further instalments.
Two days later they were allegedly sent a “partnership consultancy” letter, which provided details about their obligations and the foundation’s payment obligations.
Their lawsuit alleges that foundation employees Theresa Fyffe and Traceylee Forrester told the plaintiffs in a video conference on 24 September they would be “cancelling the project”.
The foundation’s chief executive, Anna Marsden, is alleged to have later told Keune by phone: “This project is the centrepiece of our traditional owner group delivery and now we will be far too busy next year due to projects that were cancelled and now moved to next year.”
Keune and Mabo were subsequently sent a letter indicating the project would be cancelled, the claim says.
Mabo claims that she had forfeited $120,000 of work from other projects as a result of winning the alleged contract with the foundation.
This included $50,000 from art commissions, $35,000 from Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill mining project in Western Australia and $35,000 for an artistic residency commission with the McLennan Foundation from Melbourne.
Keune alleges she suffered about $5,000 in damages for communication classes she had been scheduled to teach.
When approached for comment, the foundation pointed Guardian Australia to a press statement from Larissa Hale, chair of the foundation’s Traditional Owner Advisory Group.
Hale said the advisory group had decided unanimously to “delay” the reef-wide Land and Sea Country Forum that was due to take place in September 2021 due to Covid-19 and “potential community health risks posed to us as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples”.
She added: “In taking all of this into account, the Traditional Owner Advisory Group advised the foundation of our decision to postpone the forum until a later time.
“In doing so, we followed due process including notifying our preferred suppliers.”
A foundation spokeswoman said no further comment could be provided as the matter was before the court.
