Malcolm Turnbull must find a new Indigenous affairs minister if he wins the election because Nigel Scullion is “not up to the job”, the head of the Northern Land Council has said.
In a blistering speech to the Native Title Conference in Darwin on Thursday, the NLC’s chief executive, Joe Morrison, criticised Scullion’s approach to Indigenous affairs and land rights in particular.
Scullion later dismissed the speech as “cranky” and a “rant”.
“This minister is not up to the job, and I would implore Malcolm Turnbull, if his Coalition government is returned on July the second, to look among his caucus and find a new minister who has the interests of Indigenous people at heart and a commitment to work with the institutional architecture, not against it,” Morrison said.
Morrison said he believed times for Indigenous affairs had “never been bleaker than under Senator Scullion’s watch” since the portfolio was moved to the department of prime minister and cabinet by Tony Abbott.
Morrison praised the strength of the Northern Territory’s Aboriginal Land Rights Act but accused Scullion of holding “abiding scorn” for it against the “fragile bundle of rights” under its federal equivalent.
He questioned whether Scullion intended to change the operation of the NT legislation, saying Scullion had promised prior to the 2013 election there would be no amendments without the consent of land councils.
“There’s been no such assurance on the eve of this election, and for as long as Nigel Scullion remains minister, I believe Aboriginal land rights in the Northern Territory and the important role and functions of the land councils will remain under threat,” Morrison said.
Morrison also criticised Scullion over leasing arrangements, and the controversial Indigenous Advancement Strategy, which sought to streamline and redistribute the greatly reduced federal funding for Indigenous affairs. After an oversubscription for funds and claims of unfairness and poor execution, the IAS was subject to a Senate inquiry.
“Senator Scullion and his army of bureaucrats failed Indigenous Australians dismally, yet in the face of a damning Senate inquiry he stands up before the NLC full council and claims that, in his words, he’s untangled a mess of programs that had barely made an impact on Indigenous intergenerational disadvantage,” said Morrison.
“Well, that disadvantage is not diminishing. The evidence is there every year as pious prime ministers, year after year, stand in parliament to deliver the Closing the Gap Report.”
Morrison and the NLC have had a historically fraught relationship with Scullion, a point noted by Morrison in his speech.
On Thursday afternoon Scullion responded by saying he hadn’t read the speech but it appeared Morrison “spent most of it focusing on me instead of some of the real successes we are seeing in the Indigenous Affairs space – including here in the NT”.
Scullion told Guardian Australia he had been in the remote community of Wadeye on Thursday and there had been a “remarkable turnaround” with the government’s community development program, which Morrison had opposed in a submission to a senate inquiry.
He suggested Morrison was “a little cranky” he had told the NLC’s full council recently that Morrison lodged the submission without telling them what was in it.
“[So] I wonder if that helps to explain his motivation for today’s rant,” said Scullion.
“Joe hasn’t had the best of starts as CEO, but I have to say, I am truly hoping he gets better at his job. His council, but more importantly, his constituents deserve better and I just hope Joe has it in him to lift his performance so that the Aboriginal people living here are better served.”
Morrison’s speech followed an announcement by Scullion on Wednesday that a Coalition government would provide funding to local traditional owners and native title holders so communities can make decisions themselves about using their land for economic development.
The NLC has been criticised for slow action on land claims in the NT, which one federal court judge labelled a “disgrace” and a “legacy issue” for the council.
“For too long, native title holders and traditional owners have been reliant on governments and land councils, and have not had the resources to access the expertise to build their own capacity to engage in negotiations for commercial development,” Scullion said.
“The Turnbull Coalition has reformed the way traditional owners can control their own land through reforms to the process for delegating land council functions and by introducing flexibility into township leasing. This continuing funding stream, from the Aboriginals Benefit Account, will enable traditional owners to take advantage of these new opportunities and, where they wish, use their country to build wealth for future generations.”
Scullion also announced a commitment of an extra $1m to the Aboriginal Land Commissioner to speed up outstanding land claims in the Northern Territory.
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