WEBVTT - The executive, the mine and the corruption referral 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:10.640 From Schwartz Media. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven Am 0:00:10.960 --> 0:00:14.040 on a remote island in the Gulf of Carpentia. There 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:17.560 are two towns. One is home to a thriving economy. 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:21.079 It has a golf course, cinema and tennis courts. It's 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:24.000 the richest postcode in the Northern Territory. Most of the 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:26.880 people who live there are white. The other is home 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:31.319 to the Aonaliuqua people, the traditional custodians. The locals lived 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:34.920 just a few hundred meters from the world's largest manganese mine. 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:39.040 Here life outcomes are worse than anywhere in the country. 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:42.920 This stark contrast raises questions about where the royalties of 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:45.959 this mine are flowing and why the traditional owners are 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:49.280 seeing so little of them return to their community. Now. 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:53.080 The National Indigenous Australians Agency has referred the white chief 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:56.920 executive of the Anenduiaqua Land Council to the National Anti 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:00.000 Corruption Commission over his plan to take a personal time 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:04.120 ten percent steak in a proposed mining project. Today Gunner 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:07.760 Kernae and Watchabalic writer Ben abbot Angelo on the plan 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:16.120 and the man who stood in its way. It's Wednesday, 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:29.320 July twenty fourth. So Ben this story it takes place 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:32.360 on Grud Island, which is this beautiful remote island off 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:35.240 the Northern Territory coast. Could you begin by telling me 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.200 a bit about what life is like there. 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:41.120 Absolutely, I mean, the Grud Archipelago is located off the 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.559 top of the Northern Territory. It consists of fourteen clan 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:49.520 groups and they comprise roughly about fifteen hundred people. Now, 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:52.800 Grud Island was set up by the Christian missionaries in 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:55.600 the early nineteen hundreds and in the nineteen sixties they 0:01:55.680 --> 0:02:00.520 actually broke it an agreement with BHP to commence manganese mining. 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:04.320 So what the region is I suppose most renowned for 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:07.800 nowadays is the fact that it actually has the largest 0:02:07.960 --> 0:02:11.880 open cut manganese mine of anywhere in the world. It's 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:14.839 made a lot of people rich. It has spewed out 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:18.720 many billions of dollars in profits. Some of that money 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:22.200 has gone to the anendel Jaqua people, and then lots 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.960 of other royalties have flown to the Aboriginal Benefits account 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:29.360 and the Commonwealth government matches that dollar for dollar, And 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:31.520 what happens with the money in that account is that's 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:35.320 then redistributed to the land Councils and prescribed body corporates 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:41.560 to then invest in community initiatives, economic development, community development, 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:46.560 things that sustain local communities on the ground. What we've 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:49.000 seen over the last couple of years, though, is those 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:52.560 royalties flow to a very specific number of companies and 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:57.280 entities directly linked to Mark Hewitt, who is the CEO 0:02:57.480 --> 0:02:58.400 of the Land Council. 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:02.400 Okay, So tell me a bit more about Mark Hewitt. 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:04.000 What are the allegations against him? 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:07.120 Well, I think to understand Hewart's tenure, we've got to 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:09.680 go back to twenty eleven when he was appointed. Now, 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:12.440 one of the first things that Hewett was responsible for 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:15.680 was actually rolling out a fifteen year strategic plan in 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:20.320 twenty twelve, and the central vision of that plan was 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:24.800 to establish a culturally rich, sustainable and low cost economy 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:29.600 not dependent upon mining royalty income. So it was a 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.919 plan that was driven by community elders to, I suppose, 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:36.840 reverse the decisions made over the last one hundred years and, 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:40.160 as they say in the plan, to reassert control over 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:44.880 Anindiliaqua destiny. What was known then was that the gem 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.520 Co mine was going to close and the money that 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:52.240 has flowed onto the community was going to seize, so 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:55.240 it's been important for them to think in decades and 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:58.280 start to reimagine what a future economy looks like that 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:02.520 can sustain the people. But in twenty sixteen, Hewitt began 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:07.080 working towards another vision and that was essentially more mining. 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:10.880 Since then, what we've seen is the establishment of a 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:14.440 corporation called winchell Sea Mine, which Hewitt has been appointed 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:19.679 to as the co CEO, an intermediary between Winchelsea Mine 0:04:20.000 --> 0:04:23.599 and the annandil Yaqua Land Council called Grit Holding's Aboriginal 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:27.560 Corporation which has also been appointed to as the executive officer, 0:04:28.520 --> 0:04:31.479 and we've seen tens of millions of dollars of royalty 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:35.400 money flow from the Land Council to this mining venture. 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:38.279 Right, So, mark you it is both the co CEO 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:41.320 of a company that wants to operate a mine as 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:44.640 well as being CEO of the land council that would 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:48.960 be allowing that mining to happen. So it seems like 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:51.880 there's potential for conflicts d interest here. 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:54.440 There's a lot of conflicts of interest and what the 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:58.720 ANAO audit report found a couple of years ago was 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:03.160 that those conflicts of interests are endemic. So Hewitt has 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:09.400 essentially established multiple corporations and been appointed to the executive 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:12.840 of each of them. And what it's meant has been 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:16.920 that a disproportionate amount of royalty money has directly flowed 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:19.960 to them. And when I say a disproportioned amount, not 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:23.800 including the latest financial year, we're talking close to one 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.960 hundred million dollars within a very short period of time. 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:32.120 So whilst this money has been flowing towards establishing this 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:37.240 other mind, what community members, former board members, former staff 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:41.359 say is that other core programs and functions across the 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:44.800 Groot Archipelago have been sacrificed. Now what do I mean 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:48.680 by that. It means social housing for the most vulnerable 0:05:48.720 --> 0:05:53.080 people in Australian society. Not going ahead. We're talking about 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.039 a dialysis unit, which is what actually a large majority 0:05:56.040 --> 0:06:00.160 of traditional owners are dying from, be sacrificed. We're seeing, 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:04.360 you know, really core investments be repurposed to also prop 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:07.360 up the mine. So an example of that is a 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:10.560 car service yard. Now, it was agreed upon that they 0:06:10.600 --> 0:06:14.160 would create a car service center in the town of Anurugu, 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:16.800 where all of the traditional owners live and the majority 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.160 of the cars are well, as one source says that 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:23.840 car yard has now been repurposed to actually service the mine. 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.520 One other example is also a soup kitchen, So that 0:06:28.600 --> 0:06:31.400 was conceived in response to young people breaking into the 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:34.160 tuch shops and the stores at night after what one 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:37.560 source says was due to hunger. Well, that soup kitchen 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:41.120 is now the mess hall to serve the Winchell Sea mine. 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.120 And then if we fast forward to twenty twenty three, 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:48.279 not only has he been working towards establishing this mine 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:53.600 and then underwrote it with Anendiyakua people's royalty money and 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:58.280 being paid multiple salaries along the way. So we're talking 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:01.320 about upwards of four hundred k year for the land council. 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:06.200 We're talking about sharing within five hundred thousand dollars with 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:11.320 Winch you'll see mining directors annually. We're talking about benefits 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:13.880 that has seen his daughter be put through boarding school 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:16.480 to the tune of roughly forty five thousand dollars a year. 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:20.360 We're talking about the employment of his partner as well, 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:24.560 who has received multiple salaries from multiple corporations on the island. 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:29.480 That's then culminated with HEWITTT then moving to secure a 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:34.880 ten percent equity ownership in winch'll Sea Mining. So if 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:38.760 the Mind was to succeed, we're talking about an equity 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:42.480 ownership state that would be worth tens of millions of dollars. 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.400 Wow. So a deal like this that would make Markwitt 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:50.960 and his family extremely wealthy millionaires in fact at a minimum. 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:55.560 And this is significant then, because I mean Mark Hewitt, 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:58.800 he's not a private investor. He is the CEO of 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:03.000 the land count, among other things, and his job in 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:06.200 that role is to make sure that money goes to 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:10.200 traditional owners and to the community. His role isn't to 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:13.520 try and make money for himself. So tell me a 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.960 bit more about the case that he was making for 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.560 that ten percent, about what he said about why he 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:20.160 should have it. 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:24.760 So the move for that ten percent ownership in when 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:29.560 You'll See occurred late last year, and in board papers 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:32.840 that were leaked to us, it says that him and 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:36.520 his partner were not only looking to have their contributions 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:40.440 recognized but also rewarded, and that they were looking to 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.800 not just continue to work and prop up the MIND 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:46.920 in the years ahead, but also that they were seeking 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:51.120 to accumulate tens of millions of dollars in profit over 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:51.920 the years to come. 0:08:54.440 --> 0:09:08.880 So will the deal go through? That's after the break Ben, 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:12.360 we've been talking about the an Indoyaqua Land Council CEO 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:16.040 Mark Hewitt, who tried to secure a ten percent share 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:18.840 in a mind that he was spearheading a shareholding that 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:23.240 would be worth many millions of dollars. So did he succeed? 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:25.360 Did he get this ten percent share? 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:31.200 So Hewitt was moving really aggressively and quickly, according to 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:34.079 board papers, you know, there was a meeting that was 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:37.000 held in late September where he started to lay the 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:40.760 groundwork and within a matter of days he'd wanted to 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:45.120 have that arrangement locked, loaded and wrapped up. But the 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:48.840 plan was thwarted when a young land council lawyer came 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:54.360 across the attempt. The young lawyer, from what we've seen 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:58.959 through leaked papers, stood his ground and really attempted I 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:02.960 supposed to ensure or that the Undulaqua people not only 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:06.640 had time to consider what is a really significant proposal, 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.520 but as importantly, you know, under their rights of free 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:15.000 prior and informed consent, had independent legal advice that could 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:19.520 guide them. Now, before this lawyer had stepped in, Hewitt 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:23.400 was using his own personal lawyers that was advising himself 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:28.319 and his partner to also advise the Land Council board 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:33.240 and also the other relevant power brokers on the island. 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:37.800 So there was endemic conflict of interest there. Now, the 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:41.960 second legal opinion delivered by Barrister Ron Levy basically confirmed 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:45.760 the young lawyer's fears that this was a plan that 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.480 shouldn't go ahead and thus it didn't. 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:52.679 Right, So that deal it didn't eventuate. But you kept 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:56.680 looking into the inn Induyaqua Land Council's finances, So tell 0:10:56.720 --> 0:10:57.720 me what else you found. 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:01.680 Yeah, Well, we've seen, not including this last financial year, 0:11:02.280 --> 0:11:07.079 close to one hundred million dollars be directed towards corporations 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:10.199 that are directly designed to prop up the Winchal Sea 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:13.840 mining venture. We've seen funds from the federal government through 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:19.000 the covid Era be directed to supporting the Winch'alsea mine. 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.720 We've seen a forty one million dollar grant be given 0:11:22.840 --> 0:11:26.840 from the Sovereign Wealth Fund or that an Induyaqua Mining Trust, 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.680 you know, to a corporation that is also working to 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:34.360 support the mine. And really critically on this one, that 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:36.680 forty one million dollars is yet to be accounted for 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:41.360 in other financial records and statements. So there's just a 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:44.720 lot of question marks when we really go through those 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:46.880 financial statements with a fine tooth comb. 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.800 And have you spoken to Mark Hewitt about any of this? 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:56.160 So we sent a whole range of questions to Mark Hewitt. 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.800 He has decided not to respond to each of those, 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.800 you know, really direct questions directly, but he has provided 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:08.320 a pretty generic response in regards to you know, why 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:11.040 this mine is going ahead and what it means for 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:14.840 the Ananduliaqua community. So we're still very much open to 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:18.800 mister Hewitt responding to those questions and yeah, putting his 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:19.760 case forward. 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:23.400 Which he might do. But really, when you think about 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:27.200 the way that money has been spent and about what's 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:30.440 happened on grid Island, what does all of this mean 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.439 for those who call it home for the Ininduyaqua people. 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:40.560 It's just really important to note that the Anindiyaqua people 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:47.839 live in extreme circumstances and the vulnerability that we are 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:52.680 talking about cannot be understated. You know, the overcrowding of 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:56.320 housing is really significant. We've got people that are sleeping 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.160 on the floor, We've got people that are sleeping on 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:01.320 the tables. We've got people that are sleep you know, 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:04.600 on the kitchen benches. We've got young people that aren't 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:08.240 attending school as consistently or frequently as they should be. 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:11.720 We've got really low levels of literacy and numeracy. We've 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.280 got young people dying, you know, just a mirate of 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.720 really complex challenges, and with the mind closing at the 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:21.600 turn of the decade, that means that every single dollar, 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:25.360 every single cent needs to be going as far as 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:29.840 it can. There is no room for waste. So to 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:33.840 see the waste of money be directed to things that 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:38.240 they're not seeing a direct net benefit from is really painful. 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.360 Ben, Thank you so much for your time today. 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:47.520 Thanks Ruby. 0:13:55.400 --> 0:13:58.240 Also in the news today, Kamala Harris has made her 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.800 first public appearance since President Joe Biden announced he would 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:05.280 not be contesting the next presidential election and would instead 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:08.280 be supporting her. In the first twenty four hours of 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:12.160 Karmala Harris's campaign, more than two hundred and thirty million 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:15.760 US dollars were raised in donations, making it the largest 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:19.480 single day of campaign fundraising for a single candidate in 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:23.800 US history. And Australia has just recorded the deadliest year 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.520 on the roads in more than a decade. New figures 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:30.360 from the Australian Automobile Association show there were one thousand, 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:33.280 three hundred and ten deaths to the thirtieth of June, 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.400 which is an almost twelve percent increase from the previous year. 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:45.600 I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven am. See tomorrow.