Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation selling cattle stations, properties and assets to repay debt

A troubled Aboriginal corporation accused of “squandering” millions of dollars on travel and legal fees is selling cattle stations, properties and other assets to help repay its crippling debt. Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation’s former boss Matthew Slack was described as a “fraudulent” and “tyrannical” CEO by Nationals MP Vince Catania in a speech to State Parliament in February. Mr Catania, the MP for North West Central, used parliamentary privilege to accuse Mr Slack of falsifying his CV to get the $250,000 job and then “allegedly fleece” the organisation. Federal and WA Labor later refused to hand back $60,000 in donations it pocketed from BTAC, which allowed its board and Mr Slack to rub shoulders with politicians including Premier Mark McGowan. BTAC, which is responsible for managing native title payments made to the Thalanyji people of Onslow in the Pilbara, was placed under special administration in January due to poor engagement with members and failures to hold AGMs and reports on finances. On Thursday, Office of the the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations extended the status for another two months, saying it wouldn’t be in the interests of the Thalanyji people to hand back control until BTAC was restored to good financial health. “BTAC still has considerable debt from before the special administration, so the corporation is in dire need of a significant cash injection to repay its creditors,” registrar Selwyn Button said. Special administrator Peter Saunders said the corporation was about $8 million in debt when he was appointed and the cash flows weren’t adequate to cover its loans and debts. He is now trying to raise cash by selling two pastoral stations in the Pilbara — Maroonah and Mangaroon — and the Diamond Downs property in Dandaragan, 200km north of Perth, plus commercial properties and homes in Onslow and equipment including prime movers and tractors. An audit of the 2019 finances of BTAC and its subsidiaries will be completed next month, as well as an auditor’s management report which would be submitted to ORIC to decide whether there was grounds for prosecution. Mr Saunders found that over two and half years, the corporation had spent $3.3 million on legal fees, $1.2 million on accommodation and meals, $1m on travel, $750,000 on consultants and $550,000 on security. He said no benefit could be found from travel to Sydney and the United States, while the number of legal cases — including violence restraining orders — had been reduced from 15 to two. Mr Saunders said Mr Slack was terminated from his post earlier this year and a new CEO, Ric West, recently appointed.