Much stronger accountability, transparency, and governance standards must be demanded of indigenous corporations, which have dominated Australian government grant funding in the current financial year. 

Taxpayer-funded grants to indigenous corporations—many of which have a history of poor governance standards with no accountability—have totalled more than $1.6 billion since the beginning of this financial year on 1 July 2024. 

This figure substantially outstrips all other sectors that have received grants this year. Health, wellbeing, and medical research have been the next largest recipients at about $1.1 billion, followed by the disability sector with $538 million. 

Australian taxpayers’ money continues to be sucked into the abyss that is the aboriginal industry with no accountability, no transparency, and no effective outcomes. 

More and more Australians—indigenous and non-indigenous—are demanding answers about where all of this money has gone and why it hasn’t achieved outcomes. 

We suspect one of the answers was revealed in the valedictory speech of former indigenous Australian minister Linda Burney this week. She called the choice between practical reconciliation and symbolic reconciliation ‘false’, and the argument for prioritising practical outcomes ‘phoney’ and ‘outdated’. 

Symbolism delivers nothing of value—law and order, jobs, good homes, and education—to indigenous Australians living in remote communities who continue to be starved of meaningful assistance while the indigenous corporations that claim to be helping them suck in all the funds to little practical effect and no value for money. 

Closing the gap isn’t working. The Albanese government is hell bent on throwing more money at the problem with no outcomes or accountability. It epitomises Labor’s poor performance, and its treatment of Australians differently based on their race. 

One Nation repeats the demand for a comprehensive audit of the entire aboriginal industry gravy train. Only by tracking where all the money has gone can we begin to repair the system and deliver real accountability to all Australian taxpayers.