Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
A single-page letter with a $2 coin sticky-taped to the bottom was the first and last notice that a dozen Aboriginal families faced the prospect of eviction from their homes and being blocked from accessing critical healthcare services provided by their local community co-op.
The note, which told each recipient their membership was being revoked, was sent by Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-Operative (MVAC), in far north-west Victoria, after a board meeting in early September.
Sissy Havea with the gold coin letter.Credit: Ian McKenzie
“It has been assessed that you have not met the active member requirements, and we have consequently cancelled your membership and attached the share total of $2 as reimbursement,” it read.
The co-operative was established in 1974 to improve living conditions for Aboriginal people in Robinvale. Membership gives the holders voting rights, land and water rights, housing, healthcare services, access to an early childhood learning centre, and home and community care programs.
Many of the addressees were decades-long co-op members whose families have been involved in the organisation since its infancy.
The move is the latest in a long-running battle between MVAC’s board and a group of members, known as No More Harm, who say they have lost faith and want the steering of the co-op returned to community control.
The Murray Valley co-op in Robinvale.Credit: Ian McKenzie
Community elder Aunty Marie Murray called on the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) and Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV), which fund and oversee proper functioning of co-ops across the state, to intervene and help settle the issues. The department provided MVAC with $3.2 million in funding in the last financial year.
“Our mob started this organisation for the betterment for our people in our small community, now our voices are being silenced by the very same organisation. We need support and to be heard,” she said.
“It’s mentally distressing and everyone is feeling traumatised. Stripping our memberships from us puts our wellbeing at risk. Under the co-op’s rules they can now kick us out of our homes, or they could refuse us elders from accessing our health services and home care. These are the things we’ve fought for since assimilation.”
The community action group says it has repeatedly contacted relevant regulatory and government funding bodies but, until a meeting last Friday with DFFH and CAV bosses, had received little response and seen no action.
No More Harm members fear they will lose access to services.Credit: Ian McKenzie
“When we’re requesting that they oversee their legislated functions and regulatory role, we want the same protections afforded to us as if we were the Toorak Tennis Club,” says Sissy Pettit-Havea, a community spokesperson for the group.
A document of the group’s concerns, seen by this masthead, claims MVAC’s board failed to provide the expelled members with a formal notice of removal, in breach of the organisation’s rules and co-operative national law.
It also sought answers in relation to codes of conduct and behavioural breaches, police checks, and whether operational policies and procedures regarding job performance reviews had been followed. It also requested the departments investigate MVAC’s expenditure and allocation of funding.
The gold coin letter.Credit: Ian McKenzie
The group’s meeting with the officials comes a month after MVAC’s previous chairperson, Fred Baxter, was charged with multiple counts of historical sexual assault. Baxter will appear in Mildura Magistrates’ Court in early 2024.
One particular grievance by No More Harm is over allegations that the board and chief executive applied to Swan Hill Rural City Council in 2022 to re-zone community-owned land held in trust by the co-op. The group claims the application regarding the land, known as Munatunga Mission, was shelved by the council after it learned that co-op members were not consulted about the application.
But a spokesperson for the council this week said a planning application for Munatunga Mission remained “live, but on hold” while the applicant pursued a mandatory cultural heritage management plan for the proposed development. The spokesperson said the application was not for re-zoning, but a planning permit for a housing development proposal that had “a lot of potential”.
The relationship between the community group and the board has become so toxic that it landed in the Supreme Court of Victoria late last year, with allegations and counterclaims about the sidelining of community members.
The court rejected MVAC’s requests for injunctions to stop 54 disgruntled members from holding a meeting to confirm a new, member-elected board, and block their potential registration with CAV.
The MVAC administration is also embroiled in the criminal charges against the co-op’s former chief executive and chairperson, Phil Egan, who is fighting more than 70 counts of alleged historical fraud.
A DFFH spokesperson on Tuesday said the department and CAV were working with the co-op on regulatory and compliance issues and would update community members on any proposed actions in coming weeks.
A CAV spokesperson they had met with community members and heard their concerns and tried to reassure all Robinvale community members that they could continue to access MVAC services, even without a membership.
But the No More Harm group claims several have already been blocked by MVAC from communicating with the co-op, which has affected their access to its services and amenities, and others claim they have been given verbal notice to vacate their co-op provided housing.
Under MVAC’s housing business plan for 2015-2020, the tenant selection criteria stipulate that applicants must be members of the co-op.
MVAC chief executive Paul O’Neill was sent a list of questions but did not respond to them or requests for comment by deadline.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Most Viewed in National
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article