Findings from Palm Island to be shared

THE FINDINGS of two State Government officials hired to steer the embattled Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council out of crisis will be made public to residents.

Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, who was in Townsville yesterday, said he would be speaking to departmental officials and Palm Island councillors about how the community can be kept abreast of the unfolding situation.

It comes after the State Government stepped in to appoint a financial controller and governance adviser to Palm Island’s council last month in light of fraud allegations against former finance head John Mugambi Mwamba.

Mr Hinchliffe will visit Palm Island today, where he will be briefed by financial controller Neil Michel and governance adviser Gary Kleidon on the issues they have uncovered within the island’s council.

Mr Michel and Mr Kleidon have served nearly a month of their three-month terms and have been providing weekly updates to the State Government.

“(I am) happy to see those updates, on the information that is appropriate for the public, to be made public,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

“That’s one of the things that I will be asking about in conversations with officials (today), and wanting to work through with the council to ensure that we have a consistent set of communications to the residents of Palm Island.”

Mwamba’s case was briefly mentioned in Townsville Magistrates Court yesterday and will be heard again on October 21.

A second Palm Island official, former accountant Narayan Bahadur Ranabhat, 47, was charged with two counts of alleged fraud in relation to the same CCC investigation in July.

His case will be heard again on September 16.