Trustees on Trial: Recovering the Stolen Wages

(Paperback)

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Description

In her startling book, Rosalind Kidd uses official correspondence to reveal the extraordinary extent of government controls over Aboriginal wages, savings, endowments and pensions in twentieth century Queensland. In a disturbing indictment of the government's $4000 reparations offer, Kidd unpicks official dealings on the huge trust funds compiled from private income and community endeavours, showing how governments used these finances to their advantage, while families and communises struggled in poverty. Casting the evidence in terms of national and international litigation, particularly cases relating to government accountability for Indigenous interests, Kidd makes a powerful case that the Queensland government should be held to the same standards of accountability and redress as any major financial institution. "Trustees on Trial" is a timely warning for all other Australian jurisdictions to consider their liability for Aboriginal money taken in trust.

Reviews

"[A] harrowing account of Australia's enduring past, painstakingly and courageously researched and engagingly written by one of Australia's most informed authorities." --Helen Burrows, "Indigenous Law Bulletin"
"And where were the lawyers . . . A signal virtue of this book is its explanation of how Australian jurisprudence lags behind that of Canada and the U.S." --Geoffrey Robertson, "QC"
"It is a scandal of breathtaking proportions. Kidd is to be congratulated for demanding that our governments must be held to the same depth of accountability as they would demand of any financial institution taking and dealing with public funds." --Alan Gold, "Good Reading"

Author Bio

Rosalind Kidd has been working on the subject of the stolen wages since 1994. Her evidence to the 1996 HREOC Inquiry into under-paid wages resulted in a massive compensation offer. An Adjunct Research Fellow at Griffith University, she is a Member-at--Large for National ANTaR and a passionate advocate for justice for Aboriginal people.