First general meeting held!
The Karri Karrak Aboriginal Corporation Board of Directors. L-R: Stephen Van Leeuwen, Nicole Calgaret-Casley, Anthony Hansen and Chontarle Bellottie.
The Karri Karrak Aboriginal Corporation’s first General Meeting was a success, with members attending both online and in person in Busselton, on Saturday 2 July 2022.
Uncle Billy Webb opened the meeting with a Welcome to Country.
The first Cultural Advice Committee (CAC) for the Karri Karrak Aboriginal Corporation was elected by private ballot, with eight successful candidates. The cultural advice committee is made up of Elders who consider matters relevant to culture and make decisions to promote and protect cultural interests of the Karri Karrak Noongar region. Find out more about the CAC at https://karrikarrak.org.au/governance-structure
The female members of the cultural advice committee are: Suzanne Kelly, Sandra Lesley Hill, Gail Airey, and Shirley Williams.
The male members of the cultural advice committee are: Jack Hill, William Thompson, Wayne George Webb, and John Pell.
The outgoing initial directors – Chontarle Bellottie, Nicole Calgaret-Casley, Anthony Hansen and Stephen Van Leeuwen – were thanked for their hard work in setting up the corporation, and were each given a gift in appreciation.
The first elected directors – Chontarle Bellottie, Nicole Calgaret-Casley, Anthony Hansen and Stephen Van Leeuwen – took up their roles at the closing of the meeting and are now busy exploring how the corporation will operate. This will include selecting expert directors, appointing a CEO, hiring staff and finding a suitable office location within the Karri Karrak region.
In his chair’s report, Stephen Van Leeuwen celebrated the exciting and historic occasion, and updated members on the journey so far.
Stephen informed members that the Karri Karrak Aboriginal Corporation was registered with ORIC on 24 November 2021. All the necessary registrations to get charitable status, register the corporation name, and get an ABN have been completed.
The corporation also held two membership meetings and approximately 10 initial director meetings.
“We now have 308 members, which is an incredible achievement,” Stephen said.
“Thank you so much to every one of you who have joined us. The more members we have the more effective we will be in our efforts to build our a strong, sustainable, united Noongar Nation.
“The Southwest Native Title Settlement is a momentous part of our long history as Noongar people. As we all know, it has taken us many, many years for us to get to this point.
“It has taken our past Elders many more years, and some of them were not able to see this day. So, we honour them by continuing their work, to protect and respect our corporation and its potential.
“Now that regional corporations are ready to start work, we will start seeing the results of all of that time and effort.”