First general meeting held!
L-R: Michael Cartledge, John Penny, Lynette Narkle, Cheryl Martin, Lera Bennell at the first Gnaala Karla Booja Aboriginal Corporation General Meeting.
The Gnaala Karla Booja Aboriginal Corporation’s first General Meeting was a success, held in Bunbury on Saturday 16 July 2022.
Uncle Les Wallam opened the meeting with a Welcome to Country.
The first Cultural Advice Committee (CAC) for the Gnaala Karla Booja Aboriginal Corporation was elected by private ballot, with eleven 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 Gnaala Karla Booja Noongar region. Find out more about the CAC at https://gkb.org.au/governance-structure
The female members of the cultural advice committee are: Shirley Viti, Lera Bennell, Geraldine Hayden, Annette Garlett and Charne Hayden.
The male members of the cultural advice committee are: Gavin Mcguire, Faron Winwood, John Michael, Glen Hayden, Barry Ugle and Mark Ugle.
The outgoing initial directors – Charne Hayden, Cheryl Martin, Lynette Narkle and Lera Bennell – were thanked for their hard work in setting up the corporation, and were each given a gift in appreciation.
The first elected directors – Cheryl Martin, John Penny, Michael Cartledge and Lynette Narkle – 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 Gnaala Karla Booja region.
Lera Bennell and Lynette Narkle jointly delivered the interim director chair’s report. They celebrated the exciting and historic occasion, and updated members on the journey so far.
Lera and Lynette informed members that the Gnaala Karla Booja Aboriginal Corporation was registered with ORIC on 1 October 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 497 members, which is an incredible achievement,” They 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.”