Alison Anderson

Anderson was born in the remote community of Haasts Bluff and was raised in a number of other communities, including Hermannsburg and Papunya. She moved to Alice Springs to attend school, studying at Traeger Park School, Alice Springs High School, and St Philip's College. She subsequently received a Diploma of Community Management from the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education.[8]

Returning to Papunya, she was elected chief executive officer of the Papunya Community Council in 1985, a role which she fulfilled until handing it over to her husband, Steve Handley, in 2000.[9] She thereby became a prominent representative for the town, then as now one of the country's most impoverished communities, where basic services failed entirely at times. In this role, Anderson was heavily involved throughout the 1990s in conflicts with successive Country Liberal Party territory governments over the provision of electricity, education, and health services.[10][11][12]

Anderson was first elected as the ATSIC Commissioner for the Northern Territory Central Zone in November 1999.[13] She developed a reputation as an advocate for women's rights within the organisation, and in 2003, was involved in the creation of ATSIC's women's advisory board.[14] She became seen as a leading contender for chairperson of the organisation, and in 2002, unsuccessfully challenged veteran leader Geoff Clark.[15][16] Eight months later, she nominated for the position of deputy chairperson after the resignation of Ray Robinson, but was defeated by one vote despite Robinson's endorsement.[17] She supported the federal government's decision to abolish ATSIC in 2004, declaring that reform of the organisation was overdue, but was sharply critical of their decision to replace it with only a consultative committee.[18] She was nevertheless appointed by the federal government as a Central Australian representative to their Round Table on Indigenous issues later that year.[8]

In late 2004, Anderson announced her intention to contest Labor preselection for the seat of MacDonnell, traditionally a safe Labor seat, but then held by two-term CLP member John Elferink. She had previously been preselected by the party to stand at the 2001 election, but had withdrawn.[19] She subsequently resigned from the ATSIC board, and was confirmed as the Labor candidate in March.[20] She was widely seen as a star candidate during the campaign, due to her high profile in Central Australia, stemming from her work as an ATSIC Commissioner.[21][22][23] Her campaign suffered an early blow when her husband was charged with stealing offences in February.[24] She suffered a further blow when, through April and May, the Alice Springs News and The Age aired sweeping allegations of corruption and mismanagement during her husband's administration of Papunya.[25][26] She resisted calls from the opposition to stand aside as the candidate, dismissing the claims as a smear campaign.[27][28] In spite of the allegations, she was easily elected in June, defeating Elferink with a swing of more than 30%.[29]

The Papunya scandal continued to afflict Anderson in her first months in parliament, as the Commonwealth government launched an investigation into allegations of misuse of government funds by the town administration.[30] This escalated in September, when her now-estranged husband, against whom she had taken out a restraining order, filed a statutory declaration with police alleging that Anderson was responsible for corrupt activities during his administration, and had attempted to bribe elders during her campaign.[31] She was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing in the police investigation.[32] The Commonwealth investigation, while reporting widespread missing funds, did not attribute responsibility for this to Anderson.[33] However, allegations of mismanagement persisted in the media for months afterwards.[34]

As her electorate represents much of Central Australia, Anderson has often acted as a spokesperson on issues affecting the communities in the area.[35][36][37] In May 2007, she risked expulsion from the party by joining Barbara McCarthy and Karl Hampton in crossing the floor to vote against a government bill to allow the continuation of mining at the McArthur River Mine, near Borroloola.[38]