Colin Barnett turned down invitation to meet Aboriginal land councils

The Western Australian premier, Colin Barnett, turned down an invitation to meet Aboriginal land councils about a government proposal to close up to 150 of the state’s remote communities, one day before telling parliament he would consult Aboriginal people closely.

Barnett was invited to attend the meeting, to be held in Broome on 5 March, by the alliance of Western Australian Aboriginal land councils.

The Kimberley Land Council (KLC), which is hosting the meeting, told Guardian Australia it had called the meeting because it had received no offer of consultation from the government, or even formal notification that it was considering pulling funding from some communities.

But the premier’s office emailed the KLC on Monday to say he was unable to attend due to prior commitments.

The KLC offered to push the meeting back a day but on Tuesday, the opening day of WA parliament, that was also declined. On Wednesday the premier’s office emailed the KLC to say a representative was also unable to attend.

A few hours after his office sent the second email on Tuesday, Barnett mentioned the remote communities issue in his opening address to state parliament and promised consultation.

He said the government’s priority would be to “provide opportunities” for people in remote communities, which would require “changes to how and where the government invests its resources”.

“For some communities in which children are not cared for (or worse, in danger), job opportunities are scarce and healthcare is minimal, essential services will not continue to be provided by the state government,” he said.

“There will be close consultation with Aboriginal people and any transitions will be carefully and respectfully managed.”

Barnett foreshadowed the closure of as many as half of the state’s 274 remote communities in November, after it was announced that responsibility for them, along with $90m in funding, would be transferred to the state. That funding runs out in June 2016.

On Wednesday, a few hours after Barnett’s office said he would not send a representative in his stead, the Aboriginal affairs minister Peter Collier told parliament the government would “soon commence consultation with Aboriginal people, particularly those in remote communities, as well as other stakeholders”.

KLC chairman Anthony Watson said it was “really sad” that the premier had declined to attend the meeting.

“They are saying it in parliament but going back on their word,” Watson said. “We are the major player and represent all of the communities and we are not being consulted.”

Watson said Barnett had not personally attended an alliance meeting since November 2012, despite promising he would meet regularly.

Collier usually attends in his place, but Guardian Australia has been told he was not invited to next month’s meeting, in the hope that omitting him might encourage Barnett to board a plane.

In a statement to Guardian Australia, a spokeswoman for Barnett said: “The premier is unable to attend the meeting next month and has sent his apologies. He is happy to meet the group when he is next in Broome.”

The meeting will be attended by four of the state’s five land councils: the Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation, the Central Desert Native Title Services, the Goldfields Land and Sea Council Aboriginal Corporation and the Kimberley Land Council.

Watson said the group usually met in Perth but was holding this meeting in Broome to be near communities at risk.

“We’re saying: give us the names of what communities they want to close down, and can we work with those communities to address these issues,” Watson said.

More than 200 of WA’s remote communities are in the Kimberley. Many are not fully occupied year round – people return to the larger towns in the wet summer and go back to country in the dry season – but are valued by the local people.

Watson, a Nyikina Mangala man, has just returned to his West Kimberley home of Jarlmadangah (which, according to government figures, has a population of 69) from Bidyadanga (population 593), about 180km to the south. About 100 members of his family gathered there for law and cultural ceremonies. Most have now returned to Broome to work.

“A lot of communities up here, they are doing really well in terms of employment and jobs,” Watson said.

The Nationals leader and regional development minister, Terry Redman, and the Nationals’ Pilbara MP Brendon Grylls were also invited to the meeting, but are yet to respond.

Farrer and Labor’s Aboriginal affairs spokesman, Ben Wyatt, said they would attend.

Watson said the land councils were particularly keen to talk to Redman, who floated the idea of using the $1bn Royalties for Regions fund to support remote communities but later backtracked, telling The Australian he had been “misunderstood”.

Watson said taking Royalties for Regions funding off the table was “a slap in the face for Indigenous affairs”.

“The commonwealth and state government gets royalties, but it’s not being shared with the Indigenous communities,” he said.