Experienced Indigenous directors have been removed from cultural institutions in Queensland in the latest example of what is believed to be a deliberate campaign by the LNP to withdraw prominent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders from government boards.
Leading Indigenous barrister Joshua Creamer first raised the alarm about what is known in government circles as “Project Invisibility”, a sustained campaign to remove First Nations leaders from public boards and other senior government roles.
Under the direction of the state’s arts minister, John-Paul Langbroek, eight Indigenous directors have disappeared from the boards of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), the State Library of Queensland, the Queensland Museum and the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), with two replacements.
Four of them were sacked midway through their appointed terms with no reason supplied for their removal.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by any individual.
In response to enquiries, Mr Langbroek’s office said the decisions were made by cabinet and were therefore confidential.
The statement also noted the cultural centres have Indigenous advisory panels and staff.
“At any time, individuals may be appointed to, or removed from, a board to ensure an appropriate balance of skills and experience is achieved.”
Both Indigenous directors of the QAGOMA Board of Trustees were sacked earlier this year, leaving them with no First Nations trustees.
Bianca Beetson was removed more than a year before her term was due to expire.
Bianca Beetson was made a Member of the Order of Australia this year for her services as an Indigenous educator and artist. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Scott McDonald)
A prominent Indigenous artist, Dr Beetson is the executive director, First Nations, at the Queensland Museum and the chair of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair.
She was awarded an AM in the King’s Birthday Honours list this month for significant service to Indigenous art as an educator, curator and artist.
Gone also is David Williams, a Wakka Wakka man, who had originally been appointed to serve until November.
Williams is co-founder and executive director of Gilimbaa creative agency.
He is a former chair of the Queensland Museum Network’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consultative Committee and an adviser to Opera Australia.
He now chairs QAGOMA’s First Nations Advisory Panel, which reports to the QAGOMA board.
One of the most senior Indigenous elders in Queensland was sacked in February from the board of the State Library of Queensland, along with an Indigenous academic leading efforts to revive Aboriginal languages.
Cheryl Buchanan, a Guwamu woman and renowned publisher, playwright, author and lecturer, says she was given 24 hours’ notice of her removal from the board via a phone call from a departmental official in late February.
Cheryl Buchanan feels “disrespected” by the Crisafulli government. (Supplied: Cheryl Buchanan)
Aunty Buchanan has had a lifelong commitment to the rights of Aboriginal people.
A founder of the Aboriginal Legal, Medical Services and Childcare Centre in Brisbane, she was involved in the Queensland treaty process and then served as a member of the Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry.
She was sacked from that position when the Crisafulli government abolished the inquiry in one of its first acts in office.
Aunty Buchanan told 612 ABC she felt the Queensland government was silencing dissenting Indigenous voices.
“We’re going back to the [master] days, like you have your head bowed, you’re too afraid to put your head up and speak your mind because you might be out the door,” she said.
“It means you’ll have the same old Eurocentric version of the world in your policies, everything you’re doing within government will be white, anglicised.”
Gooreng Gooreng descendant Robert McLellan no longer serves on the state library board. It appears his role was also terminated 15 months before his term was due to end.
The minister’s office would not confirm which Indigenous cultural centre directors had been terminated, when or why.
A senior project manager at the University of Queensland’s School of Languages and Cultures, Mr McLellan describes himself as a strong advocate for truth-telling and speaking up for Aboriginal peoples’ rights and justice.
They were replaced by junior lawyer Amanda Martin, a recipient of a Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation educational scholarship.
She appears in her social media postings photographed with Health Minister Tim Nicholls and Mr Langbroek and as a guest at a budget briefing given by Treasurer David Janetzki in 2025.
The majority of the State Library of Queensland board was renewed in March after a scandal over a decision by Mr Langbroek to rescind a $15,000 fellowship awarded to Indigenous writer KA Ren Wyld over comments about the conflict in Gaza on social media last year.
The legislated guiding principles of the library state “respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures should be affirmed”.
Theatre leadership left empty
There are no longer any Indigenous trustees on the QPAC board.
Luritja woman Georgina Richters left the board at the conclusion of her term in November 2025.
A longtime executive and consultant in the corporate sector, she established PWC’s Indigenous consulting practice in Queensland.
Last year, Mr Langbroek also overruled a proposal from the QPAC board and its Indigenous advisory group to name QPAC’s newest venue after the acclaimed Quandamooka poet and activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal.
The government chose instead to name the 1,500-seat venue the Glasshouse Theatre.
Museum boards cut down
Until recently, there were three Indigenous representatives on the museum board.
The LNP government has appointed a single Aboriginal representative to replace them.
It is understood the terms governing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait sub-committee of the board stipulated it must be chaired by a board member who is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
The sole First Nations director is Lorraine Hatton, a Quandamooka woman.
She serves as Indigenous Elder of the Australian Army and as a council member of the Australian War Memorial.
Jackie Huggins says the Crisafulli government makes One Nation look like “a bunch of left-leaning progressives”. (ABC News: James Oaten)
University of Queensland senior Indigenous academic Jackie Huggins says relying on a sole Indigenous director on the museum board is particularly sensitive.
The museum is funded to coordinate the repatriation of hundreds of Indigenous remains and sacred objects from overseas museums and manage their identification and return to the communities from which they were removed.
“Now whitefellas can’t do this at all,” Dr Huggins said.
“It has to be the people who have networks through the museum, but also have the networks out to the country.
“It’s really important that you have senior people who have been around, like Cheryl Buchanan and others, to set the cultural governance of that institution.”
Over the next few years, the board will also oversee the development of a new First Nations Gallery within the museum.
Dr Huggins, who co-chaired the Queensland government’s Path to Treaty panel before it was scrapped, said she viewed the Crisafulli government as comparable to the Joh Bjelke-Petersen regime.
“They are eradicating, invisibilising us, and destroying our history and culture,”
Dr Huggins said.
At a press conference this week Queensland Premier David Crisafulli was asked about Joshua Creamer’s allegations of “Project Invisibility”.
Mr Crisafulli said he disagreed with Mr Creamer and emphasised the Queensland government was investing in Indigenous communities.
“Mr Creamer can explain his comments. I’ll just show you what we’re doing and I’ll point to the investment we’re making,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“We’re driven to do great things for Indigenous people, particularly those indigenous people living in rural and remote communities who haven’t had the opportunity that other Australians have.”
