The Indigenous Land Corporation has been through tumultuous times recently. Even among those accustomed to the often internecine world of Aboriginal politics, the activities and allegations surrounding the statutory authority have left jaws agape.

But before we get to the latest oddity, we must trek through some colourful background. The corporation helps indigenous Australians acquire and manage land, and develop their communities. It made headlines in 2010 when it decided to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars to buy the Ayers Rock Resort, which it planned to use to train indigenous workers. This contentious decision fuelled a bitter board battle about the agency's direction. (An Auditor-General's report later referred to these board discussions as ''frank and interactive'' - auditor-speak for ''wild slanging match''.) The proposed purchase of the resort also deeply concerned the then finance and indigenous affairs ministers, Penny Wong and Jenny Macklin, but it went ahead nonetheless. The Informant understands that this convinced the then Labor government to overhaul the corporation's board in 2011.

And little wonder, considering the findings of a recent independent review of the purchase. The McGrathNicol report said the resort's price, about $300 million, was at least $50 million above its market value, while the occupancy forecasts used to justify the sale were overly optimist. Other flaws were exposed, too. One of the most concerning was that board minutes suggested that only three of the seven directors had voted in favour of buying the resort.

Late last year, the corporation's new chairwoman, Dawn Casey, did something rather remarkable - perhaps even without precedent. She publicly urged the Federal Parliament to investigate her own organisation. Casey noted the resort had lost over $100 million in the three years since the purchase, and copped a $64 million write-down in value.

''Losses of this magnitude are unprecedented in indigenous affairs, and raise deeply serious questions about how the losses occurred, and the quality of the corporate governance which allowed the acquisition to occur,'' she said. ''The time has come for a formal parliamentary inquiry to be established to get to the bottom of these events.''

Other mysteries surround the corporation, too. The board dismissed chief executive David Galvin in 2012 - a rare action to take against a government agency head - though the reasons for the decision were never made public.

More recently, in June this year, a federal police investigation accumulated enough evidence to charge the corporation's former deputy chairman, Sam Jeffries, with leaking confidential information. Jeffries, like the sacked Galvin, was a strong proponent of the resort purchase, and had lost the deputy chairmanship during the 2011 board overhaul. Police accused him of emailing board correspondence to a business owned by Galvin early last year.

Government leaks like the one alleged against Jeffries are a federal offence that carry a two-year jail sentence. The AFP carries out many inquiries into such leak allegations but rarely reaches the stage of charging individuals. However, late last month, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions told a court that, while it had enough evidence to prosecute Jeffries, it was not in the public interest to proceed. Casey responded with a simple statement: ''The current ILC board takes seriously the duty of directors not to disclose board-in-confidence information to third parties.'' Read into that what you will.

In some ways, the Ayers Rock Resort has become an indigenous success story. It now employs 241 Aborigines - about a third of its staff - when, four years ago, it had just two indigenous employees.

But the cost of that success has been immense. The corporation is likely to spend the next two decades digging itself out of debt, at the expense of helping other indigenous communities.

Perhaps the most worrying aspect of this tale is the government's indifference to it. One would imagine the Coalition would be keen to scrutinise a disaster that unfolded under Labor's watch, especially one of this proportion. Yet the current Indigenous Affairs Minister, Northern Territory senator Nigel Scullion, made his support for Galvin known when he was in opposition. (After Galvin was dismissed, Scullion told Parliament: ''Big shoes to fill, I have to say. I thought he was an excellent operator.'')

When Casey published the McGrathNicol findings and made her extraordinary plea for parliamentary intervention, the minister was far from receptive. In a letter to her, later tabled in Parliament, Scullion ruled out an inquiry. Instead, he told her he was ''extremely disappointed'' she had failed to give him a copy of the findings earlier, as he had requested. ''I remain concerned that the continual media commentary is having a negative impact on public perception of the Ayers Rock Resort and the ILC.''

In other words, let's sweep this mess under a big rock. Minister, whatever governance shortcomings may or may not have existed, that's about the worst response you could make.