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| home | news lHoward axes Aboriginal body
But Mr Howard said the group had become involved in symbolic issues, with "too little concern for delivering real outcomes for indigenous people". He said it would be replaced by a group of appointed Aborigine representatives. Mr Howard accused ATSIC of failing to help alleviate the plight of the Aborigines, Australia's most disadvantaged community. "We believe very strongly that the experiment in elected representation for indigenous people has been a failure," Mr Howard told reporters on Thursday. "We will not replace ATSIC with an alternative body. We will appoint a group of distinguished indigenous people to advise the government on a purely advisory basis." The commission has been dogged for years by accusations of corruption and nepotism, as well as the mismanagement of its annual budget of half a billion dollars. It faced fresh criticism last August, when Chairman Geoff Clark was suspended after being convicted of obstructing police during a bar-room brawl. ATSIC was created by a Labor government in the late 1980s. It was hoped that an elected Aboriginal body would help solve the problems suffered by Australia's indigenous people, many of whom are trapped in a cycle of poverty, ill health, drug abuse and imprisonment. But last month the Labor Party - currently in opposition - pledged to abolish the body if it won the general election later this year. The fate of ATSIC is likely to split the Aboriginal community. Some leaders supported Labor's pledge to axe it last month, saying the group was inefficient and mired in political in-fighting. But suspended chairman Geoff Clark said Mr Howard's decision to scrap the commission would further disadvantage Aboriginal people. ATSIC's acting chairman, Lionel Quartermaine, also accused Mr Howard of making his organisation a scapegoat for the problems facing indigenous people. He said the blame for the Aborigines' plight lay with existing laws, adding that state and federal governments had "got to take the responsibility". Mr Howard plans to introduce legislation to dismantle ATSIC during the next parliamentary session in May. Source: BBC Australia Axes Top Aboriginal Body April 15, 2004 - CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's top aboriginal body was abolished on Thursday by Prime Minister John Howard who said the experiment in an elected black organization to administer aboriginal affairs had failed. Howard said the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), created in 1990, had become preoccupied with "symbolic issues and (there was) too little concern with delivering real outcomes for indigenous people." Howard's conservative government has been a long-standing critic of ATSIC and its campaign for land rights and an apology for past injustices to the 400,000 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, who make up about two percent of the population. Aborigines remain the nation's most disadvantaged group, dying 20 years younger than other Australians and suffering far higher rates of unemployment and alcohol and drug abuse. "We believe very strongly that the experiment in elected representation for indigenous people has been a failure," Howard told a news conference to announce ATSIC's immediate abolition. "We will not replace ATSIC with an alternative body. We will appoint a group of distinguished indigenous people to advise the government on a purely advisory basis." ATSIC, set up as the primary deliverer of programs and services to indigenous communities, has been wracked by controversy, culminating in the suspension of chairman Geoff Clark last August after he was convicted of obstructing police and behaving in a riotous manner in public. Australia's center-left Labor opposition said last month it would abolish ATSIC if it won the election expected later this year. Labor is leading in opinion polls. The fate of ATSIC has split the aboriginal community with some leaders earlier supporting Labor's decision to axe it, saying the group was inefficient and riddled with black politics. But suspended chairman Clark condemned the decision, saying it would further disadvantage Aboriginal people. The ATSIC commissioner for the state of Queensland, Ray Robinson, said this took away "our self-determination, our self-empowerment." "It just puts our fight back another 50 years," Robinson told reporters. But Howard said the abolition of an elected black body to administer aboriginal affairs would not mean a reduction of government funding to raise aboriginal living standards. "It will in fact result in more resources being focused on challenging areas of indigenous need," he said. ($1=A$1.37) Source: Reuters Aborigines Condemn Australian Government By Rod McGuirk, Associated Press Writer 16 April 2004 - CANBERRA, Australia - One of Australia's most respected Aborigine leaders warned the government on Friday that its move to abolish the country's commission on Aborginal affairs could produce a violent backlash. In a sweeping reform of the government's indigenous policy, Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday he will introduce legislation in Parliament next month to dissolve the 14-year-old Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. The commission, widely referred to as ATSIC, advises all levels of government on indigenous issues. With 17 commissioners elected by Aboriginal voters and a budget of more than $600 million, it administers government-funded projects aimed at improving their way of life. Created by a Labor government, it has for years been accused of mismanagement, corruption and nepotism. "We believe very strongly that the experiment in elected representation for indigenous people has been a failure," Howard said. "We will not replace ATSIC with an alternative body." In place of ATSIC, the government wants to appoint a panel of Aboriginal experts to advise them on indigenous needs. Aborigines number about 400,000 in Australia, a country of 20 million. The poorest, sickest and least-educated minority group, they receive $1 billion a year in welfare and other payments — about $4,500 per person. The board is the top elected body for Aborigines, who were given the vote only in 1967 after they rose up against the government.
"Aboriginal people are living in creeks, living without (running) water, they've been cornered and without a voice, they'll come out in the only way that they know and that's violence," Anderson told The Associated Press. A few weeks ago, dozens of police were wounded in a clash with hundreds of Aboriginal rioters in a crime-ridden ghetto in Sydney. Anderson said the commission was paying the ultimate price for campaigning on behalf of Aborigines. "The government's ashamed of the good work ATSIC's done in showing the world how disadvantaged we are and highlighting the racist attitudes of a lot non-indigenous people and governments," she said. Another senior indigenous leader, Pat Dodson, said Howard's conservative government was using the ATSIC as a scapegoat in an election year. Many Aborigines live in squalid camps in the Outback or garbage-strewn neighborhoods on the fringes of towns and cities. They suffer health problems such as low birth weight and trachoma that are more commonly associated with developing nations. Their life expectancy is about 20 years lower than the rest of Australian society, and substance abuse and domestic violence are rife. Abolishing ATSIC would help efforts to stamp out such problems, Howard said, adding that his government's goals were to improve Aborigines' health and education and employment opportunities. Howard's government has long been critical of how the commission spends its money on what the prime minister dismisses as symbolic issues like fighting for land rights and for squandering funds. "I don't think the money's been wisely spent," Howard said in a radio interview. "I think the culture of favoritism and nepotism that has surrounded that body has become notorious." Dodson likened the advisory panel's role to that of Aboriginal trackers who helped the Europeans colonize Australia. "The notion of being an adviser is long gone," Dodson told The Associated Press. "That's like being a tracker on the trail, showing the boss which way to go and then the boss gets all the glory for blazing the path — it's a nonsense." Source: Associated Press Outrage as Australia abolishes 'failed' Aboriginal council By Kathy Marks in Sydney 16 April 2004 - The Australian government angered the Aboriginal population yesterday by announcing plans to abolish an elected commission set up to give them control of their own affairs. Legislation will be introduced next month to scrap the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), effective immediately. The Prime Minister, John Howard, said: "We believe very strongly that the experiment in elected representation for indigenous people has been a failure." The institution would not be replaced, he said. Aboriginal leaders deplored the move as a massively retrograde step. Alison Anderson, an ATSIC commissioner, said: "This is a racist government that has just indicated how poorly it feels about indigenous people." ATSIC was established in 1990 to deliver services to Aboriginal communities and until recently had a budget of $A1bn (£416m). Run by officials elected by indigenous people, it was seen as a bold venture offering self-determination and a degree of autonomy to Australia's demoralised black population. For many years, however, it has been plagued by claims of corruption, mismanagement and nepotism, and even its constituents regarded it as ineffective and remote. Many had called for it to be reformed, but the announcement it would not be succeeded by another elected body shocked even its critics. Instead, the government will rely on the input of a group of handpicked indigenous advisers. ATSIC's funds will be absorbed by government departments and allocated by bureaucrats, a prospect that smacks to many of paternalism. Lionel Quartermaine, the acting ATSIC chairman, said the "mainstreaming" of indigenous affairs would not resolve the chronic health, employment and housing problems that blighted Aboriginal communities. "This will do nothing to help indigenous people," he said. "Mainstreaming has failed in the past, and it will fail in the future." In recent years ATSIC's problems have been personified by its suspended chairman, Geoff Clark, who was convicted of brawling in a pub and accused of raping several women, charges that he denies. As an opposition MP Mr Howard attacked the plan to set up ATSIC, saying it would divide Australia on the basis of race. The controversy swirling around Mr Clark has provided him with the perfect opportunity to swing the axe. The opposition Labor Party will support the legislation. Its new leader, Mark Latham, had planned to scrap ATSIC, although he said it would be replaced by a new elected body. Source: Independent (UK) Aboriginal leader warns of potential violence 20 April, 2004 - A respected aboriginal leader warned Friday that the Australian government's decision to eliminate their top elected body could set off a violent backlash from the nation's most disadvantaged minority. The government of Prime Minister John Howard asserted Thursday that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission had wasted most of the public funds it dispersed over 14 years and would be dissolved. Alison Anderson, a commissioner described aboriginal people as "cornered and without a voice." She added, "They'll come out in the only way that they know, and that's violence." Source:International Herald Tribune Corrupt' aboriginal group is abolished By Nick Squires in Sydney 16 April 2004 The leading aboriginal organisation in Australia, which has handed out billions of pounds in public money over 14 years, is to be abolished. Despite its annual budget of £600 million, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission has failed to improve the lives of ordinary aborigines, the government said yesterday. It was set up in 1990 as a virtual parallel government to dispense welfare payments, create jobs and improve health, housing and education. But it has been mired in allegations of nepotism, corruption and mismanagement. Most of Australia's 400,000 aboriginal communities suffer from grinding poverty, poor health and high rates of unemployment, imprisonment and domestic violence. Similar issues affect Torres Strait Islanders, who inhabit the tropical islands scattered between the tip of Queensland and Papua New Guinea. John Howard, the prime minister, said the commission's responsibilities would be handed back to the federal government. Some aboriginal leaders said the move was racist and would set back their cause by 50 years. Ray Robinson, a commissioner from Queensland, said: "It takes away the democratic right of aboriginal people to elect their own representatives." Source: Daily Telegraph (UK) related links :
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15 April 2004 - Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced plans to abolish the country's top Aboriginal body. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) was created to represent the country's impoverished indigenous population.
Alison Anderson, one of the board's most respected commissioners and its only woman, warned that the loss of an elected indigenous voice would herald a return to those violent days. 
