Silencing us

Alison Anderson
ATSIC NT Central Zone Commissioner

ATSIC commissioners will be seeking the assistance of volunteers 
and workers from Community Development Employment Projects after 
the Federal Government stripped them of all personal staff and 
attempted to cripple our ability to do our jobs.

The Government has disgracefully slashed the ATSIC budget by 
almost two-thirds in a naked attempt to rob Aboriginal and Torres 
Strait Islander peoples of their rights to democratically elected 
representation.

This Government has forced the ATSIC board to submit to a 
savagely reduced budget and it is directly responsible for 36 
hardworking and decent staff losing their jobs.

True to form, when the Government announced its bid to destroy 
ATSIC two months ago, it said no jobs would be lost.

Its Minister has added further insult to injury by claiming that 
the Senate's refusal to approve their bid to destroy ATSIC was a 
"stunt" which would cost taxpayers $3.3 million — this from a 
member of a government which forces taxpayers to fund two 
residences for the Prime Minister and hundreds of millions of 
dollars in government propaganda.

The fact is this Government is not about trying to save money but 
is doing its best to silence the voice of Indigenous Australia 
and has nothing to offer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 
peoples.

This Government claims it has sent troops to Iraq in a bid to 
introduce democracy and at the same time it is fighting at home 
to take democracy away from Indigenous Australians.

What absolute hypocrisy.

The Senate has blocked its bid to abolish ATSIC and remove 
Indigenous representation from a dozen Federal Acts and the 
Government is now trying to subvert the decision of the 
Parliament in a typically mean and sneaky way.

The fact is the Senate has rejected the Government's attempt to 
dismiss democratically elected Indigenous leaders and has given 
Indigenous people the chance to have their say on the future of 
Indigenous governance and service delivery.

This Government hates Indigenous people having a say in their own 
future.

They have amply demonstrated this with the trashing of its $1.4 
million ATSIC Review, their isolation of the ATSIC chairman, and 
their current bid to shut down this organisation.

The Prime Minister said ATSIC was a failure and it's true that it 
has failed to collaborate with government in misleading the 
public and that it has failed to keep quiet about the appalling 
performances of mainstream agencies in addressing Indigenous 
disadvantage.

That is why the Government is lying to destroy us.

The Government knows full well that ATSIC has provided some of 
the best Indigenous programs in the country and that it is now 
handing over those programs to proven under-achievers and non-
performers.

The Government also knows full well that its claim that its move 
against ATSIC is aimed at improving services to Indigenous 
Australians is at best hollow rhetoric and at worst an outright 
lie.

ATSIC commissioners, like mainstream politicians, have 
obligations to help their constituents but this Government is 
saying that Indigenous politicians have to do the job without any 
staff.

Meanwhile, non-Indigenous Government MPs are intitled to employ 
at least three full-time staff and Ministers such as Senator 
Vanstone get by with a dozen or more.

Staff or no staff, resources or none, we will continue to work 
for our people.

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Koori Mail, June 30, 2004