The Federal Government says it will do everything in its power to
prevent the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC)
selling its historic art collection to fund a legal battle aimed at
keeping the organisation operating.
The Commonwealth says it will challenge any action by ATSIC that it
considers inappropriate, including the sale of valuable art work.
The warning follows media reports that ATSIC is considering selling a
poster that was signed by Uluru's traditional owners when they were
given control of the of land.
ATSIC's central zone commissioner Alison Anderson says central
Australia's Indigenous community will be outraged if the sale goes ahead.
"I think that any art collection, and particularly the one of the
handover of Uluru, should be put inside a museum for all Australians and
for Aboriginal people here in the Northern Territory," she said.
"It's the history of what happened at Uluru and I think it needs to be
there to educate our young generation."
But she says the proposal has not been considered by the board, and any
speculation about what ATSIC will do is premature. |
