The head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC)
remains indignant over the Government's decision to abolish the
organisation.
Legislation surrounding ATSIC is proceeding through Parliament this week
and will most likely see ATSIC abolished as soon as the bill becomes law.
Chairperson Geoff Clark says the Government is getting rid of ATSIC
because the organisation became too strong and powerful.
"They're saying we need better communications with state and federal
governments, we attempted to have MoU's [Memorandums of
Understanding]and do all those," he said.
"We developed the policies. You read what their new policies are, or so
called, they reflect 99 per cent of what we contributed to the debate.
"So really there's no solutions, it wasn't broken, didn't need to be
fixed, that's the con."
Meanwhile, Democrats Leader Lyn Allison has predicted Labor will drop
its amendments to legislation that abolishes ATSIC.
Under the proposed changes, ATSIC's regional councils will operate until
December, six months later than the Government had planned.
The Government is expected to reject Labor's amendments when the Bill is
considered in the House of Representatives.
Senator Allison thinks the issue will be resolved soon.
"The minister has said it is not acceptable, even though the regional
councils still have work to do, I think she admits that," she said.
"My guess is that Labor will fold, they won't insist on that amendment
and so the bill will go through pretty much as it was put forward." |