Catholic Diocese of Broome

The action of the Federal Government to disband the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and return indigenous services to 'mainstream' bureaucracy ignores the poor record 'mainstream' bureaucracy has in its dealings with Aboriginal people. To leave the indigenous people of Australia without an effective political voice, one with influence and responsibilities, makes a farce of efforts to acknowledge the past ills of colonization with a view to building a brighter future for Australia's First Peoples.
The Prime Minister's announcement that the Commission would be wound up (on July 1st) did not come as a complete shock to a lot of people. All indications in recent months clearly pointed to irreconcilable tensions between the government and the Commission. The prior announcement of the ALP that it intended to wind up ATSIC if in government left the controversial organization without a tenable future.
The intention of the government to establish an appointed Board of Indigenous Advisors will fail to demonstrate to indigenous people that their opinions about their future are important. Board members acting without responsibility for their actions and without representative status will not enjoy the respect of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Australia wide. To ignore the rights of indigenous people to self-determination is to turn the clock back to a time reflective of a bleak past.
Suggestions that this unrepresentative Advisory Board is but a temporary measure is a welcome addendum but also an unsubstantiated one. Nothing Senator Vanstone (Minister for Indigenous Affairs) has said so far indicates anything but contempt for the notion that indigenous people ought to be actively governing the delivery of services to their own people. Where the Federal Labor party stands on self-determination for indigenous people in the long term is not yet clear.
In an age when the need for national reconciliation in this country is pressing, the failure to replace ATSIC with an alternative representative and responsible body is to show the highest disregard for reconciliation in our land, in our time. True democracy for indigenous people is bound closely with self-determination. The on-going pursuit of the benefits of a fair democracy for Aboriginal people will come to fruition only when self-determination is alive and well. Given the determination of Aboriginal people to survive the rigours of an unjust past, eventually self determination is bound to happen - as old ineffectual methods are found still to be wanting. It appears, yet again, governments have much to learn.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the Bishop of Broome.

Editorial: Democracy and Self Determination - Bound to Happen