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Habeus corpus: ATSIC is gone but the problems it was not allowed to address remain.

Article Excerpt
With the Federal Government having affectively abolished the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), the future for the delivery of Aboriginal policy and programs is at a crossroads.

John Howard was in opposition when ATSIC was established and during the parliamentary debates when its enabling legislation was introduced, was one of its staunchest critics. His criticism was based on the rhetoric that the creation of a representative body like ATSIC was divisive and antagonistic to the philosophy that all Australians should be treated the same way. The notion of Indigenous self-representation was contrary to his ideology of mainstreaming.

It should come as little surprise that a key part of the Federal Government's agenda on Indigenous policy included the abolition of ATSIC. This trend was consistent with the swift rejection by the Howard Government of the findings of the Council for Reconciliation who, after a decade of consultation and negotiation had recommended a broad agenda for change including recognition of rights and a treaty. In rejecting this agenda, Howard had flagged his policy of 'practical reconciliation' as his preferred approach. This, he said, would target policy making at socio-economic areas such as housing, health, education and employment.

This supposed focus on socio-economic problems included a campaign against rights. It included the opposition to native title claims, the extinguishment of native title in the Native Title Amendment Act 1998--Howard's attack on the Wik decision--and the strident defence of the stolen generations compensation claim by Lorna Gunner and...

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