The federal Coalition's full-scale attack on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) for its supposed "haemorrhaging of public funds" is a cowardly and malicious act.
By accusing the most oppressed sector of the population of misappropriating taxpayers' money, the government hopes to whip up enough feeling to "justify" funding cuts to Aboriginal organisations.
For some weeks, the big business press has been campaigning against various state Aboriginal Legal Services' alleged mishandling of funds. The campaign was based upon queries raised in auditors' reports concerning documentation of spending. There has as yet been no investigation, let alone proof, of any charges against any group or individual.
Nevertheless, the media "softening up" exercise emboldened PM John Howard to announce his government's changes to ATSIC's board and functioning on April 11. In effect, the government declared Aboriginal organisations "guilty" of charges which haven't been specified and therefore can't be defended.
The changes will mean that ATSIC will have less autonomy and less accountability to grassroots Aboriginal organisations, and will become even more of a government instrumentality — if it survives at all.
Planned amendments to the act will allow the minister to appoint an administrator and a special auditor with the power to stop ATSIC grants, stop funding to organisations with which the auditor is not satisfied and require that ATSIC provide documents relating to breaches of grant conditions by funded organisations. Much of ATSIC's already limited autonomy would disappear.
ATSIC was set up in 1990 to take over the roles of the old Department of Aboriginal Affairs and the Aboriginal and Islander Development Corporation. It employs more than 1500 people and has a budget of about $1 billion. In many areas, it directly administers education and work-for-the-dole schemes (30% of the budget). It also administered Aboriginal health until the Keating government decided last year to make the Department of Health responsible.
While ATSIC was supposed to "empower Aboriginal and Islander people to manage their own affairs", and real power was supposed to reside with its then 36 regional councils, Aboriginal critics argue that ATSIC was always an arm of the white bureaucracy, which listens only to selected Aborigines to create the appearance of consent while making unilateral decisions.
However, the Howard government's decision to cut the number of regional councillors to between eight and 12 and to scrap last year's decision to elect rather than appoint the chair, will even further limit ATSIC's ability to carry out its original brief.
The government and media campaign to vilify Aboriginal organisations represents a racist attack on the weakest section of the community. Laws exist to bring to trial any individual who is suspected of using government funds fraudulently. Even if such individuals exist — and no-one has yet been charged — it is racist scapegoating to attack the entire organisation.
Aborigines must have the right to administer their own affairs to be able to develop accountable and autonomous organisations. Working people of all colours and unions in particular should defend Aboriginal self-determination.
Central to the government's campaign to cut government spending by $8 billion over two years is its "divide and rule" strategy. At a time when the number of public service jobs to be axed seems to increase daily, "news" of financial mismanagement in other organisations is designed to provoke us to fight each other for the crumbs.
Right now, Aborigines are in the front line. Workers, migrants and the unemployed will be next.