THESE ARE CUTS, SENATOR SCULLION ! Indigenous Affairs Minister, Senator Nigel Scullion has feebly tried to water down the cut of over half a billion dollars from vital Closing the Gap programs, claiming in Senate Estimates today it was a mere ‘efficiency dividend’. Further, Senator Scullion could not explain how the cuts would impact on frontline services and confirmed that those decisions have not been made by Government, just weeks before many contracts with service providers expire. In the post-Budget milieu, there is no clarity or certainty for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations about their future, just confirmation that over $500 million will be ripped from Indigenous programs, despite the Liberal-National Party’s solemn pre-election promise: “The Coalition will continue the current level of funding expended on Closing the Gap activities” The Coalition’s Policy for Indigenous Affairs, September 2013 It has also been confirmed in Estimates hearings that no decisions on how the cuts will be applied to over 150 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs will be taken by the Minister for another six to 12 months. Additionally, some 340 remote communities across Australia could be without funding for municipal and essential services - including power, water, sewerage, road maintenance and garbage collection. The Abbott Government has forced this responsibility back to the states and territories, even though many of these communities do not have local governments. In yet another cost-shifting exercise, Senator Scullion refused to guarantee funding to these remote communities if they could not secure funding from the states and territories. The Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his Indigenous Affairs Minister appear to have no idea what is actually happening in this portfolio, despite the Prime Minister’s pre-election claim to be a Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs. “Should the coalition win the election, Aboriginal people will be at the heart of a new Government, in word and in deed.” Tony Abbott Speech to Sydney Institute, 15th March 2013 youtu.be/7GGEoFOFOdQ
Posted on: Fri, 30 May 2014 08:15:04 +0000
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