Yesterday’s announcement by Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith to review the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body comes as no surprise and is an admission of failure by the ACT Government.
“What has the Elected Body done in terms of closing the gap of Indigenous disadvantage for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in the ACT?” asked Mr House.
“The statistics on disadvantage continue to speak for themselves. For example, the incarceration and child separation rates in the ACT are amongst the worst in Australia. The existence of the Elected Body has not made any difference at all.”
Paul Girrawah House, the First Nations candidate for the seat of Kurrajong, has called for its abolition and describes it as ‘an irrelevance’ to the needs and aspirations of the local Aboriginal people of the ACT.
The ACT Auditor-General last year (Canberra Times 19 Aug 2023) predicted that the body would become “ineffective” due to low voter turnout.
“The ACT Elected Body is an anachronism of past misunderstandings and deliberate confusion, it has indeed become irrelevant and should be scrapped.”
“It fails because many of the Aboriginal people of the ACT do not see the Elected Body as genuinely representing their interests or as a voice for their needs and aspirations.”
“Voter turn-out for the most recent elections was less than 200 people. This is the lowest it has ever been and is vindication of the fact that it should be scrapped.” For the Minister to state that the election was not held in conjunction with major events such as NAIDOC Week, is both patronising and paternalistic” Mr House said.
“It just shows that the ACT Government does not understand its responsibilities toward Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”
“As I have previously said, the ACT Government fails to understand that it has two distinct responsibilities.”
“Firstly, the ACT Government is a signatory to the 2020 National Agreement on Closing the Gap. The ACT Government therefore has the same responsibility as all the Commonwealth and States and the Northern Territory Governments to Close the Gap of Indigenous disadvantage for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in the ACT, irrespective of where they come from, or why they are living in the ACT. “
“Secondly, the ACT Government has a moral and ethical obligation to treat with all of the
Aboriginal groups with traditional connections to the ACT on all matters that affect their land and water rights and interests, in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
“The ACT Government needs to deal with these two matters quite separately because under Aboriginal law, Aboriginal people cannot speak for other people’s Country”; he said.
“The ACT Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Elected Body should have been focusing on
Closing the Gap and representing all Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander people who live in the ACT. It cannot deal with matters relating to traditional owners, connections to and responsibilities for Country.”
“The ACT Government also needs to accept there are at least three Aboriginal groups with connections to the ACT and surrounds: Ngambri (Kamberri), Ngunnawal and Ngarigo. “Each of these groups must be equally recognised and respected for their cultural connections to Country,”; Mr House said.
Mr House said there was a big difference between working with those three groups and working to Close the Gap and end the disadvantages endured by Indigenous people.
But the time has come to scrap the Elected Body, because the low voter turn-out shows that most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people think it has become irrelevant.”
Media Contact Paul Girrawah House 0404362595
