A pathetic attempt at justifying an atrocious decision
Originally published: June 2015, Tasmanian Times
Funding cuts to Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service
Transferring governance of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Legal Service to the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, contradicts the principle of self-determination in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. But this is exactly what the Attorney-General’s department has done.
The successfully run 42-year-old Aboriginal Legal Service was “unsuccessful” in its application to continue providing legal services to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, with Brandis’ office citing “compliance issues” as the reason.
CEO, Heather Sculthorpe (who is currently overseas) called it a “pathetic attempt at justifying an atrocious decision” and a “slanderous slur”, explaining that the “TAC recently won its quality assurance accreditation at its first attempt”. Acting CEO Pat Turner said that as yet, the TAC had no information about what the “compliance issues” actually were.
The TAC’s State Secretary, Trudy Maluga, claimed that it was more a case of a politically motivated attempt to silence an advocacy organisation. “We have achieved great things with our legal service, we have achieved land return, we have achieved compensation for the stolen generation, we have achieved the right to go and hunt and gather on our own land. Their objective is, close down the strongest legal service (in the country), and they’ll gradually knock the rest off.”
The threat means the loss of $11.7 million over five years, and 15 jobs, many of them filled by Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
Over 150 members of the Tasmanian Aboriginal community met to hear about the loss. They were supported by the Law Society, the Women’s Legal Service, the Community Legal Service, the Greens and the ALP.
The Aboriginal Legal Service was established by the Tasmanian Aboriginal community in 1972 and operates under the democratic control of the TAC State committee, made up of elected Aboriginal community members.
Former Supreme Court Justice, Pierre Slicer, who helped to establish the Aboriginal Legal Service, has vowed to come out of retirement to help fight the case.
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