April 15, 2004
ATSIC ATSACKED
The party’s over for Geoff Clark and his mates:
Prime Minister John Howard has announced the end of the scandal-riven Aboriginal advisory body ATSIC.
Branding the experiment in elected representation for indigenous people a "failure", Mr Howard said the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission would be abolished within months and not replaced.
This excellent decision should receive bipartisan support.
Posted by Tim Blair at April 15, 2004 05:33 PMATSIC will be sadly missed by, er, no one (except a few gravy trainers and dyed in the wool compassion fascists).
Still, it's difficult not to be cynical about the timing of the decision. Is there any reason this white elephant couldn't have been wrapped last year, or the year before that? This smacks of election politics rather than providing any clear vision of how to bring Aboriginals in from the cold.
The PM nailed it with the boat-people issue. Love or hate the Pacific Solution, the fact is that it worked - and had the fringe benefit of provoking the fringe dwelling lefty loons into a frenzy of self parody.
As I'm fond of telling Mrs Bundy..."If it's stupid and it works, it ain't stupid."
Still, I'm sure Latham will have some reassuringly soft-brained comment on the matter to ensure that no better option will be on offer.
Posted by: Al Bundy at April 15, 2004 at 10:25 PM"Man of Steel" indeed!
Can anyone imagine this decision being made 5 years ago? (It should have been, but there were very few cojones in the MP's of that time)
Carmen will be spitting chips!
Posted by: Pedro the Ignorant at April 16, 2004 at 01:30 AMThe silence from the usual suspects is deafening!!! I wonder why.
I even forced myself to listen to ABC radio this morning to how they were going handle this one. Of course, they were completely stuffed because Labor had said they would do the same thing. You could sense them squirming in their chairs. He he he.
P.S. I've recoverd now.
P.S.S. From listening to the ABC I mean.
Posted by: Jimi at April 16, 2004 at 11:52 AM