Mr McGAURAN (Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) (5:16 PM) —I move:

The purpose of the bill before the House is to abolish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. The bill, which is largely identical to the bill passed by the House of Representatives and considered by the Senate in June 2004, is part of a major reform of the Australian government’s approach to Indigenous affairs.

The bill does one thing: it abolishes ATSIC. The bulk of the Australian government’s reforms to Indigenous affairs are proceeding independently of this bill.

In June 2004, the bill was referred to the Senate Select Committee on the Administration of Indigenous Affairs. The committee reported back on 8 March 2005 saying that the abolition of ATSIC was a ‘fait accompli’. The delay in abolishing ATSIC has already cost the taxpayer around $2 million in commissioners’ salaries.

Significant changes to the way in which services are delivered to Indigenous Australian people have already been introduced. A quiet revolution has been under way since 1 July 2004, involving a radical new approach which will see Indigenous people empowered and taking control of their own destiny.

As a government, we have no intention of repeating the failed ATSIC experiment. ATSIC elections cost between $7 million and $9 million and annual remuneration for commissioners alone costs the taxpayer almost $3 million and a further $1 million for travel expenses. No-one could sensibly argue that there are not far better ways to spend that sort of money to benefit Indigenous people. We are culpable if we do not direct every available dollar to the welfare, needs and assistance of Aboriginal communities as they find new ways for self-reliance and independence.

The National Indigenous Council is not a replacement to ATSIC. It is a very different sort of body. It is not a representative body—its members were selected for their expertise.

They will not be the only group that the government will take advice from. There are numerous representative bodies and committees at the national level that will continue to express their views. Other Indigenous leaders will do so also—and we will listen.

Some senior Indigenous Australians are discussing the development of their own national representative body. If such a body emerges, it will be theirs—governments should not interfere by imposing a statutory model.

Indeed many of the submissions to the Senate select committee said that unlike ATSIC, which was a European construct, representative Indigenous bodies should be developed by Indigenous people themselves.

At the regional level we are working with state and territory governments, regional councils and a range of Indigenous organisations and communities to establish new regional representative arrangements. We recognise that different models are likely to emerge to suit different regions and jurisdictions.

But we do not want these representative and advisory bodies to prevent us from dealing directly with local families and communities. Our approach to shared responsibility agreements, based on a 20- to 30-year community vision, will be the vehicle for that.

All these measures have been put in place independently of the bill before the House. Most of the provisions of the bill are consequential to the abolition of ATSIC or put in place transitional or other provisions arising from the abolition of ATSIC.

This includes the transfer of the Regional Land Fund to the Indigenous Land Corporation and of ATSIC’s Housing Fund and Business Development Program to Indigenous Business Australia. Other land and property assets will be divested to Indigenous interests prior to the abolition of ATSIC or will be transferred to the Indigenous Land Corporation or Indigenous Business Australia for divestment or use for the benefit of Indigenous people.

The Office of Evaluation and Audit, OEA, which audits ATSIC programs, will audit the full range of Australian government Indigenous specific programs. It will continue to investigate the performance of bodies that obtain funding from Indigenous specific programs.

The bill that was introduced in the Senate in December last year includes a few minor changes to the previous bill in order to take into account the passage of time and to clarify some specific provisions.

The bill now before the House includes amendments moved by the Australian Labor Party. The opposition amendments include delaying the abolition of regional councils to 1 January 2006. The government rejects that amendment.

The bill before the House includes three amendments moved by the Australian Democrats. The amendments would limit the power of the minister to give general directions to Indigenous Business Australia, which is taking over some of ATSIC’s programs; insert a right to seek review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal of decisions by Indigenous Business Australia to refuse a business loan; and, require the Minister for the Environment and Heritage to consult an Indigenous advisory committee and an Indigenous expert on the Australian Heritage Council about proposals which could impact on Indigenous heritage values. We cannot accept these amendments because they are contrary to the intent of the bill. Accordingly, I will be moving during the consideration in detail stage to remove both the Labor Party’s and the Australian Democrats’ amendments from the bill. I will give quite detailed explanations of the bases for the government’s rejection of these amendments. It is not appropriate in a second reading speech to canvass these matters in detail, but I look forward to the debate at the time of the consideration in detail.

I trust that the opposition will now fulfil the commitment given on its behalf by the former leader of the Labor Party, the former member for Werriwa, to abolish ATSIC and allow the expeditious passage of the bill so a new era of dealing with Indigenous communities at a formal consultative level at least can begin to gather steam in the interests of Indigenous people especially. I commend the bill to the House and present the explanatory memorandum.

Leave granted for second reading debate to continue immediately.