FED: Abbott dubs Anaya an 'armchair critic'

AAP General News (Australia)
08-28-2009
FED: Abbott dubs Anaya an 'armchair critic'

CANBERRA, Aug 28 AAP - A United Nations expert who described intervention into remote
Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory as discriminatory is an "armchair critic",
opposition indigenous affairs spokesman Tony Abbott says.

The UN's special rapporteur on indigenous rights, James Anaya, on Thursday said the
NT intervention measures, including compulsory income management and blanket bans on alcohol,
are "overtly discriminatory" and further stigmatise already stigmatised communities.

"I think this is the kind of nonsense we are used to from these armchair critics,"

Mr Abbott told ABC Television on Friday.

"Sure things aren't perfect there now but they are a lot better than they were.

"The intervention is something which really has been good for our country and been
good for the Aboriginal communities."

He defended the quarantining of indigenous welfare payments to ensure they are spent
on necessities.

"If there are any concerns about the impact of this measure ... why don't we extend
it more broadly?" Mr Abbott said.

"I think that would be the way to solve the problem, not to drop the measure."

Prof Anaya has called on Labor to "swiftly" reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act,
which was suspended by the former Howard government so the intervention's more extreme
measures could be rolled out.

But Mr Abbott warned this could trigger an "army of publicly-funded human rights lawyers"

to start challenging different aspects of the intervention in court.

Prof Anaya's comments came hours after a proposed new indigenous representative body
was unveiled by Australia's Aboriginal social justice commissioner Tom Calma.

The body will be independent from government and operate as a registered company, comprising
an eight-member national executive, a 128-seat national congress and an ethics council.

Mr Abbott said Mr Calma's proposal lacked teeth and combined the worst features of
its predecessors, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and the National
Indigenous Council.

"If you are going to elect a body, you've got to give it something worthwhile to do," he said.

"If it's only going to be a policy advisory body, why go to the time and trouble of electing it?"

AAP bsb/cjb/apm

KEYWORD: INDIGENOUS ABBOTT

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