The National Indigenous Council has come together at Parliament House in
Canberra for its first meeting.
The Government-appointed council was set up to advise the Government on
ways to improve services for Indigenous people in the wake of its
decision to abolish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
(ATSIC).
The Opposition has accused the Government of placing a gag order on
council members, only allowing the chair of the group to speak publicly.
But Indigenous Affairs Minister Amanda Vanstone says that is not the case.
"Name the advisory body, at a state or federal level, that doesn't have
the chair as its spokesperson," she said.
"Nobody has been asked to sign confidentiality agreements. They have
been asked to sign conflict of interest forms. That is standard
practice, there is no big deal here." |
