Geoff Clark wins court battle against Vanstone
The Federal Court yesterday upheld an earlier decision that the Federal Government acted illegally when it suspended head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Geoff Clark. Although the ruling has no practical effect given the abolition of ATSIC earlier this year, Mr Clark says it’s a victory of principles and one worth fighting for. In his judgment, Justice Weinberg said the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Senator Amanda Vanstone had acted unlawfully when she suspended Mr Clark. Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs Senator Chris Evans says the appeal process has been a waste of tax-payer’s money. Senator Evans has just returned from the Mjarrka cultural festival at the Ngumpan community, near Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberly, where traditional owners told him of their concerns about the political landscape post-ATSIC.
Vanstone v Clark [2005] FCAFC 189