The former co-chairman of Australia's largest Aboriginal organisation, Rod Little, says its spiral into voluntary administration marks the loss of First People's united voice to government.
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The National Congress of Australia's First Peoples was forced out of operation in July; its reserves exhausted after the Abbott government withdrew Labor's previous commitments for future funding in 2013.
When administrators were appointed in June 2019, Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt had an opportunity to revive the company of some 10,000 members and 180 community organisations.
He decided against it, citing its "significant level of debt" and "unsustainable structure". The congress' 2017 financial report showed it faced a deficit of about $487,000.
"The government weighed the significant support that would have been required to reform the company against the commitment to delivering improved outcomes for Indigenous Australians and decided it was not in a position to commit further taxpayer funding," a spokesman for Mr Wyatt said.
"The congress faced a number of challenges not just related to funding and it is unfortunate the administration process could not find a way forward."
Mr Little, who served as director of the congress from 2011, before taking on the role of co-chairman in 2015, said the Coalition's "reneged" commitment to the company was reflective of its fear of advocacy and innovative forms of governance.
While politicians were happy to fund service providers, the congress' role as an informant to government wasn't seen as valuable.
"[Members'] voices are gone because congress doesn't exist. It's morally wrong that the government has done that," Mr Little said.
"Every other body, fundamentally, is about service provision.
"[The government] can say, 'We've spent $50 million on X, Y, and Z', but our question has always been, what difference have you made?"
The congress proposed analysing the outcomes of Aboriginal initiatives and programs across Australia, such as the Northern Territory intervention, Mr Little said. The government denied the request.
"Obviously, someone in the Coalition said, 'We're not going to pay you money to tell us ... it hasn't worked'.
"That attracts ... [perceptions] it's a waste of money on Indigenous affairs."
The company developed the Redfern Statement to highlight the crisis in communities. It was instrumental in resisting changes to the Racial Discrimination Act, Mr Little said.
The congress lobbied for a treaty with the Commonwealth to recognise Aboriginal people. While it was making ground on those issues and others, it would now be up to separate community organisations to come together and create a new united voice, Mr Little said.
Preferably, that voice would take the form of a national summit of First Peoples. The congress could have facilitated a national conversation, Mr Little said.