Andrew Leigh

DOES ANYONE STILL SUPPORT GARY JOHNS?

Senior Liberals are now distancing themselves from the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits commissioner Gary Johns after he publicly defended his decision to suppress acknowledgement of country within the commission and confirmed he still holds troubling views about charities, welfare recipients and indigenous mothers.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion has written to Dr Johns, more than 11 months after his appointment to the role by the Coalition, questioning his views on restricting the use of acknowledgement of country.

After Dr Johns’ disastrous appearance before a Senate committee last month, Senator Scullion told him:

Acknowledgments of country are well-known payments of respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in recognition of their traditional ownership of the land. In my view, there is little risk of the confusion that I understand you identified in these hearings and I would encourage as many ACNC officials as are interested, to include acknowledgements of country in their signature blocks.

The question remains as to why Dr Johns was appointed by the Coalition Government – and signed on under former Treasurer Scott Morrison – in the first place.

Labor has been calling for Dr Johns to step down as Commissioner before he damages the culture of our trusted charity sector. The Prime Minister signed off on Dr Johns taking the helm of the charities commission and he needs to confirm now whether he supports Dr Johns’ judgement and his decision to erase indigenous acknowledgments from the Commission’s communications.

ENDS

Authorised by Noah Carroll ALP Canberra