A Senate inquiry into the funding of Indigenous services in Tasmania has been labelled a ‘fishing expedition’ and waste of time, after a report found no misuse of Commonwealth funds.
The inquiry was instigated by Senator Jacqui Lambie (pictured) to investigate whether hundreds of millions of dollars in Commonwealth funds was being unfairly spent on a small proportion of Aboriginal Tasmanians.
The report, released yesterday (Monday) found that First Nation’s Tasmanians ‘receive the benefit of Commonwealth funding on the same basis as other Australian jurisdictions.’
The finding has been welcomed by Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre chief executive Heather Sculthorpe – who said it was ‘vindicating’ but failed to investigate whether current models of funding met the needs of the state’s Aboriginal community.
