NSWALC weighs in,
Mundine weighs out? 29th Sept. 2005
NSW: The New South Wales Aboriginal Land
Council (NSWALC), the state’s peak Indigenous body has
issued a ‘please explain’ letter and sought a meeting
with a senior NSW ALP official over remarks he made
recently about incoming ALP president Warren Mundine’s
out-spoken stance on Indigenous home
ownership.
NIT understands NSWALC recently wrote
to NSW ALP secretary Mark Arbib, saying it considers Mr
Arbib is 'talking nonsense' when he says there is no
inherent conflict between Mr Mundine’s membership of the
NIC and his role as incoming national president of the
ALP. In an article in The Weekend Australian 10 days
ago, Mr Arbib defended Mr Mundine after comments by NSW
Aboriginal MP, Linda Burney and coordinator of the NSW
Indigenous Labor Network, Phil Lockyer that Mr Mundine
should choose between the ALP and the NIC. NIT
understand’s NSWALC’s letter sought a meeting with Mr
Arbib to discuss the situation. The letter, which was
written before Mr Mundine’s latest criticisms of Mick
Dodson, says Mr Mundine’s recent public comments are
alienating many Aboriginal people in NSW.
Mr
Mundine hinted to NIT on Tuesday that he was in the
process of considering his immediate future.
"I'm
going to stick to my original timetable that I said I
was going to do before," he said. Mr Mundine is
referring to comments he made in November 2004 that he
doubted the NIC would survive more than 12
months.
"I’m looking at the whole process, to see
where I'm heading. People will hear about what I’m doing
in the near future."
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