Geoff Clark (politician) - Political Career

Political Career

In 1979 he became the administrator for the Framlingham Aboriginal Community Trust. He co-founded the Aboriginal Provisional Government in 1983 and in the same year visited Manuel Noriega, the then dictator of Panama. Between 1983 and 1996, he was active locally and internationally in indigenous affairs.

In December 1996 Clark was elected to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) board, as the Native Title spokesman. In December 1999 he became the first chairperson of ATSIC to be elected to that position. He served two terms in this position before the organisation was disbanded in 2004. Clark's tenure was increasingly overshadowed by allegations of misconduct and ongoing criminal proceedings against him.

In August 2003, Clark was suspended as ATSIC chairperson by the Indigenous Affairs Minister, Amanda Vanstone. The suspension was later overruled in court on the basis of illegality. It was alleged that he attempted to sell off government property under the control of ATSIC, for the benefit of ATSIC, which eventually led to the Australian National Audit Office declaring the organisation in breach of the Australian constitution. In 2004, after being pre-empted by the Labor opposition, the Liberal government began proceedings to abolish ATSIC.