Unnecessary.Disastrous.Insulting.
Those are just some of the words from Indigenous Australians about the appointment of Tony Abbott as the federal government's special envoy on Indigenous affairs.
Mr Abbott was given the role by Scott Morrison after being excluded from the new Prime Minister's cabinet.
Mr Abbott accepted the job after hesitating at first, though it's not yet clear what the job will entail.
Tony Abbott now says as a former prime minister, he can bring something to the role few others can.
He's told Macquarie Radio his main focus will be raising Indigenous education attendance rates, which in 2017 were at 83 per cent, compared with 93 per cent for non-Indigenous students.
Key Liberal party figures, including Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, say the appointment is a positive one for the Coalition.
But Indigenous federal Labor politicians Linda Burney and Pat Dodson think otherwise.
Senator Dodson says the appointment is insulting to the Indigenous population's call for a voice to parliament -- an idea Mr Abbott has not supported.
Ms Burney, the first Aboriginal woman to be elected to federal parliament, is also questioning the move.
"The Prime Minister has an Indigenous Advisory Council. The Prime Minister has an Indigenous Affairs minister, he has an Indigenous person in Ken Wyatt in his cabinet. There are three other First Nations people in the parliament. Tony Abbott's role when he was Prime Minister, in the Indigenous affairs space, was disastrous, including cutting 500 million dollars out of the Indigenous affairs budget, and wasting 80 million dollars on a schools program that had no effect.” Ms Burney said.
The National Congress of Australia's First Peoples says there's already a Minister for Indigenous Affairs, a Minister for Indigenous Health and an Indigenous advisory council -- initiatives Tony Abbott actually set up during his time as prime minister.
Congress co-chair Rod Little has told the ABC Mr Abbott also failed to consult effectively with Indigenous communities during his time as leader.
Sarah Maddison, co-director of the Indigenous Settler Relations Collaboration at the University of Melbourne, suspects it's an effort by Mr Morrison to paper over cracks in the Liberal party following last week's leadership spill, rather than to serve the interests of First Australians.
"He's (Morrison) obviously seen from very close quarters the destructive role that Tony Abbott has been able to play from the backbench. He doesn’t want him back in his ministry but he's offered him an olive branch (peace offering) in the hope that this is going to be a more stable period of government.” Ms Maddison said.
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