Congress of Australia's First Peoples concludes national tour

The Congress of Australia's First Peoples will conclude its tour of the nation in Sydney tomorrow night.

The tour has brought awareness to the increasing pressure being placed on the organisation as it faces funding cuts from the Abbott government.

The organisation is the only national representative body for Indigenous people in the country.

But it only has 8000 individual members, and only 800 of those members voted in the last federal election.

Under the Labor government, it was to be funded another $15 million, to last them until 2016. But the Abbott government said the organisation woould not be getting any more money under it.

Co-chair Kirstie Parker said the $8 million they currently have in reserve will last for a short time.
Even though its national campaign to gain support has been a success, the organisation will still have to operate on a much tighter budget.

But Ms Parker said the organisation knew just how tough the next few years would be.

The organisation operates separately from government control, so it will still exist even if funding does get cut. 

But having the support of Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion would help congress make it to the next federal election. 


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2 min read

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By Brooke Boney

Source: NITV News


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