Former Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin signed off on a $10 million MJDF grant to help deal with the genetic disease prevalant in remote communities before the previous government went into caretaker mode.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Senator Scullion overturned it shortly after the election, following a review to see if all recent Aboriginal Benefits Account grants were in line with the new government's priorities.
Senator Scullion says Ms Macklin had inappropriately allocated the funds from money in an account that is made up of royalties paid to Indigenous Australians for the use of their land.
He's told a Senate estimates committee the funding needs to come from the Commonwealth and not from the pockets of the Aboriginal communities.
"I don't think any Australia would say that they were in Sydney suffering from the same circumstances of MJD they should put their hand in their own pocket to pay for this. This should be front and centre the responsibility of the Commonwealth government otr the other juridstictions or through the health system to pay for not out of Aboriginals own money."
Watch: Foundation hits back at MJD funding cuts, NITV reports
