NT: Anti-discrimination commissioner says he is not independent

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NT: Anti-discrimination commissioner says he is not independent

By Rod McGuirk

DARWIN, April 7 AAP - Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Tom Stodulkachoked back tears as he complained that his independence had been lost to government costslashing.

Mr Stodulka said he was unable to sleep and felt sick every day since his anti-discriminationcommission (ADC) was amalgamated into the justice department late last year.

The amalgamation was part of the cost-saving public service restructure that halvedthe number of departments and agencies.

"It has been, I think, the worst time in my life," Mr Stodulka told the ABC Statelineprogram yesterday.

"I was given undertakings at the end of last year that our integrity and independencewould be maintained.

"Unfortunately that has not happened.

"There is no independence in the ADC at the moment."

The problems stemmed from fewer resources which undermined core functions and a seriousconflict of interest in being part of the justice department, he said.

Many of the complaints to the ADC were against government agencies which were representedby the justice department.

Mr Stodulka, who has been commissioner since 1999, said he had been warned he riskedhis future job prospects by speaking out.

"This is, in a way, on the one hand the hardest thing I've ever had to do but it'sabsolutely the easiest," he said.

"The last thing I would have wanted to do is to have this gut-wrenching process thatI'm going through where you can't sleep, where you get sick in the guts on a daily basis."

Justice Minister Peter Toyne said Mr Stodulka was entitled to make his complaints public.

But the ombudsman and director of public prosecution had agreed that the legislationand new administrative provisions allowed the ADC to work effectively and without bias.

"I have made it very clear to Tom Stodulka that not only are we prepared to do anythingpossible within the administrative arrangements to maintain his independence and ensurethat into the future, we would go so far as to revisit the act," Dr Toyne said.

"(The government wants) to make sure that there is in black and white a guarantee ofthe independence that that job requires."

AAP rmg/ns/sb

KEYWORD: STODULKA