A bipartisan plan to stop indigenous art fraud has stuttered to a halt, with Arts Minister George Brandis failing to meet the federally funded body behind it.
The Indigenous Art Code's chairman Ron Merkel, QC, this week wrote Senator Brandis an open letter, questioning his understanding of indigenous artists' problems, given his controversial plans to reform the Racial Discrimination Act.
Mr Merkel said in the letter the minister had spent a "great deal" of time on his exposure draft, which he had explained "to be based in part on the right of people to be bigots, thereby embracing their right to engage in the public vilification of, among others, Aboriginal people on the ground of their race".
"If that endeavour means you have no time to consider protecting Aboriginal or other indigenous artists from continuing exploitation ... it may be appropriate for this important project to be handed over to the indigenous affairs section of the Department of Prime Minister [Tony Abbott] and Cabinet."
Since 2007, indigenous artists and art dealers have been able to sign up to the Indigenous Art Code, a voluntary code of conduct with ethical standards and terms for managing disputes.
A non-profit company by the same name, which receives $150,000 a year in federal funding, manages the code. Both were recommended by a Senate inquiry into the indigenous art industry which has received bipartisan support.
But Mr Merkel said self-regulation had failed, with only about half of Australian dealers who traded exclusively in indigenous art signed up to the code.
The Indigenous Art Code lacked the teeth to enforce the code against those who breached it. Only the ACCC had legal powers to seek compensation and injunctions to protect artists from being exploited.
Former arts minister Tony Burke last year endorsed the next step of the Senate inquiry's plan to consider putting a mandatory code of conduct into law. Mr Merkel said Senator Brandis had been unwilling to fix a date to meet the group or investigate whether the code should become mandatory.
The Coalition, in its zeal for cutting red tape "may not appreciate this is an area crying out for protection", he said. "If it's so low down on the priorities and if they've got an ideological bent against it, then we should know."
Indigenous artist Maree Clarke's artwork took her four years to research and complete. She said those who copied art onto carpets and tea towels were stealing from artists.
"Indigenous art (has) one of the biggest markets and it's worth millions of dollars. I find it so disrespectful," she said. "We are the oldest living continuing culture in the world and for people to be ripping us off. They have no respect and regard for us as people and artists, passing on (our) story and cultural knowledge through art."
Mr Brandis' spokesman said the Coalition had committed $450,000 to the Indigenous Art Code over the next three years and would respond to Mr Merkel's letter "in due course".
The spokesman would not say why Mr Brandis had not met the group, but said a representative would be meeting with them shortly.
