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A court case involving allegations of assault against police during a pub brawl has thrown the spotlight on Australia's most senior Aboriginal leader, and revealed deep divisions within the organisation he heads.

Geoff Clark, 50, who heads the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), is in court facing five charges, including assaulting and hindering police. The allegations relate to an incident which took place in May last year in the town of Warrnambool, 250 km southwest of Melbourne.

The ATSIC was established in 1990 as a parallel system of government for Australia's 460,000 Aborigines, making Clark the closest thing Aborigines have to a prime minister.

But his current court appearance and persistent claims of nepotism and corruption within the commission have added to the woes surrounding his leadership, which came under scrutiny last year when he faced allegations of raping four women in the 1970s and 80s.

Warrnambool Magistrates' Court last week heard how violence broke out when Clark and friends were confronted by police officers in a local pub, having spent the day at a race course.

When police tried to escort a drunken member of the party from the pub, they were allegedly surrounded by Clark and about 20 of his friends.

One of the officers, Sergeant Peter Nichols, claims Clark told the crowd that none of the policemen would be allowed to leave the bar of the Criterion Hotel until they had 'fought all the Aboriginals'.

The mood quickly turned ugly, and Clark was subdued with pepper spray as he rushed towards an officer. Sergeant Nichols said police were heavily outnumbered and felt threatened.

Clark denies the charges.

He faced further controversy outside court after it emerged the ATSIC gave him A$45,000 (HK$212,450) to help pay his legal fees.

Rival Aboriginal leaders condemned the decision as cronyism, saying it would further diminish the commission's reputation. Clark earns A$235,000 a year, and critics say he could easily fund his own defence.

'He got himself into it. He should pay for it,' said Lowitja O'Donoghue, a former head of the commission and one of the country's most respected Aboriginal elders.

Even before the assault charges, Clark's mandate as leader of Australia's Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders [Melanesian people who mostly inhabit islands at the northern tip of Queensland] was based on the slimmest of margins. In December, the ATSIC's 17-member board re-elected him by just one vote.

Many senior Aboriginal figures expressed disappointment at Clark's re-election, saying they would have preferred to see a younger indigenous politician take his place.

Shortly after his re-election Clark lashed out at those who opposed giving Aborigines greater land rights. In an extraordinary outburst, he warned of potentially violent results.

'Don't force Aboriginal people into acts that are happening around the world. Don't put us on the margins,' he said. 'Don't put us in a situation where Aboriginal people are strapping bombs to themselves. We don't need that in this country.'

The election was overshadowed by the rape allegations, which went to court in November 2000 but were dismissed. However rumours persisted, partly due to an aggressive campaign by the Fairfax group of newspapers, which includes Melbourne's The Age.  Last year police launched an investigation into the paper's allegations but said there was insufficient evidence to lay charges.

Two of the women who allege rape intend to launch a civil action against Clark this year. Clark claims the allegations are part of a political witch hunt.



Legal woes take a toll on Aboriginal leader