PM says renewal required after ‘considerable hurt’ of voice referendum
The PM has acknowledged that there “is no doubt there was considerable hurt” from the way campaigning around the voice referendum was conducted, and that Indigenous peoples will take time to heal from that.
Seeking to reframe his government’s approach toward the future, he says he is “optimistic”.
But what is important is that we walk together. And one of the things that is a theme of this is renewal, and is a theme of walking together, recognising that this isn’t just an issue, from my perspective, about Indigenous Australians. It is about closing the gap for them, but my view has always been that Australia, as a nation, will benefit from being more united, from being more reconciled with our history. And that that is important for all of us, but it’s also important for how Australia is seen in the region and the world.
Key events
Daniel Hurst
The new minister for home affairs, Tony Burke, has confirmed he is looking at ways to allow Palestinians who fled to Australia on visitor visas to stay in the country longer, saying no country would send people back to Gaza right now.
In an interview with Sky News this morning, Burke said it was understandable that visitor visas were used in the midst of the immediate crisis, but these visas were now expiring:
Certainly no country in the world world send people back to Gaza at the moment, no country in the world world do that, and so we have to work through what happens as the visas that people are currently on expire.
Burke said the decision had not yet been made, so he wasn’t in a position to announce the details today. Pressed on whether he was considering safe haven visas or some form of permanent protection, he said:
When you consider what these individuals have gone through – you’ve got lots of people who have experienced serious trauma, they’ve suffered great loss of family and friends with the killings that have occurred over there, and they’re also in a situation where for many of them the homes where they used to live are now now rubble.
Asked by Sky News about security checks for visa applicants, Burke said he was committed to such checks and would not put any issue ahead of community safety.
For more on this issue, see this story by my colleague Sarah Basford Canales last week:
And that’s a wrap – but just to circle back to the discussion, as the Insiders panel is now noting, the prime minister was seeking to rely upon a very particular definition of Makaratta, owing to the perceived political constraints the government now finds itself under.
In the PM’s version, Makaratta refers to a process of ongoing engagement or “coming together”.
As has been noted, Makaratta is also used to describe a process or institutional setup to facilitate conflict resolution.
PM says renewal required after ‘considerable hurt’ of voice referendum
The PM has acknowledged that there “is no doubt there was considerable hurt” from the way campaigning around the voice referendum was conducted, and that Indigenous peoples will take time to heal from that.
Seeking to reframe his government’s approach toward the future, he says he is “optimistic”.
But what is important is that we walk together. And one of the things that is a theme of this is renewal, and is a theme of walking together, recognising that this isn’t just an issue, from my perspective, about Indigenous Australians. It is about closing the gap for them, but my view has always been that Australia, as a nation, will benefit from being more united, from being more reconciled with our history. And that that is important for all of us, but it’s also important for how Australia is seen in the region and the world.
The PM says his government will seek to work more with the private sector, name-checking Rio Tinto and Fortescue as examples, to provide better outcomes for Indigenous people, including employment, saying “this is part of that social contract that they have”.
By and large, what I find is the private sector has been very prepared to engage. And that goes not just for large businesses as well, but the opportunities that are there for small businesses to grow. One of the things that we want to do is to increase home ownership for First Nations people as well. And they’re the sort of programs that we’re working through.
Asked whether the government could still use an advisory body to help it target initiatives, Albanese says he accepts the outcome of the referendum and “the voice was never the end in itself”.
It was about putting Indigenous recognition in the constitution in the form which was asked for through the First Nations constitutional convention in 2017 at Uluru. After a process that was begun by Tony Abbott, and which people participated in. Now, that wasn’t successful. So what we can’t do is say “oh well, we’ll just give up on closing the gap, we’ll give up on moving Australia forward”. What we will do is renew through working with existing bodies. There are land councils, there are organisations such as the Yothu Yindi Foundation here.
The PM says there is a sharp wealth divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia that needs to be address. Albanese says his government will “continue to listen” to Indigenous people, but not through a voice to parliament, going forward.
Pointing to one example, Albanese says his government has replaced the Community Development Program.
That was essentially a work for the dole, a make-work program. We’ve replaced that with the remote community and economic development program. So real jobs with real training. With real wages and conditions, so that’s part of it. $4bn into remote housing.
Albanese doesn’t directly encourage other police commissioners to follow the example of the NT police commissioner and apologise to the Indigenous community for past wrongs, but suggests it is something they may consider.
In general, it’s a good idea to acknowledge history. And to acknowledge that why we are here today is because of that history.
The PM says that there are consequences of these historical wrongs, including high incarceration rates, but that he also wants to celebrate success such as retention rates in higher education.
Albanese says Makarrata based on ‘just the idea of coming together’, no truth and justice commission
Albanese says his government has not proposed a truth and justice commission, saying that “what we have proposed is Makarrata just being the idea of coming together” that “might take different forms as it evolves”.
The PM also says that “it’s disappointing that the other political parties aren’t here.”
Albanese says government not looking to develop federal treaty process
Albanese said his government’s commitment to the Uluru statement hasn’t changed “in terms of treaty as being negotiated through states and territories” and that his government isn’t engaged in “progressing a national treaty before the referendum”.
He does say, however, that his government is committed to Makarrata – a Yolŋu word meaning coming together after a struggle.
Coming together is a principle of walking together – that engagement. It’s not a moment in time. It’s a process of coming together after struggle.
Asked what this process looks like, Albanese says that it involves engagement like what takes place at Garma festival.
There are different needs depending upon whether people are in urban communities like my electorate – the needs of people in Marrickville which has a sizeable Indigenous population, it’s very different here to the Gumatj clan of the Yolŋu people.
Albanese speaking on ABC Insiders
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has rejected the suggestion that the government’s reset on Indigenous affairs following the voice referendum constitutes as “long, deafening silence” on the issue saying that “after a fire comes rain and comes renewal”.
Speaking to David Speers in a pre-recorded interview recorded on Saturday, the PM sought to recast the government’s approach to Indigenous Affairs around efforts to promote “economic prosperity”.
How do we close the gap? How do we empower our First Nations people so that they get the opportunities that other Australians have?
The search for a 40-year-old man believed to have been taken by a crocodile in far north Queensland will continue on Sunday.
It’s believed he had been fishing on a riverbank near Cooktown on Saturday when he fell into the water and failed to resurface, Queensland police said.
To catch up, read Graham Readfearn’s report from yesterday:
Government’s commitment to treaty and truth-telling processes under scrutiny
Anthony Albanese welcomed treaty and truth-telling efforts on a state and territory level during his speech at Garma, in northeast Arnhem Land, but did not say whether the federal government would undertake either process.
Instead, he told the crowd he was committed to Makarrata – saying it meant coming together after a struggle – but what that looked like was yet to be decided.
Our commitment to a better future for First Nations people is as strong as ever.
We can close the gap. And we must.
We’re building more remote housing, helping communities get the health care they need, and fully funding NT public schools. pic.twitter.com/acJ9jPrmYR
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 3, 2024
Surely no one is against the fact that there’s been a struggle and surely no one is against that people should come together after there’s been a struggle.
We’ll continue to engage in good faith with leaders and communities to decide what the steps should be at a national level.
Former voice referendum Yes23 campaign manager Dean Parkin said the government should not backslide on its commitments to truth-telling and treaty.
We’re talking about a thing that would oversee, as the Uluru Statement says, the process of agreement-making between First Nations and truth-telling about our history.
If we start talking about it as a concept it gets left open to whatever it may be.
For more on this, including the NT police commissioner’s apology to the Indigenous community, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Karen Middleton:
Anthony Albanese’s conversation with ABC Insiders host David Speers, from the Garma festival in the Northern Territory, will show on Sunday morning.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, and the Coalition’s defence spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, have spoken to Sky News this morning
We will bring you all the latest as it happens.
Good Morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is on the ground in the Northern Territory for the first Garma festival since the failed referendum to establish an Indigenous voice to parliament. The PM pledged an ongoing commitment to reconciliation and Closing the Gap, with climate change expected to be on the agenda through Sunday.
The search for a missing man believed to have been taken by a crocodile in far north Queensland will continue on Sunday. Emergency service workers were called to Annan River Bridge in Cooktown after a reports a man fishing on the riverbank when he fell into the water and is believed to have been attacked by a crocodile.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started …
