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Noel Pearson

August

Lia Finocchiaro claimed victory as the first female CLP Chief Minister-elect.

NT wipeout should spark real ‘closing the gap’ discussion

Ideally, the prominent role Indigenous policy will play in two critical NT federal seats would prompt much-needed discussion of Noel Pearson’s responsibility agenda.

  • The AFR View
Noel Pearson.

Noel Pearson appointed to Fortescue board

This is the Indigenous leader’s first public move following his keeping a low profile since the defeat of the Voice to parliament referendum in October.

  • Tom McIlroy and Elouise Fowler

June

Give native title trust fund billions to the Future Fund: Pearson

Cape York Indigenous leader Noel Pearson says existing structures often involve opaque discretionary trusts that either lock up money too tightly or suffer from the funds being squandered and not invested wisely. 

  • Ronald Mizen

‘Disgraceful’ government neglect costs Indigenous funds $1b

Two big government funds set up to benefit Indigenous people without native title rights were shackled for decades by the investment equivalent of stuffing money under a mattress.

  • Ronald Mizen and Peter Ker

December 2023

Megan Davis

‘Hatred of politicians’ killed the Voice: Megan Davis

A key architect of the Voice referendum says racism played a role but was not as decisive as the public’s “hatred for politicians” and rejected claims symbolic recognition would have won Coalition support.

  • Michael Pelly
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October 2023

Anthony Albanese at  his press conference

The hard cost of a failed referendum

The resounding defeat of the Voice referendum leaves many Indigenous leaders disillusioned and Yes voters broken-hearted, but Anthony Albanese still argues it was the right thing to do.

  • Jennifer Hewett
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Noel Pearson meet with Pat Farmer in Uluru ahead of the Voice to Parliament referendum. Yes23. 11 October 2023.

Australians didn’t want a new, black elite

Leaders in politics, business, the law and academia wrongly believed they could use their power to help a profoundly disadvantaged group.

  • Aaron Patrick
“We’re a much unloved people,” Noel Pearson said last year.

The referendum takes me back to a grim moment 30 years ago

A No vote will change the way we see ourselves, and send the most unloving of messages to Indigenous Australians.

  • Laura Tingle
Noel Pearson remained upbeat on the final day of campaigning, despite earlier predicting the defeat of the Yes campaign.

Pearson puts downbeat comments down to ‘emotions’

Noel Pearson has described his candid remarks about the Voice referendum at a private event as “emotions you have along the way”.

  • Maxim Shanahan
Anthony Albanese at Uluru this week.

It’s finally time to decide on the Voice

A long fight for the Uluru Statement from the Heart will live or die when millions of Australians cast their vote. Polls suggest most people will vote against it.

  • Tom McIlroy
Noel Pearson, photographed in Ipswich in July, said on Monday: “it appears that nothing we can do will shift the numbers.”

Seems nothing can melt No-vote hearts: Pearson

Leading Yes campaigner Noel Pearson urges supporters to maintain hope but says Saturday’s referendum appears lost and Australia was a “hard country now”.

  • Maxim Shanahan and Michael Pelly
Left: Noel Pearson and former Chief Justice of the High Court, Murray Gleeson.

Why is Noel Pearson upset with Murray Gleeson?

The Indigenous leader says the former chief justice deserted the Voice in its ‘hour of need’.

  • Michael Pelly
The Voice to parliament debate has prompted a national reckoning.

The nine moments that defined the Voice vote

From the high of Anthony Albanese’s election night victory speech to the lows of toxic politics and disinformation, these moments shaped Australia’s referendum choice.

  • Tom McIlroy
Many will vote No. They will do so not out of ignorance or prejudice, but because they abhor racial essentialism.

Don’t be surprised if ethnic communities vote No

If polls are correct about the triumph of the No vote, expect large numbers of multicultural voters to be part of the revolt against establishment bodies.

  • Tanveer Ahmed

The final countdown: Australia votes on the Voice

This week on the The Fin podcast, political correspondent Tom McIlroy and political editor Phillip Coorey on what the result is likely to be, where the campaign will be won and lost and what happens next.

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Hundreds of Alice Springs locals heard from women traditional owners at the rally.

Women elders stage last-minute Voice intervention

Hundreds of people gathered in the centre of Alice Springs on Wednesday, with traditional owners calling opposition to constitutional recognition a fog of confusion and division.

  • Tom McIlroy
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Noel Pearson meet with Pat Farmer in Uluru ahead of the Voice to Parliament referendum. Yes23. 11 October 2023. Photo by Bill Blair / SMH

‘Hell of a journey’: 14,500km Voice run ends at Uluru

The former Liberal MP completes 14,500-kilometre run supporting Indigenous constitutional recognition.

  • Tom McIlroy
A yes rally held in Sydney’s Parramatta Square on Sunday. Those present included Indigenous leaders Noel Pearson, centre, and Rachel Perkins, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and wife and Lucy Turnbull, and former NSW Liberal premier Barry O’Farrell

Even Indigenous support for Voice may be failing

The No vote is ahead in the five federal electorates with the largest Indigenous populations as a proportion of voters, new polling says.

  • Aaron Patrick
We’re still looking at a national Yes vote around the low forties and Yes losing every mainland state.

Tracking the Voice decline starts with Albanese

Having made a hot mess of the referendum, Albanese is now offering to work with the opposition in the unlikely event the Yes case wins. It’s all a year too late.

  • John Black

September 2023

Australia’s 10 most powerful people in 2023

Government, the ultimate power in this country, is being shaped by very different political forces than those brought to bear at the 2022 election.

  • Updated
  • Tom McIlroy

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/noel-pearson-4mv