Kerry Blackman accuses Peter Dutton of tapping into racism

Politicians and First Nations leaders of Wide Bay Burnett have revealed their views on the Voice to Parliament, with one slamming the opposition leader for tapping into racism in the community.

Politicians and First Nations leaders of Wide Bay Burnett have revealed their views on the Voice to Parliament.

First Nations elder and academic Kerry Blackman has accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of “trying to tap into racist Australia” in his opposition to the Voice proposal.

In a Liberal party room meeting on April 5, Mr Dutton bound the party’s frontbench to campaign for the “no” case on the referendum.

When announcing the party’s position in favour of legislated local or regional bodies that would deliver “practical outcomes”, Mr Dutton dismissed the concept of a national body speaking directly to executive government as an ineffectual “Canberra voice”.

“Having a Canberra voice is not going to resolve the issues on the ground in Indigenous communities,” he said.

Peter Dutton has dismissed the concept of a national body speaking directly to executive government as an ineffectual “Canberra voice”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese slammed Mr Dutton’s announcement as “confused” and “disingenuous”.

“The disingenuous nature of this response is summed up by talking about a Canberra voice – this is anything but,“ Mr Albanese said.

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Chief executive of Gidarjil Development corporation, a leading Indigenous organisation in Bundaberg and Gladstone, Kerry Blackman has slammed Mr Dutton’s views and recent comments.

“Peter Dutton I believe is... trying to tap into racist Australia,” Dr Blackman said of Mr Dutton‘s arguments against the Voice.

Mr Dutton’s office did not respond to questions despite several attempts.

Mr Dutton, who has refuted racism claims in the past, has doubled down on his belief that the Voice would not meaningfully address issues faced by Indigenous communities including, he claimed, child sexual abuse in remote communities.

Dr Blackman echoed Mr Albanese’s criticism of the Liberal party’s position on the Voice as “confused,” saying that Mr Dutton’s views are incoherent.

“People really want a fair and just society to live in, an even playing field for First Nations people and to give First Nations people the recognition that they deserve,” he said.

Dr Blackman urged Mr Dutton to report any incidents of child sexual abuse to the police.

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In response to Dr Blackman’s comments that Mr Dutton is trying to “tap into racist Australia”, Liberal National Party MP for Burnett Stephen Bennett said such claims were baseless and not in the best interests of a respectful public debate.

Burnett MP Stephen Bennett wants the public debate on the Voice to be a respectful one.

Mr Bennett urged all participants in the national conversation to be “respectful to the process”.

“What I urge people to continue, including First Nations peoples, is to be respectful to the process, and the conversations around racism and others will not allow a dignified outcome,” Mr Bennett said.

Mr Bennett said a lack of detail on the structure and function of the Voice is leaving a vacuum in which a range of views are seeking to be heard.

“What happens when you leave a vacuum of information, you have people jumping into that space, whether they are factual or whether it‘s fear mongering,” he said.

“There’s so much going on in the space that we can’t allow ourselves to get caught up in misinformation or rhetoric, and the last thing we want is conversations that use even implied racism,” he said.

While Mr Bennett is encouraging the public to vote in support of the Voice, he sees a long way to go in a public debate that will become unworkable and divisive when claims of racism are involved.

“When I talk to people I‘m saying that we encourage and hope people will vote for for a Voice to be enshrined somehow into our future,” he said.

“But we’ve got a long way to go and I do have grave fears with comments (of racism) that we end up with this becoming a race issue.”

Proud Kamilaroi man and Ashfield Country Practice principal GP Dr Brad Murphy said Mr Dutton was increasing the rift between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by portraying issues such as alcoholism and child sexual abuse as disproportionately prevalent.

Dr Brad Murphy, proud Kamilaroi man and the principal GP at Ashfield Country Practice, is a “guarded” supporter of the Voice.

The 2022 recipient of the Order of Australia Medal said he worked tirelessly throughout his career to address Indigenous disadvantage including as co-founder of the Jimmy Little Foundation.

“The problem is that happens in all aspects of society - some are a little bit more obvious, because it’s just more in the open,” Dr Murphy said.

“It’s really easy to paint some of those Indigenous issues more negatively, because it’s a bit more obvious, but it doesn’t mean that it’s actually more prevalent.”

The latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports show the prevalence of drinking in excess of lifetime risk guidelines is slightly higher among Indigenous Australians (18.7 per cent) than non-Indigenous Australians (15.2 per cent), while Indigenous Australians are more likely to abstain from alcohol.

While Indigenous children are much more likely to be subject to substantiated abuse and neglect than non-Indigenous children, the proportion of abused children that were subject to sexual abuse is lower for Indigenous children (7.3 per cent) than for non-Indigenous children (10 per cent).

Government data does not support a view of alcoholism or child sexual abuse as a disproportionate problem in Indigenous communities nationwide.

On the subject of the Voice, Dr Murphy is a “guarded” supporter, saying that it is essential for the local and regional grassroots communities to have input into the Voice framework.

“We need to make sure that the people here in Bundaberg are part of that Voice, and that it’s not mainstream Aboriginal leaders who have always had the floor now getting that voice at the end,” Dr Murphy said.

“But I think (the Voice) is imperative ... we’ve got to make sure we acknowledge our beginnings, and we harness that good energy, and we take that forward together.”

For Dr Blackman, the benefit of the Voice including providing input to the executive arm of government is precisely in the involvement of Indigenous people in addressing the problems that affect them.

“The voice is all about governments and their agencies not doing things to Aboriginal people, or for Aboriginal people, the Voice is all about doing things with First Nations people – it’s as simple as that,” Dr Blackman said.

While the latest polls indicate the proposal has the support of 54 per cent of the Australian population, Queensland falls short of majority support with 49 per cent in favour.

Dr Blackman has faith that open-minded people will support the Voice as being representative of the wishes of Indigenous people.

Kerry Blackman has faith that open-minded people will be persuaded to support the Voice as being representative of the wishes of Indigenous people.

“If they’ve got an open mind, they’re the ones that will they listen to what’s really being said,” Dr Blackman said.

“So I‘d appeal to those people, it’s all about us wanting to work together, to walk together, to talk together, do business together – do things together to make our communities more cohesive and more united.

“It‘ll unite the country, it’ll make First Nations people feel better about themselves and feel that they are a part of wider Australia.

“We want to make a difference, and we want to transform lives – but we want to be given a fair go to do that.”

Dr Murphy said the Voice would provide benefits to the entire country through improved engagement with the most disadvantaged communities.

“When we talk about in medicine acknowledging our Aboriginal patients, it’s really about knowing who that person is when they walk in the door,” Dr Murphy said.

“That changes the way that I look after all my patients - so if we do this well, we actually help the health care of our whole entire nation.”