Anthony Albanese says aspirations for better future for Indigenous Australians ‘did not end last October’

The Prime Minister says the “pain is still raw” after the failed Voice to Parliament but he’s “optimistic” about a better future for Indigenous Australians.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the government’s determination to work with Indigenous Australians is now as “strong as ever” following the failed Voice to Parliament referendum.

He said he was full of optimism for the future as he addressed The Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures in Gulkula, northeast Arnhem Land, on Saturday.

Mr Albanese acknowledged the “pain is still raw” after the Voice, but said he hadn’t returned to Garma to “talk about what might have been”, but instead because his “optimism for a better future still burns”.

“My trust in the resilience and wisdom of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remains,” he said.

“And because the destination we seek, the Australia we imagine: more united, more reconciled, more confident and more equal, this nation remains within our reach.”

Anthony Albanese says aspirations for better future for Indigenous Australians ‘did not end last October’ while speaking at the Garma Festival on Saturday. Picture: Leicolhn McKellar via NewsWire

He will spend the weekend at the Festival. Picture: NewsWire/Melanie Faith Dove via NewsWire

The Prime Minister said his government “campaigned on the basis of conviction, not out of convenience” and worked alongside many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders to achieve the Voice.

“Together, we gave our all. And we fell short,” he said.

Despite the defeat, Mr Albanese said he believes Australia can still close the gap and tackle “the realities of disadvantage”.

“These aspirations for a better future did not end last October,” he said.

“And nor did the respect, understanding and co-operation that will take us there.”

He said the government would continue to seek advice from Indigenous communities because of the “simple truth” that no government, prime minister or parliament “has all the answers”.

“My colleagues and I do not pretend to have discovered them now,” he said.

“Instead, we want to work with you – with new ambition, energy and determination – to find a new way forward.”

The Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures is Australia's largest Indigenous cultural gathering. Picture: NewsWire/Melanie Faith Dove via NewsWire

It is held in Gulkula, northeast Arnhem Land. Picture: NewsWire/Melanie Faith Dove via NewsWire

Speaking to the country’s largest Indigenous cultural gathering, the Prime Minister announced the government will invest $20m from the Aboriginal Benefits Account to build a new tertiary and vocational education centre.

The Garma Institute is set to be owned and run by the Yolngu people after a new partnership agreement with the Northern Territory Government and the Yothu Yindi foundation.

“You are more than curators or custodians, you are the traditional owners, who have cared for land and waters for 60,000 years and more,” Mr Albanese said.

“And we want you to have ownership of your future – built on a foundation of economic empowerment.”

The government is also investing $109m of new money into First Nations justice programs nationally, as well as funding three new dialysis clinics on Badu Island in the Torres Strait, in the Pilbara, and the Western Desert.

More clinics are set to open in Yalata, Balgo, Harts Range, Ti-Tree and Borroloola to help communities battle health concerns such as chronic kidney disease, which is four times more likely to be fatal among Indigenous communities and twice as prevalent.

Mr Albanese announced the government will invest $20m to build a new tertiary and vocational education centre. Picture: Leicolhn McKellar via NewsWire

Further funds will be spent on creating new medical clinics. Picture: NewsWire/Melanie Faith Dove via NewsWire

“At its core, this is about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people having an equal right to make a good life for yourselves and your children,” Mr Albanese said.

“A healthy family, a safe home, a great education that opens the way to a rewarding job.”

It’s “no less than every Australian deserves”, and yet it’s “so far removed from reality” for so many Indigenous people, the Prime Minister accepted.

“That truth cuts hard in a country that has always seen itself as the home of the fair go,” he said.

No one can defend gaps in health outcomes, education, justice and opportunities as “inevitable or acceptable”, because “they are not”, Mr Albanese continued.

“No-one can credibly argue that recognising the great privilege of sharing this continent with the world’s oldest continuous culture, should not be reflected in our nation’s founding document,” he said.

“No-one can argue that more of the same is good enough for Australia. It is not.

Mr Albanese pledged to ensure a better future for Indigenous Australians. Picture: NewsWire/Melanie Faith Dove via NewsWire

He said the government would continue to work with community leaders. Picture: NewsWire/Melanie Faith Dove via NewsWire

“No-one can pretend that holding to the same approach will deliver the progress our nation needs. It will not.

“To make meaningful change in the lives of First Nations people, governments must be prepared to make meaningful change in the way we do things.”

Mr Albanese said he had visited Garma to renew his government’s commitment to a better future for First Nations people.

“We will leave here more determined than ever to bring it into being,” he said.

“So with new urgency, new purpose and new co-operation.

“Let us work together, to achieve new success.”

Originally published as Anthony Albanese says aspirations for better future for Indigenous Australians ‘did not end last October’