Controversial anti-Voice campaigner said jail is a ‘respite’ for Aboriginal people in remote areas

Warren Mundine has stood by controversial No campaigner Gary Johns amid new revelations he called jail a “respite” for Aboriginal people.

Controversial anti-Voice campaigner Gary Johns said an “acceptable period in jail” is a respite for Aboriginal people living a “distraught life” in remote communities.

In an article from 2007 following John Howard’s decision to implement an alcohol ban in the Northern Territory’s Aboriginal communities, Mr Johns said many Aboriginal people would move from smaller communities to larger outback towns where they would feel like refugees.

“The task ahead is no more and no less than offering ways and means for Aborigines to choose a better life. Should Aborigines so choose, the governments of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland with the Australian Government must be ready for the change,” he wrote.

“The change will involve people who will be refugees, but refugees who are possibly less able than the most modestly skilled Sudanese or Afghan. In these places Aborigines will face other risks, of unemployment and drugs, and the young especially may turn to crime. They will find acceptable a period in jail as a respite from a distraught life.”

Indigenous anti-Voice advocate Warren Mundine says he doesn’t agree with controversial comments made by Mr Johns — including proposing blood tests for Aboriginal welfare recipients — but will stand by him because “it’s always good to have diversity”.

Warren Mundine. Picture: Adam Yip

“They are his own comments, I don’t agree with them but that’s for him,” he said.

“The reason why our polling is so good is that we speak to every Australian. It’s always good to have diversity.”

Mr Mundine said he did not agree with calls to have Mr Johns sacked from the committee of anti-Voice organisation Recognise a Better Way.

“He sits on our board and we have interesting conversations,” he said.

Recognise a Better Way and Mr Johns were contacted for a comment.

BACKLASH AFTER “OFFENSIVE COMMENTS”

MPs from both sides of politics have called for a senior anti-Voice activist to step down from the No campaign over “extreme” and “offensive” views.

As revealed by The Daily Telegraph, former Labor minister and Recognise a Better Way committee member Gary Johns encouraged people to stop identifying as Aboriginal, called for blood tests for Aboriginal benefit recipients and wanted a public holiday to celebrate intermarriage between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

Liberal MP Matt Kean slammed the comments as “offensive” and called for Mr Johns to be removed from the committee.

MPs have called for Gary Johns to stand down from the No campaign over his “extreme views”. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Liberal MP Matt Kean said the views were “offensive”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

“There is no room in this referendum for extreme … views. Both sides have a right to make their arguments with passion. But Mr John’s views are beyond the pale. Mr John’s should step down from the No Campaign today,” he wrote on Twitter.

Labor Parramatta MP Andrew Charlton also called for him to step down.

“Both sides have a right to make their case, but Gary John’s views are offensive and have no place in modern Australia. Mr Johns should resign from his leadership position in the No campaign.”

Teal independents Allegra Spender and Monique Ryan also joined the calls.

“EXTREME” VIEWS REVEALED

Mr Johns published a book last year where he detailed 16 ways to “save lives and overcome Aboriginal colonisation.”

He is prominent in the No camp with the Recognise a Better Way website featuring multiple speeches and interviews with him discussing the Voice.

Both sides have a right to make their case, but Gary John’s views are offensive and have no place in modern Australia. Mr Johns should resign from his leadership position in the No campaign. pic.twitter.com/p2lt1HleWd

— Andrew Charlton (@Charlton_AB) July 23, 2023

Extracts from the book encouraged people to stop identifying as Aboriginal in official forms to “pull down the charade” about their population and make December 30 an Intermarriage Day to celebrate “the most common form of relations between black and white Australia”.

“This day should be declared a celebration of reconciliation and known as intermarriage day, as intermarriage is after all the most common form of relations between black and white in Australia. Much more common than a death in custody or a stint in jail,” he wrote in the book.

“A first step in the fightback is to pull down the charade that there are large numbers of Aborigines in Australia … Do not fill out any form that asks, ‘Are you Aboriginal?’ Whether the Census or a hospital surgery, or a government benefit, do not identify … It is an insult that anyone should be asked for their background.”

The Indigenous population jumped by 25 per cent in the most recent census with the Australian Bureau of Statistics attributing the increase in part of more people choosing to identify as Aboriginal.

“That analysis found that a person’s identification as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander can change at various points throughout their life … in response to shifting social or personal circumstances or as people make decisions about their lives and how they choose to identify in various contexts as they transition through childhood, adolescence and adulthood,” the ABS said.

Labor senator Jana Stewart called Mr Johns comments “divisive and dangerous”.

Making all Indigenous people take a blood test for Indigenous heritage a condition to receiving benefits and ending all race based programs by 2030 were also included in the radical proposal.

“It is possible to test Aboriginal lineage. If the current three-part test on Aboriginality is to remain, then, just as Aborigines insist in native title claims, blood will have to be measured for all benefits and jobs,” he wrote.

Under the Aboriginal Housing Act 1998 (NSW), an Aboriginal person means a person who is a member of the Aboriginal race of Australia, identifies as an Aboriginal person, and is accepted by the Aboriginal community as an Aboriginal person.

Indigenous Labor senator Jana Stewart called Mr Johns comments “divisive and dangerous”.

“This book outlines a divisive and dangerous plan to use the power of the Federal Government to eradicate Indigenous culture using the practices of the Stolen Generation,” she said.

“These are outdated views, from over 100 years ago. These … views were abhorrent then and they’re abhorrent now. They do not reflect 2023 Australia.

National Voice for Our Children chief executive Catherine Liddle said the ‘plan’ was “enormously damaging”.

“These extremist and alarmist views have no place in any respectful debate,” she said.

“Not only are they without any factual basis, they are enormously damaging and hurtful on a personal, as well as community level.”

Mr Johns encouraged people to read the book themselves and form their own views.

“These comments (Stewart and Liddle’s) are an outrageous misrepresentation and I encourage people to form their own views by reading the book”.