Peta Credlin: Labor will never take No for an answer on Indigenous Voice

The green-left Labor governments won’t be put off from their separatist agenda by anything as trivial as what Australians have actually voted for, writes Peta Credlin.

Victoria might have shouted a resounding No to the Voice, but it seems that the state Labor government wasn’t listening, given that it’s now promising to have concluded a statewide treaty with Indigenous groups by June next year.

“Voice, Treaty, Truth” was the Uluru Statement demand that Anthony Albanese committed himself to “in full” in his very first words as PM. And, despite losing the referendum, federal Labor still has some $6 million allocated to “truth-telling” Australia’s history as a story of shame; and the Labor states – NSW and South Australia too – are still pushing on with treaties, even though a country (or a state) can hardly make a “treaty” with its own citizens.

In Victoria, there have reportedly been 58 negotiating rounds held so far with different Indigenous groups calling themselves First Nations. For people with Indigenous ancestry, these groups are demanding special rights over national parks, planning decisions and land use.

Rock climbing opportunities in Victoria’s famous Grampians have already been limited because of sensitivity about Indigenous cultural claims. Picture: Simon Carter/The Australian

Rock climbing opportunities in Victoria’s famous Grampians have already been limited because of sensitivity about Indigenous cultural claims, even though there’s no evidence that any actual damage has been done.

The First People’s Assembly of Victoria official website says that the government has so far created a “self-determination fund”, established a “Treaty Authority” to act as an “umpire” navigating disputes, and set up a “formal Truth-telling process to examine the impact of colonisation and help craft practical solutions”.

And yet, to date, Victorian taxpayers have absolutely no idea of what’s being debated, given away, or promised in their name. Whenever she is questioned in the media, Premier Jacinta Allan says that “everything is on the table”, “I am not ruling anything in or out”, and “I am not running this negotiation through the media.”

For all the focus on the mushroom trial down south, it would seem it’s the Premier that’s treating Victorian voters like mushrooms.

It’s pretty clear where all this is headed, isn’t it? Apart from more educational self-flagellation inflicted on students over the “invasion”, there’ll be reparations to compensate today’s Indigenous people for damages that they didn’t personally suffer and that no one alive today was even responsible for. I wonder if anyone will think deduct all the billions spent on Indigenous programs for no appreciable outcome, from these reparations?

Plus, there’ll be Indigenous permissions needed for any significant change in how people manage their own private properties, as was earlier to be the case under Labor in Western Australia.

What is becoming obvious is that green-left Labor governments won’t be put off from their separatist agenda by anything as trivial as what Australians have actually voted for.

THUMBS UP

Family Court Judge Andrew Strum – who has blown the whistle on Australia’s “gender affirming” guidelines that are now out of step with world’s best practice. Powerful drugs and hormones should not be the first response for confused children.

THUMBS DOWN

Liberal Party bail out – Talk that the Victorian Liberals could spend $2.3 million to bail out former leader John Pesutto is madness. He lost a case he could have settled for $99k. No one is above the law. Any wonder there’s a revolt with rank-and-file members.

Watch Peta on Credlin on Sky News, weeknights at 6pm

Originally published as Peta Credlin: Labor will never take No for an answer on Indigenous Voice