‘Not listening’: Jacinta Price slams government for still pushing treaty and truth-telling after Voice fail

Jacinta Price says the government needs to look at practical ways to help Indigenous Australians rather than push ‘divisive’ agendas.

Exclusive: Opposition spokesperson for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has accused the Albanese government of “not listening” to Australians after the Prime Minister suggested he would continue to push for treaty and truth-telling despite last year’s overwhelming vote against a Voice to parliament.

On Wednesday, Mr Albanese told parliament that “As we take the time needed to get Makarrata and truth-telling right, the work of treaty goes on at a state and territory level.”

Separately, Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney said that she was in “discussion with the cabinet” about moving forward with a “truth telling process”, often referred to as Makarrata.

Ms Burney also suggested that “truth telling” could be taught in schools.

“I’m not going to go in those discussions but the issue of truth-telling is incredibly important and there are many, many ways in which that can happen — including school curriculum,” she told ABC Radio.

Jacinta Price has slammed the government’s ‘divisive’ agenda. Picture: NCA NewsWire

However Ms Price said the government needed to look at practical ways to help Indigenous Australians rather than try to resurrect treaty and truth-telling, which along with the Voice represented the two other demands made by the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

“How long will it take this government to listen to the result of the Voice referendum?”

“Australians said ‘No, they do not want to be divided like this,’ but that’s what treaty and so-called truth-telling are, divisive.”

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney says ‘truth telling’ could be taught in schools. Picture: NCA NewsWire

“If the Albanese government is serious about closing the gap, they need to start with an audit and thorough investigation of what is and isn’t working.”

“We can’t continue to just make announcement and throw money at the problem; real change requires real solutions.”

Australian Catholic University academic Anthony Dillon, who identifies as both Aboriginal and Australian, said that while the government deserved credit for “allocating good money to good things” to help improve Indigenous outcomes, these efforts were tainted by notions of “separatism”.

“They are still claiming that we don’t have a voice, which is not true.”

“This is really destructive because when you have that spirit of separatism, it creates difference where there doesn’t need to be.”

Mr Dillon said that he was happy for truth telling in schools “but it has to be honest … if we are going to hear about frontier wars, which I have no trouble talking about, we also need to hear honestly how, say, women were treated” before European arrival.

Academic researcher Vanessa Barolsky, who has studied truth-telling programs around the world including South Africa, said that any attempt at a truth-telling program in Australia would have to be “grassroots”.

“Truth-telling can be a potentially productive way to address conflict and rebuild consensus” in a society, “but I this to be managed and developed quite carefully.”

Australia has “not rushed” the process, she said, calling the approach “correct”.

“There needs to be a lot of careful discussion and engagement, and it has to start with communities getting together and discussing local history, recognising it, and commemorating it,” she said.

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Originally published as ‘Not listening’: Jacinta Price slams government for still pushing treaty and truth-telling after Voice fail