Tony Abbott ‘holds judgment’ on Scott Morrison’s indigenous Day proposal

FORMER Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he would “hold judgment” on Scott Morrison’s proposal for a new national day for indigenous Australians, saying he would like to see more details before giving his support

• Scott Morrison wants new ‘indigenous Day’
• Council votes to move Australia Day

FORMER Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he would “hold judgment” on Scott Morrison’s proposal for a new national day for indigenous Australians.

Mr Abbott, who last month accepted a role as special envoy on indigenous affairs, said he would like to see the idea in more detail before giving his support.

“I probably would want to hold judgment on any alternative national day for indigenous people until I saw the proposal and he said that was something that he might further develop,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s plan surfaced after a third national council decided against celebrating the traditional Australia Day on January 26.

Tony Abbott was last month named Special Envoy on indigenous Affairs. Picture: Brian Cassey

Late last week, the Byron Shire council became the first is NSW to change Australia Day celebrations from January 26th, instead hosting it the day before.

It joined the Yarra and Darebin councils in Victoria, who abandoned celebrations in 2017.

Mr Abbott supported Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s attack on the local councils, saying they should focus more on uniting the people of Australia, rather than changing the day out of guilt.

“I thought his attack on those Lefty, Greeny guilt ridden councils that somehow think Australia Day is a day of shame rather than a day of pride was excellent … really, the emphasis … is on all pulling together on Australia Day and being proud of what we’ve achieved,” he said.

Despite the actions of some councils, Mr Abbott believes indigenous Australians should be as proud as any about their significant contribution to modern Australia.

“Even for indigenous people there is so much that they can be proud of in modern Australia,” he said.

Tony Abbott says indigenous people should be proud of their contribution to modern Australia. Picture: Kym Smith

“The fact that indigenous people volunteer to serve in the armed forces in such large numbers … shows the Aboriginal people, mostly, have felt very Australian for a very long time.”

A second Australia Day for indigenous Australians would join a list of existing national tributes, including NAIDOC week, Reconciliation week and National Sorry Day.

Mr Morrison called for the nation to embrace Australia Day “warts and all”, but has called for another day to be set aside to recognise indigenous Australians.

Mr Morrison says January 26, 1778 is when “the ships turned up” in Australia. “We can’t pretend that it’s some other day that it happened … we’ve got to embrace it all, warts and all,” he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said we don’t have to pull down Australia Day to recognise indigenous Australians. Picture: Mick Tsikas

“We don’t have to pull Australia Day down to actually recognise the achievements of indigenous Australians, the oldest living culture in the world.”

“The two can coexist.” The federal government has stripped a NSW council of its right to hold citizenship ceremonies, after it refused to hold them on the national holiday, opting instead for January 25.

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek said the opposition also supports Australia Day remaining on January 26 and is open to the idea of an additional day to recognise indigenous Australians.

Originally published as Tony Abbott ‘holds judgment’ on Scott Morrison’s indigenous Day proposal