No Makarrata commission: PM backs new ways to talk to First Nations people

One of the architects of Uluru Statement from the Heart said Makarrata was not meant to be a “vague vibe or a series of casual conversations”, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in effect ruled out setting up a formal commission or institution that would supervise agreement-making and truth-telling.

Albanese said that instead of a formal Makarrata body, the government must focus on engaging with Indigenous communities to find new ways to deal with chronic problems facing First Nations people.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Gumatj leader Djawa Yunupingu at the Garma Festival on Saturday.Credit: AAP

Makarrata was one of the three elements of the politically contentious Uluru Statement from the Heart from which the Voice concept emerged.

Albanese, who attended the Garma festival in East Arnhem Land at the weekend, said while there had been “considerable hurt” caused by last year’s Voice referendum defeat, the government was looking at new ways to deliver economic and social results for Indigenous communities whether they be in remote areas or urban centres.

He said talking to Indigenous organisations and people, including land councils, was the way to engage with First Nations Australians rather than setting up a Makarrata commission that would supervise agreement-making and truth-telling about the past.

“That’s not what we have proposed. What we have proposed is Makarrata just being the idea of coming together,” he told the ABC’s Insiders program.

“It means engaging with native titleholders. It means engaging with First Nations people right around the country. There are different needs depending upon whether people are in urban communities like my electorate.

“The needs of people in Marrickville, which has a sizeable Indigenous population, it’s very different here to the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people.”

The Uluru Dialogue co-chair and an architect of the Uluru Statement Pat Anderson said the prime minister’s comments were confusing.

“Is he rolling back on the Labor election commitment to the Makarrata commission? We understand that a constitutional Voice didn’t get up, but the Australian people didn’t vote on truth or treaty,” she said in a statement.

Albanese arrives at the Garma Festival on Friday.Credit: AAP

“Makarrata is not a vague vibe or a series of casual conversations.”

The Uluru Statement from the Heart called for Makarrata to be a bricks and mortar body, which was a clear election promise, Anderson said.

Dean Parkin, Yes campaign director for the Voice referendum, told the ABC that the Uluru Statement was clear that Makarrata is about a commission.

“That was the election commitment,” he said, adding it would be a full implementation of the statement.

“The Uluru Statement from the Heart is very, very clear on that point, that it is a Makarrata commission. So it’s a high expectation because that commitment was made in good faith.”

Parkin said the first element of the commitment had been the Voice referendum, and the prime minister had been true to his word on that.

“We would say that the remainder of the Uluru Statement from the Heart is outstanding, and that does involve that Makarrata commission.”

The Productivity Commission’s annual snapshot on the Closing the Gap report shows five of its targets are on track to be met by 2031, including healthy birth weight, pre-school enrolment and employment.

Another five are improving but are unlikely to meet the 2031 target; one has not changed at all; and four are going backwards. The latter include the rate at which children are removed from their families, adult imprisonment, and suicide.

Albanese said the Closing the Gap report was further proof that the way governments engaged with Indigenous communities had to change.

“We know that what we’ve been doing up to now ... more than half, or more than two-thirds, tragically, of the Closing the Gap targets currently aren’t on track to being met,” he said.

“So we can’t just do things the same way. And part of that, of course, involves, and must involve, listening to people who are directly affected.”

In a sign the government is considering new ways of improving outcomes for Indigenous people, Albanese spoke of the contribution made by large mining companies such as Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group, which have employment programs focused on First Nations workers.

He said there were also ways to bring small businesses into employing or training Indigenous Australians.

“By and large, what I find is the private sector has been very prepared to engage. And that goes not just for large businesses as well, but the opportunities that are there for small businesses to grow,” he said.

“One of the things we want to do is to increase home ownership for First Nations people as well. And they’re the sort of programs that we’re working through.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, speaking in Perth, said he was committed to delivering practical support to Indigenous people who were crying out for safe households, safe communities and good health services.

“I’m going to provide practical support. I want kids to go to school; I want them to come home to safe households,” he said.

“I want women not to be subject to domestic violence. I want to make sure we have a health system that improves infant mortality, that extends the life of Indigenous Australians.”

Dutton accused Albanese of not going to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory to “to talk with people in the community about what’s important to them”, saying the prime minister was bogged down in bureaucratic process.

The prime minister last visited Alice Springs in April.

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