Price says colonialism has been good for Indigenous Australians

The Opposition’s Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says colonisation has been good for Indigenous Australians, as she failed to support the Coalition policy of local and regional Voices in a fierce, provocative speech met with cheers by her frontbench colleagues.

In a National Press Club address that challenged widely held views of Indigenous and intergenerational disadvantage, Price claimed political leaders had been unwilling to apply common-sense approaches to Indigenous policy issues for fear of being branded racists.

Coalition spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price at the National Press Club on Thursday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has repeatedly stated his support for local and regional voice bodies instead of a national model supported by Labor.

But Price, who has also failed to back Dutton’s proposal for a second referendum on symbolic recognition, said the Coalition did not have a settled policy on other voices.

“At this stage there are certainly conversations taking place and need to be had,” she said, adding that she would be part of shadow cabinet deliberations.

The 42-year-old has become one of the most important figures in the Voice debate since Dutton gave her the Indigenous affairs portfolio in April.

Yes campaigners believe she has been key in convincing Australians the Indigenous community is split on the Voice, and the National Party leader David Littleproud described her speech as one of the most powerful he had ever heard.

When asked whether Indigenous people suffered the consequences of British settlement, Price said: “I’ll be honest: no.”

“A positive impact? Absolutely. I mean, now we’ve got running water, we’ve got readily available food. I mean everything my grandfather had when he was growing up, because he first saw whitefellas in his early adolescence, we now have.

“Many of us have the same opportunities as all other Australians in this country.

Nationals leader David Littleproud applauds during Price’s address. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“We certainly have probably one of the greatest systems around the world in terms of the democratic structure in comparison to other countries – that is why migrants flock to Australia.

“If we keep telling Aboriginal people that they are victims, well, we are effectively removing their agency… That is the worst possible thing you can do to any human being – to tell them they are a victim without agency and that’s what I refuse to do.”

Price refused to condemn the views of No leaders Gary Johns, who has said Indigenous people should take blood tests for welfare payments, and David Adler, who accused journalist Stan Grant of artificially darkening his skin, but instead said she and fellow No campaigner Warren Mundine had been subjected to “horrible racial vilification”, and that she did not support blood tests.

Many leaders, Price argued, had been scared to apply accountability to Indigenous communities because they were fearful of being marked as prejudiced.

“We are treating Aboriginal people differently. And we treat no other group of Australians in this manner. If I’ve got anything to do with it, we’ll actually start treating Aboriginal people like Australian citizens.”

Price received a standing ovation from a crowd that included No leader Mundine, Coalition MPs David Littleproud, Michaelia Cash, Bridget McKenzie, Kerrynne Liddle and Barnaby Joyce, and conservative commentators Tom Switzer and John Roskam.

She said, to the laughter and applause of her colleagues: “That would mean that those of us whose ancestors were possessed in their own country and brought here in chains as convicts are also suffering from intergenerational trauma, so I should be doubly suffering.”

Price’s comments were later condemned by Linda Burney, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, as “offensive”.

“It denies the experience of so many First Nations families. We only have to look at the Stolen Generations and the impacts that has had, in terms of ongoing trauma and pain. Her comments are a betrayal of so many people’s stories.”

Roskam, an Institute of Public Affairs senior fellow, said Price’s referendum campaigning was having a profound effect on centre-right politics in Australia.

He argued Price was proving the Coalition could win the culture wars and take on big business, which largely supports the Voice.

“This is a potentially transformational moment in Australian politics,” he said.

After the speech, Central Land Council chief Les Turner said grassroots NT leaders had consistently said Price did not speak for them, according to Guardian Australia.

Liberal MP Keith Wolahan on Thursday pleaded for civility on both sides of the Voice debate, after a week of heated exchanges.

He urged Voice backers to avoid invalidating the outcome of the referendum by claiming the No campaign was based on “misinformation”, a term he said was overused.

“When we stoke the fires on either side of this debate, there’s consequences for that,” he said.

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