Prime Minister refuses to confirm if he will pursue treaty

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced hostile questioning over the Voice referendum during the first question time since the vote.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to confirm whether or not the government will pursue a treaty and truth-telling process in the wake of Saturday’s failed referendum.

In the first question time session since Saturday’s No result, the prime minister took fire from the opposition who accused him of ignoring cost of living during the Voice to Parliament campaign.

When asked whether or not he would now pursue a Makarrata commission, as laid out in the Uluru Statement of the Heart, Mr Albanese pointed to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s walkback on his pledge to pursue constitutional recognition.

“The Leader of the Opposition is all trailer, no movie. He never actually sticks to a commitment,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Albanese said he was respecting the decision of Indigenous people to take a week to deal with “a difficult time for them” following the shattering result.

“One of the things about this issue is that I have sought to grant agency to Indigenous Australians, to accept the invitation that they offered,” the PM said.

“In terms of where we go from here, I know that there’s been a change in position again, from the opposition when it comes to the constitution.”

Anthony Albanese said the Coalition had “ripped out” funding from Indigenous organisations in the past. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Nationally, only 39.6 per cent of the population voted Yes on Saturday’s Voice to Parliament referendum, while 60.4 per cent opposed.

The vast majority of remote polling booths in areas with high Indigenous populations voted to support a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous Voice.

Indigenous Australians from across the country devastated by the No result called a “week of silence” to grieve the outcome and “reflect on its meaning and significance”.

In addition to a total media blackout, the Yes leaders said they would lower their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to half-mast for the week to acknowledge the result, and called for others to do the same.

Several local council in Sydney flew Indigenous flags at half-mast as the Yes campaigners call for a week of silence following the Voice referendum defeat. Photo by: NCA Newswire/Gaye Gerard

On Monday, Mr Dutton backtracked on an earlier promise to support another referendum for constitutional recognition after telling reporters the public “were over it.”

This came amid a barrage of accusations from the Coalition which said Mr Albanese had “wasted billions of dollars” on the Voice referendum.

When asked how his government was dealing with surging cost-of-living pressures, the Prime Minister cited recent IMF figures that showed Australia maintained a strong budget position in 2023.

“Ahead of Germany, ahead of Japan, ahead of the UK and ahead of the United States,” Mr Albanese argued, drawing shouts from the Coalition.

“Now what did we inherit in 2021 did you ask? We were 15th in 2021.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton backtracked on a pledge for a new referendum. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Intense debate over the cost of living comes as more than half of Australian families report higher than normal levels of distress levels due to unaffordability, according to September data from Suicide Prevention Australia.

ABS figures also shows average household prices surged by about 7 per cent in the year to March 2023, with surging rents and fuel costs leaving millions of people struggling to pay for essential items.

When asked about measures taken to relieve pressure “bearing down” on families, Mr Albanese cited Labor’s recent increase to the nation’s childcare subsidy and a program to cut medicine costs through 60-day prescriptions.

He argued the Coalition had voted against all of Labor’s economic policies and declared he had a “very clear plan” to address unaffordability.

The Prime Minister touted the government’s economic achievements during question. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“There is something else we have done to take pressure off inflation, and that is to turn around the $78bn deficit that those [opposite] left and turn it into a $22bn surplus. [That’s a ] $100bn turnaround,” he said.

“Those opposite apparently think that inflation has nothing to do with the cost of living.”

Earlier on, questions were turned towards progress on the government’ national skills agreement.

The five-year plan, due to start from January 2024, will focus on building a “skilled and adaptable” workforce according to Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor.

“The OECD had reported that we had the highest or second highest labour shortage per capita amongst OECD countries. We saw the occupations on the shortest list list in 12 months go from 153 to 286,” he said.

“If we’re going transform the energy sector, we need skills, if we’re going to enliven manufacturing through the national reconstruction fund; we need skills. If we are going to supply the labour and skills for our care economy

“We understand that because the states and territories have such an important role in the VET sector. You have to collaborate, you have to bring them together.”

Federal cabinet will meet with states and territories on Monday evening to “progress the next stage”, the Prime Minister added.