Pearson returns to public square

Eighteen months on from the deep personal hurt and disappointment of the voice to parliament referendum defeat on October 14, 2023, Noel Pearson has made a welcome return to the public square.

Writing on Saturday, Mr Pearson says “these 18 months past have been the most forlorn in the history of Indigenous affairs”. He laments that there has been no serious policy or program progress in that time, and he holds little hope that Anthony Albanese will risk political capital with a bold agenda in Indigenous affairs in the Prime Minister’s second term.

While we disagree with many of the conclusions that Mr Pearson has drawn from the referendum campaign and defeat, his return to the public debate is a welcome development. We believe Mr Pearson has a big role to play still, both intellectually and practically, in addressing the many issues faced particularly by remote Indigenous communities.

The fight against welfarism and “sit-down money” championed by Mr Pearson across many years was and still is the right approach. Contrary to Mr Pearson’s downbeat observations, since the voice to parliament referendum result, the focus of debate has swung towards practical measures to fight disadvantage.

A recent example is the comments of Marcia Langton, who co-chaired the design of the legislated voice for the Morrison government and was part of Mr Albanese’s voice advisory group.

Professor Langton said the Prime Minister’s focus should be “elevating our aspirations for economic development and accelerated education and employment supports to shift people toward equity sooner, not 30 years from now”.

This should be common ground for anyone who cares about Indigenous Australia. It is something that Mr Albanese can afford to put political capital into. And it is an area in which Mr Pearson can demonstrate a long history of determination and achievement that must not be allowed to go to waste.