After Australia said No on voice, Anthony Albanese to review Labor’s treaty pledge on treaty and truth-telling

Anthony Albanese will review Labor’s commitment to establish a Makarrata commission, as pressure mounts to back truth-telling and treaty.

Anthony Albanese arrives for question time on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Anthony Albanese will review Labor’s commitment to establish a Makarrata commission after the voice referendum failure, as Indigenous leaders, the Greens and crossbenchers increase pressure on the government to back truth-telling and treaty.

In his first parliamentary showdown with Peter Dutton following Saturday’s referendum, the Prime Minister could not confirm whether his government would fully implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart without a constitutional voice.

Ahead of rallying the troops at his first post-referendum Labor caucus meeting on Tuesday, Mr Albanese on Monday accepted personal “responsibility” for the crushing defeat but fell short of strongly endorsing treaty and truth-telling processes.

The Australian understands the government will wait to consult with key Indigenous leaders following their week of silence before reviewing Labor’s pre-election pledge to fund a $27m Makarrata commission super­vising treaty-making and truth-telling.

A senior government source on Monday suggested the resounding defeat of the voice referendum undermined remaining requests from the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which are treaty and truth-telling via a Makarrata commission.

The source said the government wouldn’t be hurried into deciding whether to maintain its commitment to establishing a Makarrata commission, with caucus and Indigenous leaders to be involved in deciding the next steps in achieving reconciliation.

Another source said there would be a period of reflecting, pausing, listening and letting the dust settle before the government outlined how it would tackle disadvantage in Indigenous communities and Closing the Gap.

With spooked Labor MPs urging a major pivot back to core economic and national security issues, Mr Albanese held a nat­ional cabinet meeting on Monday night to rubber-stamp the next phase of the National Skills Agreement with premiers and chief ministers.

Under fire from the Coalition in question time over the cost-of-living crisis, the government spruiked $23bn of measures including energy bill relief, cheaper childcare, increased rent assistance and greater access to Medicare bulk-billing.

Labor MPs on Monday said they would leave it to the Indigenous Australians Minister, Linda Burney, to determine a new way forward after consulting with pro-voice Indigenous leaders following their week of silence.

The review, understood to be sparked by internal concerns about public reaction to treaties after the No campaign weaponised the Makarrata commission during the voice campaign, is expected to examine merits and functions of a national process and crossovers with state governments pursuing truth-telling, voice and treaty bodies.

If the pre-election promise were watered down or significantly altered, Mr Albanese would likely cop fierce opposition from his own Left-faction and Indigenous activists.

A day after Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the government remained fully committed to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Mr Albanese told the parliament that Makarrata “is simply a ­Yolngu word for coming together after struggle”.

Mr Albanese, who will be in Washington next week when leaders regather to prepare their response to the referendum, said “no one is arguing for the status quo, no one can say that just keep on doing the same thing is good enough for Australia”.

“The referendum was about listening to people and about getting better outcomes. And these principles will continue to guide me,” he told parliament. “I will continue to listen to people and communities and consult with Indigenous Australians about a way forward.

“Because the issues we sought to address have not gone away, and nor have the people of goodwill and good heart who want to address them.

“As a government, we have a responsibility to write the next chapter, a chapter that sees the gap closing because we know that only four out of 19 targets are on track.

“Australians know that is not good enough and that is why we must seek to achieve that change.”

The peak body representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families said it wouldn’t be silent after Australians rejected the voice referendum, as it called for truth-telling. “The Uluru statement calls for voice, treaty and truth. It’s now time for some truth-telling,” Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care chief executive Catherine Liddle said.

“This means looking at who we were as a country, the impacts of that on who we are, but most importantly how we go forward to be the country we want to be – a place that values and has pride in being home to the oldest living culture on the planet.

“We also know Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have the solutions to the issues we face.”

Crossbenchers across the lower and upper houses said truth-telling must be prioritised by governments after Saturday’s result, saying it was imperative federal parliament listened to the voices of Indigenous Australians.

Greens leader Adam Bandt has endorsed a $250m Truth and Justice Commission to work alongside state government truth-telling processes and help progress treaties to recognise First Nations peoples’ sovereignty.

Seeking to deflect pressure back on Mr Dutton, Mr Albanese accused the Opposition Leader of backflipping on his pre-referendum commitment to hold a second vote on constitutional recognition in future years if the Coalition won the 2025 election.

Mr Dutton on Monday backed away from a second referendum, which had been criticised by Nat­ionals MPs, because the “Australian public is probably over the referendum process for some time”.

“The Prime Minister embarked on a divisive path, he spent $400m of taxpayers’ money. He was warned not to go down this path of division and he bears the responsibility for where our country is today,” Mr Dutton said.

“There’s a lot of healing to take place and all of us can be a part of that, but we shouldn’t forget the fact that the Prime Minister deliberately kept the detail from Australians. That is a very significant contributor to the outcome where the Prime Minister dragged the vote down from 65 per cent, down closer to below 40 per cent.

“That is quite a remarkable, almost unprecedented failure in campaigning in an election in our country’s history.”