‘Treaty not needed, we were never at war’, says Indigenous voice to parliament No campaigner Jacinta Price

The opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman has rejected a treaty with First Nations people because they were never at war with British colonists.

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price at The Great Voice Debate, hosted by The Australian in Canberra on Thursday. Picture: Martin Ollman

No campaigner and opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has rejected a treaty with First ­Nations people because they were never at war with British colonists and declared as “fantasy” the idea of a utopian society before colonisation.

Speaking at The Great Voice Debate hosted by The Australian in Canberra on Thursday, Senator Price warned Australians to not accept a “romanticism” of Aboriginal culture and traditions as pushed by elite Indigenous activists. She said there was too much violence and sexual misconduct in remote communities, with women at risk because the issue was being downplayed.

“For those on the ground, many of who are my family, they are suffering because of elements of traditional culture,” she told ­debate, attended by Peter Dutton and South Australian senator Kerrynne Liddle.

“We have to acknowledge what is encouraging the levels of violence in our communities. We have to start telling the truth, and not in an ideological way to try to rewrite history in our country to fit a particular narrative.”

After the Coalition and No side this week seized on “racism” comments made by Indigenous academic and activist Marcia Langton, Senator Price said using race as a weapon was a distraction from frontline issues.

“There’ll be people who believe that … this country is racist. We need to get away from the issue of race. If you can’t even see yourself as an Australian, at least see yourself as a human being,” she said.

After earlier telling the Nat­ional Press Club that colonisation had delivered “positive” impacts for Aboriginal people, Senator Price said she feared the first priority for a constitutionally ­enshrined voice to parliament and executive government was treaty and reparations.

“There’s no shying away from it. If proponents want to suggest otherwise then that is just the exercise … of gaslighting Australians. We need honesty in this debate. We know that that is the agenda of many who support the voice and we’re not going to take any other suggestion otherwise. There are treaties in negotiation around the country right now.

“It’s one law for all as far as I’m concerned. And this is the problem that treaty poses for the Australian people. And again, you can’t have treaty with your own citizens. There was, as far as I know not a declaration of war for there to be a treaty.”

Senator Price with Claire Harvey, host of The Front podcast. Picture: Martin Ollman

The Northern Territory Senator – who accused Anthony Albanese of being “scared of upsetting” referendum working group members – said Indigenous Australians must move away from the belief they are “victims of our nation’s history”.

“Effectively, when you believe you are a victim, your agency has been removed, and you believe that somebody else is responsible for your life. If you’re a human, you’re capable of anything. It doesn’t matter what your racial heritage is.”

Ahead of the October 14 referendum, Senator Price warned voters that future governments would be powerless to dismantle a voice advisory panel, similar to the axing of ATSIC. “I think that’s the danger actually. If there are allegations of fraud and corruption or sexual misconduct … then those structures do not deserve to be in place.”

The 42-year-old said Aboriginal politics had been traditionally dominated by “aggressive individuals” who control power and influence in Indigenous communities. “I do not want to see a repeat of that. And a change in our constitution that would enshrine that in perpetuity.”

The Country Liberal Party senator hit back at Indigenous leader and Yes23 campaigner Noel Pearson – who appeared at The Great Voice Debate in Sydney last week – for attacking for her. “He has a seat at the table. He’s had the ear of that many prime ministers in the past.” Senator Price said her family should have done more to support her nephew Kumanjayi Walker, who was killed during an arrest in Yuendumu.

Backing The Australian’s reporting on the death, which provoked claims of racism, she said “the fact that one of my nieces … was sexually abused in the same household as him by her own ­father, this is a reality”.

“You only reported on the tip of the iceberg, as to what goes on in places like Yuendumu and those who don’t like to hear it are part of the problem.

“In terms of my nephew’s case, more should have been done prior to him ending up in the circumstances that he ended up in our family. My family should have been far more responsible in his life when he was alive, as well as his cousin who was a victim of rape in the same household that he lived in.

“These are the issues that we need to confront if we’re going to fix the problems on the ground. And that’s just the reality of it.”

Reflecting on her upbringing on the “tough streets of Alice Springs”, Senator Price said the reason she was in her position had nothing to do with her being Indigenous. “To become what you want to become in the face of adversity. And that’s what needs to be believed going forward.”

When asked why she had thrived in the world of politics while many in her family and community had their lives mired by violence, Senator Price said education had played a key role.

“Maybe it’s the Irish in me, but I grew up pretty tough on the streets of Alice Springs. You know, for the fact that my extended family experienced violence and there were those that were victims of abuse and sexual abuse and alcoholism and all those sorts of things.”

“In my immediate family, I grew up with an Aboriginal mother and a white Australian father, who loved one another and you know, my mother, when in most she was born out bush … English was a third language to her.”