Indigenous voice to parliament No campaigner Gary Johns says white settlement ‘a gift’ to Aboriginal Australians

No campaigner Gary Johns says most Aboriginal people are ‘grateful for that gift’ of modernisation and defended the work of churches and their involvement with the Stolen Generations.

A speech by the former head of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Gary Johns has sparked outrage from the Albanese government. Picture: Aaron Francis

No campaigner Gary Johns says most Aboriginal people are “grateful for that gift” of modernisation and defended the work of churches and their involvement with the Stolen Generations, in comments made while campaigning against the Indigenous voice to parliament.

Dr Johns also said Aboriginal people were often no longer as identifiable as they once were and “just not that exotic”, in remarks backed by leading No organisation Fair Australia as “describing uncontroversial historical facts” but slammed by the Albanese government.

The former head of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission made the comments at a Recognise a Better Way event, partly organised by One Nation, and appeared alongside One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and the Liberal-turned-independent senator Cory Bernardi.

“We were all once hunters and gatherers but we moved on. And we were gifted that,” Dr Johns, a former Labor minister, said at the Adelaide Convention Centre on June 23. “We’ve brought a gift to this country and most Aboriginal people are grateful for that gift.

“How many? Well I say it’s this: about 80 per cent of Aboriginal people are doing about as well as other Australians. It’s the last 20 per cent who’ve not – to use an old term – come in … The job now is to bring the last 20 per cent in.”

Dr Johns, who has been outspoken on Indigenous affairs and against the voice, said Aboriginal Australians had developed an attitude over the past several decades “that says ‘You owe us, you give us everything we want but we don’t have to play your game’.

“Now that’s a cruel attitude,” he said. “It’s the attitude, it’s the culture if you like, that’s killing Aboriginal people. We are not killing them because we’re not listening to them. In fact, one of the worst things you can do is listen to the victim. Because the victim will always say ‘If you give me more, this wouldn’t have happened’. But we know that giving more makes them less able.”

In comments interpreted by the Albanese government as attempting to justify the Stolen Generations, Dr Johns said: “The work church people did up until the late 1960s was very sensible because they were providing food and shelter … and bringing people in. Aboriginal people mostly came voluntarily because it was easier to get food there than do hard work in remote Australia.

“Aboriginal society meant that old men took as many young women as they wanted, pretty much the same as we did in earlier generations. But when women found they were protected by the church, they started to change their culture.”

Victorian Labor senator Jana Stewart, a Mutthi Mutthi and Wamba Wamba woman, called on the No campaign to explain whether they thought “these far right fringe views” were acceptable. “Comments that deny our nation’s truth and deny First Nat­ions people’s experiences are ­really painful and don’t reflect modern Australia’s understanding of the Stolen Generations,” she said.

“In 2023, we can talk about recognition of First People and listening to First People to get better outcomes in a factual and kind way, that reflects the ambitions of our nation to move forward. This referendum is an opportunity to show our nation and the world the very best of us – I know Australians will see through this rubbish and choose to be better than this.”

Fair Australia said the comments were not made at an official campaign event but Dr Johns was an eminent Australian who was understandably in demand for his considerable knowledge of Indigenous policy and his opposition to the “divisive” voice.

“Any fair-minded Australian listening to the speech by Dr Johns would understand he was describing uncontroversial historical facts,” a spokesman said.

Recognise a Better Way says it presents an alternative solution to the Albanese government’s proposed voice.

Dr Johns, who was approached for comment, is a member of its No case committee.