Indigenous voice to parliament: Remote concerns about real change

Government spending on Mornington Island has increased by 81 per cent in the past six years, but failed to improve outcomes in key areas including schooling, employment, chronic disease and child safety.

Mornington Island Mayor Kyle Yanner. Picture: Brian Cassey

The mayor of one of Australia’s most isolated Aboriginal communities said a powerful local ­decision-making body was crucial to ensure taxpayer money was ­better directed – but he feared the voice proposal would not make genuine change.

Kyle Yanner, mayor of the 1000-strong community of Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, has raised “strong concerns” with government for years about the amount of public money being spent in his shire without results.

Government spending on the remote island has increased by 81 per cent in the past six years, but has failed to improve outcomes in key areas including schooling, employment, chronic disease and child safety.

A recent KPMG audit report, obtained by The Australian, revealed $326m had been pumped into the small community between 2017 and 2022 but made no “consistent improvements”.

The audit found government programs and policies were often crafted without talking to the community, and recommended a local decision-making body to ­advise government.

State and federal governments funded 65 programs in the community, only 17 of which had staff that were consistently based on Mornington Island.

Mr Yanner said an Indigenous voice would be useful if local decision-making bodies had real power to make decisions on behalf of the community.

“The confusion about the current proposal for a voice to parliament is whether this proposal will result in a genuine voice at the local level which will meet the unique needs of each individual community,” he told The Australian. “There is no consistent view on either voting Yes or No because it is unclear how a voice at the national level will achieve genuine outcomes at the community level.

“Certainly, some of the current very loud voices on the national scene will not achieve this.”

In their 2021 voice co-design report to government, Indigenous academics Marcia Langton and Tom Calma recommended 35 regional and local groups to be established first to link to a ­national voice.

The local voice groups would be spread across the country and advise all three levels of government. The Albanese government has committed $20m to “progress regional voice arrangements” if the referendum is successful.

Queensland Housing Minister and Mornington Island’s “ministerial champion”, Meaghan Scanlon, believes an Indigenous voice would save taxpayer money by ensuring funds were targeted to programs communities wanted.

“Local input is really critical because there’s no point in us spending money on things that aren’t going to be used or actually going to change outcomes,” she said. “A voice to parliament is about listening to people on the ground and changing the way we do things to get better outcomes.”

Aurukun mayor Keri Tamwoy told The Australian she hoped to commission a similar audit to Mr Yanner’s in Mornington Island.

“There’s anywhere between 110 and 115 (state and federal) government-funded programs in ­Aurukun, and they would cost many millions,” Ms Tamwoy said.

“But when these programs are born, there’s no input coming from a grassroots level, we don’t have a say. They’re born in airconditioned offices in sky-rise buildings down south.

“That’s why there’s a whole heap of money being poured into our community with no results.”

Additional reporting: Sarah Elks