Labor wants more to hear more Indigenous voices before it speaks up

Labor refuses to make any new Indigenous policy push until it hears from Aboriginal groups that disagree with a strident statement from Yes leaders declaring reconciliation all but dead.

Closing the Gap co-convener Pat Turner. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Labor is refusing to make any new policy push in Indigenous affairs until it hears from Aboriginal leaders and groups that it believes either abstained from or privately disagree with a strident statement from Yes leaders declaring the reconciliation project all but dead.

The government is now dealing with five responses from Indigenous collectives, land councils and organisations since the resounding defeat of the voice referendum on October 14. Four of the five statements published since referendum night refer to racism as a factor, three refer to misinformation or lies from the No campaign and none advocate for reconciliation.

The Australian understands the government believes there could be more responses coming from leaders and groups that have different or specific points to make. For example, the government wants to hear from Pat Turner, the co-convener of Closing the Gap, about the practical measures built into that national agreement. The deal signed in 2020 by all levels of government is a promise to make decisions in partnership with Indigenous communities for better results. It was hailed as revolutionary at the time but a Productivity Commission report published in July found the states in particular were not holding up their end of the bargain.

Ms Turner told The Australian on Monday that she wished to “let things settle down a bit more” before talking to the media about the future role of the Closing the Gap agreement.

About 60 Indigenous leaders who supported the Yes campaign are believed to have participated in the drafting of Sunday’s statement addressed to the government and every member of parliament on Sunday night.

They said No voters had committed a shameful act – knowingly or not – and flagged their intention to establish an Indigenous voice outside legislation. The statement was unsigned and distributed by the public relations firm that worked with the Uluru Dialogue during the referendum campaign.

The Lowitja Institute, which researches Indigenous-run health projects, was among the organisations that backed Sunday’s joint statement to government and parliament.

The Australian has been told the alliance of 14 Indigenous communities called Empowered Communities was not involved in the drafting of that statement, though individuals who belong to the organisation may have participated. Empowered Communities has worked with government for a decade on ways to give communities a chance to speak directly to decision-makers about what works and what does not. The organisation keenly supports local and regional voices.

The government may also seek out the views of Empowered Communities before announcing next steps in Indigenous affairs.

On Monday, the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, a remote health service for 17,000 Indigenous people in the Northern Territory, explicitly cast doubt on reconciliation as a concept in its response.

“The deliberate strategy of deception and misinformation adopted by prominent ‘No’ campaigners turned many previously good-willed people against us,” the congress said.

“In doing so, they gave permission for racism to run wild.

“Given the result of the referendum and the conduct of the ‘No’ campaign, there are now serious questions about whether reconciliation is still a viable strategy in Australia.”

On Saturday, the Central Land Council, which represents 24,000 Indigenous people in roughly the lower half of the NT, issued its response to the referendum result by saying: “We will keep fighting for equality, fighting for land, fighting for water, fighting for housing, infrastructure, good jobs, education, closing the gap – and a future for our children”.

Separately, the three land councils that represent Indigenous people in the top end of the NT issued a statement saying that not everyone who voted No was racist but the referendum result was tied to deep-seated racism.

“The vitriol and hatred that were part of the campaign existed prior to, but were given licence through, the process. The overarching theory (that) we are incapable of managing our own affairs is dehumanising and degrading and, most of all, deeply flawed,” the three land councils said.

Yes23 leading campaigner Thomas Mayo told The Australian on Monday that varied and separate statements from Indigenous organisations underscored the need for a national voice.

“Moving towards actual solutions and what should be prioritised by the government is so much harder because we do not have a national, authoritative, recognised voice,” Mr Mayo said.

“When there is dissent within an organisation – which happens a lot and it‘s normal – the organisation will come out and say ‘This is our formal position and this is why’ and people expect that.

“We don’t have that so it always ends up a news story that ‘blackfellas cannot agree’.

“The Indigenous leadership really are going to continue to have discussions nationally about ways to achieve the shared goals.”