Malarndirri McCarthy to go head-to-head with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price on Indigenous issues
The NT senator’s promotion on Sunday prepares the ground for national debate on the causes of Indigenous disadvantage with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, as the republican movement suffers a blow.
Malarndirri McCarthy’s childhood in a remote Aboriginal community and her own experience of the effects of bad policy will make her a forceful and effective Indigenous Australians minister, leaders across the nation have said.
The Northern Territory senator’s promotion on Sunday prepares the ground for national debate on the causes of Indigenous disadvantage with Coalition Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.
Both are Aboriginal and from the Northern Territory but hold opposite views on some of the key issues in Indigenous affairs, including the effects of past policies.
Senator Nampijinpa Price maintains in an essay published by The Australian this month that “no one is disadvantaged just because they are Indigenous”, while Senator McCarthy argues that Indigenous child removal policies still hurt Indigenous people.
She told parliament in 2021 that “an almost centuries-long practice by governments across Australia created a trauma that has transcended generations and will continue to do so for years to come”.
Senator McCarthy is set to talk about next steps after the failure of the voice referendum when she meets Indigenous leaders at the Garma Festival on Friday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was adamant on Sunday the No vote was a vote against only the question put to the people on a constitutionally enshrined advisory body, prompting speculation about possible plans for a Makarrata Commission, truth-telling or even a legislated voice.
Ken Wyatt, Indigenous Australians minister in the Morrison government, said he did not believe legislating voices was possible. But he said Australia must address its full history, and did not believe this should take the form of hearings, but rather projects that documented the national story.
“All governments regardless of who they are do need truth-telling,” Mr Wyatt said.
On Sunday the republican movement was coming to terms with Mr Albanese’s decision to use his reshuffle to drop any ministerial work towards a republic. This was previously the responsibility of Matt Thistlewaite.
Nathan Hansford, co-chair of the Australian Republic Movement, said Mr Thistlewaite had been a great supporter, “as have many in the parliaments across Australia, but becoming a republic with an Australian head of state is a change that must be driven by the Australian people, not politicians”. “The Australian Republic Movement continues to work tirelessly to raise awareness and support for a change to our constitution that personifies who we are in 2024,” Mr Hansford said.
“We are a fiercely independent country with such a unique and diverse set of cultures underpinning what it means to be Australian, we can no longer be represented by anyone, but one of us.”
The The Healing Foundation – which helped the Morrison government design a redress scheme for Stolen Generations in the NT – was among the first on Sunday to congratulate Senator McCarthy on her promotion from assistant minister to minister.
Foundation chair Steve Larkin said Senator McCarthy had a “nuanced understanding and lived experience to the many priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities”.
Senator McCarthy is a Yanyuwa woman who grew up in the remote community of Borroloola on the edge of the Gulf of Carpentaria. When she finished high school, she got a cadetship at the ABC in Darwin and worked as a television presenter and reporter for 15 years.
Indigenous leaders told The Australian they believe she was compelling during the Indigenous voice campaign in 2023 but her role was too small. She featured in a series of televised advertisements advocating for the Yes case in the last weeks of the campaign, after successive polls showed the referendum would not succeed.
Mr Wyatt, said Senator McCarthy “will make a great replacement” for the retiring Linda Burney.
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