One year after the Indigenous referendum vote, we’re just as divided as we were

At the anniversary of the defeat of the voice referendum, Indigenous senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says the Albanese government has no interest in listening to the voices of marginalised Indigenous people and continues to fail on Aboriginal policy.

‘Labor in denial’ … Indigenous senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price at Bracu Estate in New Zealand on Friday. Picture: Brett Phibbs

At the anniversary of the defeat of the voice referendum, the No campaign’s spearhead, Indigenous senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, says the Albanese government has no interest in listening to the voices of marginalised Indigenous people and continues to fail on Aboriginal policy.

In an exclusive interview with The Weekend Australian, Senator Nampijinpa Price said: “The Albanese government and proponents of the Yes campaign are completely in denial even a year on from the referendum. There’s an ongoing failure to recognise the need to take action to address the needs of marginalised indigenous Australians. There is no bipartisan approach from this government. It’s their way or the highway and their way is failure.

“They put a referendum telling us they wanted a voice but there’re not interested in hearing the voices of Indigenous Australians who want practical solutions and their voices heard through our democratic parliamentary system. The Albanese government had no back-up plan if the referendum failed and they are just scrambling now.

“We have had lip service recently with the change of minister and the new minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, said she wanted to work in a bipartisan manner to address these issues.

“But although she said that, there has been no demonstration of any action to do so, nor any communication with me as shadow minister on how we might move forward.”

While Anthony Albanese has been criticised by Indigenous proponents of the Yes case for his apparent retreat from the Makarrata Commission process over treaty making, the attack from Senator Price shows the No campaign believes he has failed to heed the referendum’s lesson or its opportunity for a new direction.

Asked about the priorities, Senator Nampijinpa Price said there must be an audit of Indigenous affairs spending, reform of the existing structures and an inquiry into bodies such as land councils to confront the “corruption and fraud that has been brought to my attention by traditional owners who believe land councils are not representing their interests”.

Warren Mundine at the CPAC convention in Brisbane last week. Picture: NewsWire/ Richard Gosling

At the same time fellow No campaigner, Nyunggai Warren Mundine, told The Weekend Australian it was “absolute nonsense” to say the referendum was defeated because of racism and bad will towards Indigenous peoples. In calling for immediate changes in economic enterprise and education, Mr Mundine prioritised land reform.

He said the system of traditional lands being “collectively owned and controlled” was a relic of “government-sponsored socialism”. It denied “the key building block for a real economy – private land ownership” and was basic to the “almost complete absence of commerce” in indigenous communities.

Senator Nampijinpa Price has been striving in parliament to establish an inquiry into land councils.

“This has been put to the Senate five times now and voted down every time,” she said. “This tells us the Albanese government is not interested in accountability and transparency. They failed and yet they continue to fail.”

She said that instead of practical action there was an “ongoing elite discussion” that typified the reason the voice was lost.