Scott Morrison puts Indigenous voice to government on hold for now

Scott Morrison’s reluctance to agree to a timeline on the voice came as Pat Turner demanded Queensland and WA implement redress schemes for the Stolen Generations.

Pat Turner says ‘time’s up’ for Queensland and Western Australia to ­implement their own ­redress schemes. Picture: Gary Ramage

An Indigenous voice to government is likely to be delayed until after the next federal election, with Scott Morrison refusing to commit to making an attempt to legislate during this term.

The Prime Minister’s reluctance to agree to a timeline on the voice – despite Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt previously saying it would be put to parliament this term – came as Pat Turner, convener of a ­coalition of 51 Indigenous organisations, demanded Queensland and Western Australia implement redress schemes for the Stolen Generations.

Asked if he would present legislation on the voice in this term of parliament, Mr Morrison said: “We will just continue to take the next step and the next step and the next step.”

The advisory group co-­designing the voice, led by professors Marcia Langton and Tom Calma, gave its final report to the government last month.

Mr Wyatt said he did not want a timeline to “detract from the importance of a voice”.

“The advice that I have ­received from all people who are involved in all of the forums was to be methodical and make sure we get it totally right,” Mr Wyatt said. “As Aboriginal people we want to get this right. We want it firm. We don’t want to see the history of bodies being created and undone.”

Asked if he would present legislation on the voice in this term of parliament, Scott Morrison said: “We will just continue to take the next step and the next step and the next step.” Picture: Gary Ramage

Opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Linda Burney said the government was failing to show leadership on the issue. Labor is committed to a referendum on a ­constitutionally enshrined voice within the first term of an Albanese government.

“The government doesn’t have a hope of even legislating this term,” Ms Burney said. “Minister Wyatt has enormous problems in the (Coalition) partyroom about a legislated model, let alone one that is constitutionally enshrined. It is a lack of leadership and a lack of commitment.”

Ms Burney said Labor would be willing to consider backing a legislated voice in opposition, arguing it could be a stepping stone to constitutional enshrinement.

“That doesn’t stop us to moving further towards constitutional enshrinement, because that is what we want to achieve,” she said.

Mr Morrison and Anthony ­Albanese spoke in parliament after the federal government ­revealed its response to the new ­national agreement on Closing the Gap, which has been designed with leading Indigenous bodies represented by the Coalition of Peaks. The government’s plan includes more than $1bn in new funding and involves a $378m ­redress scheme for victims of the Stolen Generations in the Northern Territory and the ACT.

Ms Turner, the Coalition of Peaks convener, said “time’s up” for Queensland and Western Australia to ­implement their own ­redress schemes. Queensland and WA are the only states that do not have redress schemes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ­people taken from their families under historic policies.

“Time’s up for redress of the Stolen Generations. You have to follow the other jurisdictions throughout Australia,” she said.

“(You are) the last ones to come on board and it’s high time that you did the right thing in a human rights context to make sure that our people are receiving the right redress as soon as they can.”

In WA, the previous Barnett Liberal government attempted a redress scheme in 2010 but it was heavily criticised. The maximum payout was reduced from $80,000 to $45,000 and the scheme was not accompanied by any counselling or other support.

This was a serious flaw, according to Parkerville Children and Care co-director Tony Hansen. “Money is important but people need that help to end the trauma,” he said.

Queensland’s minister responsible for Indigenous affairs, Craig Crawford, said the Palaszczuk government would closely consider the federal government’s Closing the Gap response, which includes the redress scheme.

Each state and territory is due to present its own response to Closing the Gap on Friday.