Uluru Dialogue vow to renew recognition fight

Prominent Indigenous leaders have ­resolved to reignite the fight for constitutional recognition, pushing for an amendment despite the defeat of the voice referendum.

Gunditjmara woman Jill Gallagher, chief executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, at the Uluru Dialogue meeting.

Some of the nation’s most prominent Indigenous leaders have ­resolved to reignite the fight for constitutional recognition of ­Aboriginal and Torres Strait ­Islander Australians, pushing for an amendment that would go ­further than John Howard’s failed proposal to reference Indigenous people in the preamble.

The decision by senior members of the Uluru Dialogue in Brisbane on Friday ignores the policy positions of both major political parties – neither wants a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous advisory body and neither is advocating for another referendum – in favour of a people’s movement to compel change.

The group’s decision to stick firm to the sentiment of the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart and its call for voice, treaty and truth is likely to be interpreted as a rejection of Labor’s policy direction in Indigenous affairs.

Gunditjmara woman Jill ­Gallagher, who is respected inside government for her work as chief executive of Victoria’s vast Aboriginal health service network, was among Indigenous leaders who discussed the state of Aboriginal affairs at the Friday meeting and agreed to “reignite the Uluru mandate”.

Uluru Dialogue co-chair Megan Davis said the meeting was impactful and allowed the Uluru Statement from the Heart leadership to gather, including members of the Uluru Youth Dialogue, a group of young Indigenous leaders with a rising profile. They have been enthusiastically embraced by young non-­Indigenous Australians.

“It has been two years since the voice referendum and there is an overwhelming consensus across grassroots communities, including urban Aboriginal communities, and many of the 6.2 million Australian Yes voters, that nothing has changed since the referendum,” Professor Davis said.

“It is irrefutable that little has changed and, in some ways, things are getting worse. These voices and communities are not at the table or in the room with government and bureaucrats. They are not a part of or privy to the government’s current plans and consultations. That group is a much smaller niche group than before the referendum.”

Uluru Dialogue leaders also discussed the voice referendum campaign at their meeting. Yes23 was the main fundraiser for the voice while the Uluru ­Dialogue ran a smaller parallel campaign. Its members ran information sessions around Australia, including in dozens of town halls and council rooms in rural communities.

At those sessions, Uluru Dialogue members told the story of the voice proposal and answered questions. The Uluru Dialogue has described those sessions as effective because many people told them they arrived undecided or against the voice and left wanting to vote Yes. However, the Uluru Dialogue believes those sessions were far too small-scale to make the difference required.

The voice proposal failed 60-40 on October 14, 2023.

Alyawarre woman Pat Anderson, whose career in public health included co-authoring the landmark Little Children Are Sacred report into child sexual abuse in the NT, addressed Friday’s meeting by video link.

“We have heard the calls from grassroots communities for us to commence work on a roadmap after two years of the relentless and depressing grind of the status quo,” she said.

“No change in closing the gap and certainly no political leadership on where to next.

“The statement remains a gift to the Australian people (and) 6.2 million people have accepted this olive branch. This was always a people’s movement, so we march on.”

Alyawarre woman and Uluru Dialogue co-chair Pat Anderson (on the screen) addresses the meeting. Seated are, from left, Wemba Wemba man and Uluru Dialogue senior member Eddie Synot, Cobble Cobble woman and Uluru Dialogue co-chair Megan Davis and Wiradjuir man and Uluru Dialogue senior member Goeff Scott. Picture: supplied

The commonwealth is grappling with pressure to act on the failures of the Closing the Gap ­national agreement that all governments signed in 2020. Latest data collated by the Productivity Commission shows the nation is on track to meet four out of 19 targets when the agreement ends in 2031 – down from five a year ago.

This month, Indigenous Australians minister Malarndirri McCarthy sought one-on-one meetings with every state and territory attorney-general about soaring Indigenous incarceration rates.

Numerous jurisdictions have either passed laws likely to funnel more Indigenous children and adults into prison or intend to. Queensland and the Northern Territory in particular do not resile from tough law-and-order agendas.

In July, senior Indigenous lawyer Eddie Cubillo quit as an adviser on justice policy for Closing the Gap in a stinging email in which he declared “the justice elements of the Closing the Gap framework have failed”.