Voice referendum: Jacinta Price tells Labor there can be no return to the status quo on Indigenous policy
The face of the No campaign will push the government towards policies aimed at ‘bringing Indigenous Australians into the fabric of this nation’.
Jacinta Price says there can be no return to the status quo in Indigenous policy following the referendum defeat and will seek to push the Albanese government towards a bipartisan effort aimed at “bringing Indigenous Australians into the fabric of this nation”.
The Opposition Indigenous Affairs spokeswoman and face of the No campaign told The Australian that “if the government doesn’t want to undertake that responsibility you can expect that this is what I will challenge them on at the next election. I know that, throughout this process, I have had the support of my Coalition colleagues and I have their support going forward to … bring about a much more unified country.”
She said the premise for the referendum was “supposedly about doing something different”.
“We should not be doing the same things we have done for decades … we can’t accept that.”
Acknowledging that people were suffering from “referendum fatigue”, Senator Price also revealed that her preference was not to take a second referendum for constitutional recognition to the next election as previously committed to by Peter Dutton.
She stressed this would be determined by the Liberal and Nationals through their partyroom processes, but suggested that “what the partyroom will likely want to do is to respect the will of the Australian people”.
“I’ve spoken to Mr Dutton and, I think, given the result of this referendum, I think Australians, the preference from Australians would be to just let this be for now.
“I guess that’s something you’d have to test the appetite for later on down the track,” she said.
Reflecting on her priorities following the referendum, Senator Price said she intended to focus on policy development with her Coalition colleague Kerrynne Liddle and revealed she was “here for the long haul” in politics.
Responding to the defeat of the Yes campaign on Saturday, Senator Price said it meant the dawn of a “new era in Indigenous policy” based on a rejection of the politics of grievance, with the Opposition Leader arguing that efforts needed to be redoubled to close the gap.
Mr Dutton recommitted the Coalition to implementing a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities and an audit into spending on Indigenous programs.
Speaking to The Australian on Sunday evening, Senator Price said her message to those deeply disappointed by the referendum result was that “not all is lost”.
She said a greater focus would need to be placed by governments on treating Indigenous Australians “as though they are Australians citizens”.
This meant governments doing a better job in seeking to allow “traditional owners in remote communities to be job creators and not having to rely on the public service to bring about jobs and employment”.
“I’d be seeking this government to initiate this kind of work straight away,” she said.
Senator Price stressed she had entered politics to fight for “all Australians” – not only Indigenous Australians – and expressed an interest in broadening her portfolio experience in the future.
One area of interest was the economic development of Northern Australia, with Senator Price arguing there were opportunities for it to “contribute to Australia’s economy more richly”.
The referendum result had also revealed the key importance of the regions, with Senator Price arguing they had spoken “loud and clear” and should be “considered a lot more seriously than in the past”.
Key backers of the No campaign told The Australian on Sunday that Senator Price had played a major role in boosting the vote against the voice to parliament.
Former deputy prime minister John Anderson said she “re-cast the national debate around Indigenous affairs by sheer intellectual grunt and personal courage”.
Mr Anderson said the Coalition needed to “think clearly and work effectively with her to maximise the influence her clear thinking and leadership can provide for Australia”.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott said Senator Price was an “extremely effective advocate” who was proud of her Indigenous heritage while being a “very proud Australian”.
But Senator Price has also amassed fierce critics, with Indigenous researcher and intellectual Marcia Langton labelling her the “princess of assimilation” on referendum night.
Hannah McGlade, a Kurin Minang woman who has studied violent and sexual crimes against Indigenous women and children for 30 years, said Senator Price had been “a major force in this campaign and, I believe, in promoting racist discourse to Aboriginal People”.
She said Senator Price would “have the support of many Australians who have not come on the journey of reconciliation”.
“This was a phenomenon seen in the Donald Trump rise, where working class white people were able to be turned against African-American people,” she said.
