Change needs a conservative: Noel Pearson

INDIGENOUS leader Noel Pearson has lauded Tony Abbott's pledge to put indigenous recognition at the centre of his first-term agenda.

Noel Pearson

INDIGENOUS leader Noel Pearson has intervened in the election campaign to laud Tony Abbott's pledge to put indigenous recognition at the centre of his first-term agenda, claiming that only a highly conservative leader can deliver the change.

The Opposition Leader used his campaign launch yesterday to promise that from next year he would devote his efforts to recognising indigenous Australians in the Constitution.

"I've always been of the view that on this issue of (a) constitutional recognition referendum, Nixon's got to go to China," Mr Pearson told The Australian.

"I think the fact that he has made it a central part of his first-term agenda is a very good sign.

"I have always thought the nature of our Constitution means you need John Howard - and if not John Howard, then a facsimile of him - to deliver the change.

"The most conservative end of Australia, rural and regional Australia, needs to trust the change and only a highly conservative leader can carry a referendum."

Labor promised a referendum on constitutional recognition would occur by this year but abandoned that pledge after failing to build support and momentum.

Mr Abbott's pledge to put Aboriginal Australia at the centre of his agenda is widely regarded as significant by indigenous leaders because the area has traditionally been seen as a Labor stronghold.

Mr Abbott's decision to make the commitment in his premier speech of the campaign has given further comfort to the indigenous leadership that he will take personal ownership on delivering meaningful symbolic and practical change.

"Starting next year, I will work to recognise indigenous people in the Constitution, something that should have been done a century ago, that would complete our Constitution rather than change it," Mr Abbott said in his speech.

He has reiterated his commitment to spend a week a year in a remote indigenous community as long as he remains in public life, and as he has done for 10 years.

"If they're good enough for people to live in, they should be good enough for a prime minister to stay in," Mr Abbott said.

"And in indigenous communities, no less than in every Australian community, the kids should go to school, the adults should go to work, and the ordinary law of the land should be upheld.

"My vision for Australia is not that Big-Brother government knows best; it's that our country will best flourish when all of our citizens, individually and collectively, have the best chance to be their best selves."

Mr Abbott has thrown his support behind a radical plan devised by Mr Pearson to empower Aboriginal communities to ensure that money spent in indigenous affairs delivers real gains on the ground.

Warren Mundine, the man Mr Abbott handpicked to head a new indigenous advisory council if he wins government, said yesterday that making the commitment during the launch was significant.

"It shows Tony Abbott's passion and commitment to indigenous people and indigenous affairs," the former ALP president said.

"Tony Abbott is determined to create a new paradigm for indigenous people. Tony Abbott is going to change Australia through its relationship with its first people. Tony Abbott is going to be the leader that brings full participation of indigenous people in Australian society that retains their culture and language."

There is bipartisan support for constitutional change but Kevin Rudd, who delivered the national apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008, has not announced any indigenous policy on his own. Instead, he has left that to his Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin, who is well-respected among indigenous leaders.

Mr Abbott's support for Mr Pearson's Empowered Communities blueprint means a Coalition government would assess a sweeping new agenda for indigenous communities' governance, based upon the Pearson concept of an indigenous policy productivity council to evaluate the many programs servicing Aborigines.

Mr Abbott will launch the project on Wednesday, with a $5 million funding commitment.

Indigenous leader Aden Ridgeway, the spokesman for the official campaign Recognise, was pleased Mr Abbott made the commitment in his speech.

"It's a very positive signal and adds to both his, and Mr Rudd's, earlier strong commitments to finalise a model and have a referendum in the coming years," Mr Ridgeway said.

"This adds to our confidence that, no matter who wins, the next time people vote federally it will be in a referendum to finally recognise the original inhabitants of this great land in the nation's founding document."