Greens get good telling-off from indigenous leaders
It’s been a week since Richard Di Natale announced his strike against Australia Day. The Greens leader speaking in Melbourne, January 15:
It’s a day that represents an act of dispossession, an act of theft ... It’s a day that represents the beginning of an ongoing genocide, the slaughter of so many Aboriginal people.
How have indigenous leaders responded to Di Natale’s push? Warren Mundine speaking to The Weekend Australian, Saturday:
I’m on record saying we should change the date but it is a real non-issue in these communities. They are looking at jobs and getting education and health — they are the conversations I have (in the bush).
Alice Springs councillor and “Keep Australia Day” campaign co-leader Jacinta Price on Weekend Sunrise, Sunday:
I think when it comes to Aboriginal issues we have very serious issues that we’re being taken away from because of this particular debate. I mean if Australians chose to invest this much energy into the fact that, you know, Aboriginal women are faced with the highest rates of domestic violence, and our children are being neglected at critical rates around the country, then we might actually be able to solve real serious issues.
And what about the idea proposed by Victorian Greens MP Lidia Thorpe? Thorpe on Twitter , January 16:
In my capacity as Greens spokesman for Aboriginal affairs and Aboriginal health, I am calling on Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, to lower the Australian and Aboriginal flags to half-mast on all government buildings, including the Victorian Parliament, on January 26.
Noongar elder Robert Isaacs responds to Thorpe’s half-mast plan on Sky News, yesterday:
They are absolutely out of order when they suggested lowering the Australian flag down half-mast and bringing a motion into the parliament. It’s getting politicised and it should never ever be that.
Isn’t it time for the Greens to reconsider this Australia Day campaign? Indigenous businesswoman Cherissma Blackman speaking to the Gladstone Observer about the national day , January 18:
Di Natale has been boisterous in saying he was talking for the majority of indigenous people that we wanted the date changed ... I don’t know who he’s talking to but there’s a lot more pressing issues in the indigenous community ...
The Greens could focus on a much bigger-picture reform. The nation’s first female indigenous MP, Linda Burney, on RN Breakfast, January 16 :
... we want the debate put back on the table on what on earth has happened to the outcomes of the Uluru Statement and a referendum to recognise Aboriginal people in the Australian Constitution.
Why on earth might Lidia Thorpe be a bit quiet on the Uluru Statement? AAP, May 25 last year:
Organisers of a national indigenous constitution convention in Uluru insist they’re still committed to mapping a path to reform and recognition despite a small minority storming out.
Thorpe speaking to NITV News after her walk out, May 25 last year:
We as sovereign First Nations people reject constitutional recognition. We do not recognise (the) occupying power or their sovereignty ... We demand a sovereign treaty with ... appropriate funds allocated.