The ideals behind the Uluru Statement continue to guide the federal government, the Minister for Indigenous Australians says, despite the Prime Minister effectively ruling out a formal treaty and truth-finding commission.
Although the establishment of a Makarrata Commission, a truth-telling body, was one of the cornerstones of the 2017 declaration, Anthony Albanese supported its ideals but refrained from setting up a formal body.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy said the government continues to strive for better conditions for First Nations.
“We remain committed to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which is our love and support for all those who gathered (at Uluru) in 2017,” she told ABC TV on Monday.
Senator McCarthy said Indigenous Australians still needed time to come to terms with the fact that they would lose their right to vote in 2023.
Creating an Indigenous voice in federal parliament was one of three components of the Uluru Declaration, along with the Makarrata Commission and the Treaty.
Ten months after the referendum defeat, Senator McCarthy said bipartisan support was needed to improve outcomes for Indigenous people.
“This was clearly a shocking event… people are still recovering from it,” she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy
According to Mr Albanese, talking to indigenous organisations and people is the best way to connect with First Nations.
“It was a huge trauma for the First Nations who largely voted yes, especially in the northern parts of the country.”
According to Mr Albanese, talking to indigenous organisations and people is the best way to connect with First Nations.
He told the Garma Festival, Australia’s largest gathering of Indigenous people, that he was focused on finding “new ambition, energy and determination” to work with the Indigenous community, rather than “raking through the ashes” of the failed vote.
“We do this with the understanding that the change that so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been fighting for and advocating for years, decades, even lifetimes, is not determined by one day,” he said.
‘It has always been about positive, practical and lasting change in people’s lives and in the life of our country.’
This came after Racial Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said a historic apology at the festival for injustices committed against First Nations by the Northern Territory Police would lose its meaning without a cultural shift within the police.
Mr Sivaraman acknowledged it was an important step towards improving police relations in the area, but added that “words cannot say everything”.
“The change now needs to be implemented across the police force and the structures that are being put in place within it. I hope that this cultural shift is driven by the top of the police force,” he said.
Mr Sivaraman said there must be a commitment to independent investigation into recent actions by members of the Northern Police, such as the upcoming investigation into systemic racism by the Northern Police Anti-Discrimination Commission.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss admitted the apology was “necessary and symbolic” but said police also had to consider the injustices that persist “to this day”.