Jacinta Nampijinpa Price lists the benefits of colonisation – as she warns Indigenous prosperity is being held back by victimhood culture

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has made the sensational statement that ‘no one is disadvantaged because they are indigenous’, listing how Australia has benefited from colonisation.

The controversial Liberal senator shared her views in an opinion piece for The Australian, arguing that it was inevitable that the country would be colonised and that it was only a question of ‘by whom and when’.

The shadow minister for Indigenous Affairs said British colonisation gave Australia a common law legal system, democracy, freedom and prosperity, things that were previously unknown to Indigenous people.

Ms Price admitted that Australia’s history is “not perfect” and that there are “shameful chapters”, but claimed the country is now a “modern success story”.

“There were crimes committed, there was violence and injustice by bad actors, but I don’t think it’s controversial to say that both black and white Australia made the best of it, by the standards of the time,” she wrote.

‘This is evident from the fact that out of all those decades of disruption, something resembling a nation has emerged.

‘So much so that when duty called our first Anzacs to serve in the Great War, over a thousand Indigenous Australians signed up to fight. Many of these heroes went above and beyond what was expected.’

Ms Price also claimed that the prosperity of indigenous people was being hampered by a victim culture, which she said created divisions.

She said that Indigenous culture before British colonisation was characterised by violent conflict and that if we continue down the path of ‘separatism’, negative aspects of Indigenous culture are left alone to ‘grow and fester’ – such as arranged marriages, violent cultural retaliation and attributing tragedies to ‘sorcery’.

She said the “progressive left” places too much emphasis on the “less savoury” aspects of Indigenous history, rather than celebrating the events that led to the country’s “great prosperity, security and success”.

She said it is not widely recognised that British rulers instructed colonists to maintain friendly relations with the indigenous population, although the instructions were often ignored.

She also noted that Europeans and Aboriginals were treated equally under the law, and that settlers who murdered indigenous people were sentenced to death, citing the Myall Creek massacre, in which seven white men were found guilty and hanged.

She also argued that many descendants of the Stolen Generations now enjoy greater prosperity and success than those who were simply neglected and forced to live in poverty and misery. She also argued that the best way forward for the country was for everyone to see themselves as modern Australians.

“The simple fact is that no one is disadvantaged simply because they are Indigenous. But those who are disadvantaged will continue to be disadvantaged if we do not learn the lessons of our past and move forward together,” she wrote.

‘Last year, in my speech to the National Press Club – at the height of the referendum debate – I made headlines when I emphasised the positive impact of colonisation on Indigenous Australians, rather than simply repeating the standard deficit narrative peddled by those who seek to perpetuate the victim mentality.

Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is pictured arriving at a press conference in February, alongside Nationals leader David Littleproud and Shadow Minister for Infrastructure Bridget McKenzie

“I stand by my position because if you take an honest and impartial position on the history of our country, that is self-evidently true.”

These claims come after research shows Indigenous Australians continue to face inequality compared to non-Indigenous Australians on a number of wellbeing factors, including life expectancy, infant mortality, education and employment.

The Closing the Gap policy, launched in 2008, aims to reduce the wealth gap between the two cultural groups by improving First Nations education, health care, safety, housing and life expectancy.

According to data released in March, only five of the 19 targets identified in the Close the Gap framework for Indigenous Australians are on track to meet the 2031 deadline.

The report, which only included updates on eight socioeconomic targets, revealed that four targets are off track, including the number of children in foster care and the number of adults in prison.

Two goals are on track: healthy birth weight and increasing legal access to land and sea for cultural and economic purposes. For the other three goals that are on track, there is no change in the data.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney said of the results she was “somewhat encouraged” that five targets are now on track, compared to just four last year.

“I think there are huge positive outcomes for babies being born at a healthy birth weight,” she said.

“We can talk about goals and numbers, but at the end of the day they are real people: our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and cousins.”