Leading No campaigner Warren Mundine has urged Indigenous Australians to “move on” from the horrors of the past, saying: “We cannot spend the rest of our lives in the fetal position.”
The former politician gave a speech to the National Press Club on Tuesday, arguing there are practical ways to improve the lives of disadvantaged First Nations people without a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament.
He said the Voice offered Indigenous Australians only two choices: one was a reality based on “centralized government dependency” and the other a mentality focused on historical wrongs and “identity politics”.
Instead, the proud indigenous Australian said: “We have to move forward.
‘That doesn’t mean we forget. That we don’t acknowledge it. We don’t remember. We do.
‘But if we want to help our children move forward, we have to give them positivity. We need to show them how to get an education and get a job.
“If we don’t do that, they will only suffer generation after generation.”
Leading No campaigner Warren Mundine has urged Australians to ‘move on’ from the past horrors inflicted on Indigenous Australians as the nation ‘cannot remain in the fetal position for the rest of our lives’
Mr Mundine was asked about his differences with fellow No campaigner Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who said Indigenous people today are not feeling the negative effects of colonization.
“Whether you agree with victimhood or not, whether you agree with colonial intergenerational trauma, there is a stage where you have to move on,” he said.
“It’s in history, it’s a fact, you know it, you learn about it, and you – how do you take that experience and move on? If we don’t do that, you know, we’re all going to be in the fetal position for the rest of our lives.”
Mr Mundine has become one of the most high-profile figures in the referendum debate since setting up the Recognize a Better Way group to oppose the body in January.
He has since campaigned alongside National Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, despite divisions in opinion over Indigenous treaties and changing the date of Australia Day.
Asked about his current position on treaties and native title claims, Mr Mundine said: “Are you aware today that 55 per cent of Australia’s landmass has been returned to Aboriginal people?
‘Over the next ten to fifteen years, almost 70 to 80 percent of Australia’s landmass will return to Aboriginal people.
“So that’s through the recognition that we took this land away and introduced legislation that gives land back to Aboriginal people.”
In his speech, Mr Mundine said that despite the rifts in the No camp, indigenous people needed to be “forgiving” and “fully invested in our shared national project” to achieve reconciliation.
‘Many Aboriginal people are angry when they think of the misdeeds of Australia’s past. But these events cannot be undone,” he said.
‘So as Aboriginal people we have a choice: continue to feel angry and hurt – trapped in the past – or draw a line in history and move on from a clean past. slate.’
Mr Mundine said: ‘we are all against the Voice and the radical and divisive Voice, Treaty, Truth agenda of the Uluru Declaration to which the Albanian government has committed itself’. Anthony Albanese is pictured
Mr Mundine described the Uluru Declaration from the Heart – which called for an Indigenous voice to parliament – as a “symbolic declaration of war on modern Australia”.
The Uluru Dialogue – which helped draft the statement – later backtracked on its claims, saying Mr Mundine ‘incited violent images’ in his speech.
‘The Uluṟu Dialogue is deeply concerned that the NO campaign is using inflammatory and inflammatory language to describe the Uluṟu Declaration from the heart.
“Referring to the Declaration as a ‘declaration of war’ is not the kind of language appropriate for a modern liberal democracy like Australia. Historically, petitions have always been addressed to the Crown by indigenous peoples.’
The Uluru Dialogue stressed that the statement was presented as an ‘olive branch’, a ‘hand of friendship’ and ‘sign of peace’.
Mr Mundine’s speech comes amid an increasingly divisive debate over whether the constitution should change to create a body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to advise the government on policies that affect them.
The referendum is Australia’s first since 1999 and a record number of people registered to vote on October 14.
Corporate Australia has overwhelmingly backed the proposed Voice, with national carrier Qantas showing its support after unveiling a Yes logo on three aircraft at Sydney Airport in June.
Mr Mundine, a successful businessman, sharply criticized companies for treating the Voice as “the shiny new thing” and said companies like Qantas were failing to advocate for work that directly benefited Indigenous people.
Mr Mundine was asked about his differences with fellow No campaigner Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who said Indigenous people today are not feeling the negative effects of colonization.
“Major companies have championed the Voice – but when was the last time any of them raised awareness about violence and abuse in remote Aboriginal communities?” he said.
‘When will Qantas paint one of its planes with a call to action to confront the violence and abuse of Aboriginal women and children in remote Australia?’
He said the referendum and the Uluru declaration had become a “glossy marketing brochure” for the misappropriation of indigenous culture and for a “radical and divisive” Australia.
“We have also seen the good of this country, the good of its people and its institutions, and the great promise it offers to all Australians. Our stories are a testimony. We need to work harder to create opportunities for other stories,” he said.
“But we all oppose the Voice and the radical and divisive Voice, Treaty, Truth agenda of the Uluru Declaration to which the Albanian government is committed.
‘That way will not reconcile us. It will only divide us and keep us that way.”