A former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner has urged the major parties to pursue a more ambitious Indigenous affairs agenda, accusing leaders of losing the “courage” to pursue meaningful change after the defeat of the voice referendum.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, are zipping across the country in an attempt to secure the hearts and minds of voters, with cost-of-living relief high on the agenda for both parties.
The referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament – and support for the Uluru statement from the heart – were key topics of debate in the 2022 election. But so far this campaign there has been scant detail on policies directly affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Mick Gooda, a supporter of the yes campaign and the commissioner of the 2016 royal commission into youth detention in the Northern Territory, told Guardian Australia neither Labor nor the Coalition had outlined a clear vision.
“We need courage now,” he said. “We need people to stick a stake in the ground about where we’re going. Have they abandoned the three pillars of Uluru?
“Once we know where they stand … we can move forward. But at the moment, we just don’t know.”
Labor says it remains committed to the “principles of truth-telling” but both parties have pledged to focus on practical, rather than symbolic, measures to close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage.
“A re-elected Albanese government will continue to work in partnership with First Nations organisations and state and territory governments to deliver better outcomes and improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians,” a Labor campaign spokesperson said.
The spokesperson noted Labor had scrapped the remote work for the dole program, expanded Indigenous ranger programs and was cutting the cost of food in remote communities.
A spokesperson for the Coalition said it was “committed to practical action for the most marginalised Indigenous Australians”. The party is promising a royal commission into sexual abuse in Indigenous communities, claiming, without evidence, that the “scourge remains largely out of sight and out of mind”.
Dutton has also pledged to audit all Indigenous expenditure and funding to assess if money should be “reprioritised”.
A Torres Strait Islander man, trade unionist and yes campaigner, Thomas Mayo, said the Albanese government had made strides on Indigenous issues, particularly in health, but urged more action on implementing the calls of the Uluru statement from the heart.
“It’s disappointing that it isn’t a greater priority to address truth-telling and agreement making,” he said. “But again, the difference is stark.
“One major party says they’re still committed to it, and that’s not enough. But the difference being that and the Coalition is, they have destroyed truth-telling and treaty processes, wherever they have been able to.”
The Country Liberal party government in the NT discontinued the treaty process this year and Queensland’s Liberal National party government repealed treaty legislation as its first act in parliament after winning the 2024 state election.
Mayo said there appeared to be a reluctance to highlight Indigenous issues since the failure of the 2023 referendum.
“The reluctance undoubtedly comes from the behaviour of their opposition,” Mayo said, “and they’re shameless when it comes to disinformation about treaty and truth-telling around Indigenous matters.”
An independent Victorian senator and Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman, Lidia Thorpe, said she supported an audit of Indigenous affairs spending but any inquiry should be culturally appropriate, respectful and transparent.
“It has to be done in a way that our people [are] part of the solution,” she said. “It should not undermine self-determination … It’s got to be done in a way where it doesn’t become a racist approach.”
Thorpe campaigned against the referendum. “Labor have been very, very disappointing in the last three years,” she said. “They led us down a garden path of this nice feeling referendum that [has] caused more harm than good.
“They’ve completely walked away from treaty. They’ve completely walked away from truth-telling.”
