Peter Dutton criticised over claim it is ‘racist’ to suggest Indigenous are affected by policies differently

Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton: ‘It’s actually a racist statement to say that an Indigenous person is impacted differently than a non-Indigenous person in relation to any area of public policy.’ Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

Opposition leader Peter Dutton was “disingenuous” when he said it was “racist” to suggest Indigenous people are affected by policies differently, according to the co-chair of the Indigenous voice co-design group Tom Calma.

In an interview with youth-oriented podcast The Daily Aus, released on Monday, Dutton said it was “racist” to say that Indigenous people were affected differently by policies compared with people who were not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

“It’s actually a racist statement to say that an Indigenous person is impacted differently than a non-Indigenous person in relation to any area of public policy. Defence affects Indigenous people in exactly the same way as it does non-Indigenous people,” Dutton said.

Dutton was responding to questions about his position on the voice and concerns around potential wording in the constitution as proposed by the government.

He said he had spoken to a number of Indigenous people who had expressed doubts to him about the government’s proposal and how they might affect First Nations people.

“The prime minister says ‘the voice will only be concerned with issues relating to Indigenous Australians’. Now, I mean do you think that that includes health and education? Of course. Does it include law and order and policies around those areas in communities? Of course it does … I think there are just questions that are reasonably asked,” he told the program.

“But do I want to hear from Indigenous Australians about how we can improve the situation? Absolutely.”

Dutton said he supported a voice in the legislation, but again pushed for more detail.

“The question is whether or not the government’s proposed words in the constitution deliver the practical outcome that we want for Indigenous Australians,” he told the podcast.

Professor Tom Calma: ‘Many policies have an adverse impact [on Indigenous Australians].’ Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Calma told Guardian Australia that he struggled to understand why Dutton was suggesting policies did not impact different populations in adverse ways, adding that there was a long legacy of public policy failing Indigenous people.

“It is very disingenuous to say that public policy does not have an impact. Not all, but many policies have an adverse impact,” Calma said.

“I just don’t understand why he makes that statement because all the evidence to date – the parliamentary committees, the parliamentary reports – all indicate that some public policies have a detrimental impact on Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander people the way that they’re being applied.”

Calma welcomed Dutton’s support on the legislated voice and said further discussion on the voice’s proposed structure and model will be up to parliament.

Petter Dutton’s office has been contacted for comment.

Marcus Stewart, a supporter of the yes campaign and a member of the referendum working group, said that Dutton, who has conceded he was wrong to oppose the Rudd government’s apology to survivors of the Stolen Generations, risked being on the “wrong side of history”.

“He’s admitted that he took the wrong decision in turning his back on the apology, now he needs to decide if he wants to be on the wrong side of history again.

“We all want to get on with creating a better future together as equals, but to do that we need to reckon with our past and we need to ensure Aboriginal people have a seat at the table and our voices are heard.”

Stewart said that Indigenous people had often borne the brunt of policy which didn’t work.

“Dutton is missing the point, again. We are disproportionately impacted by many policies imposed on us by a system that doesn’t understand or respect us,” Stewart said.