Latest news with #Aboriginals
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Warren Mundine calls on Labor to abandon 'nonsense' approach to Indigenous issues, focus on 'great things' rather than highlighting gap in outcomes
Warren Mundine has called on Labor to abandon its "nonsense" approach to Indigenous issues. Following the defeat of the Voice referendum in 2023, the Albanese government has received criticism for a lack of action on improving the lives of Indigenous Australians. A lack of progress in hitting health, education and other socioeconomic targets in the Closing the Gap report led to further scrutiny, as well as calls from some in the community for a return to basics approach. Despite this, Labor has maintained it remains committed to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full, adding it was focused on turning outcomes around. Speaking to Sky News Australia, though, Mr Mundine argued the government's approach would continue to fail so long as they kept seeking ways to implement the Uluru Statement instead of focusing on fundamental needs. "The No vote (against the Voice) was almost twice the size of what the Albanese government got in this election, so let's get back to the reality," he said. "The reality is none of these things will ever fix anything or the problems within Aboriginal and the rest of Australia. "We have to come up with some serious stuff and there is some great stuff that is happening out there. "Let us talk about them, let us work on those, instead of just talking about all this nonsense all the time which has been so strongly rejected, not only by the wider Australian community, but by Aboriginal people." Mr Mundine is not alone in calling for greater focus on the "great stuff" occurring in some Indigenous communities. New shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Kerrynne Liddle, has been outspoken on the need to change perceptions about First Nations peoples. "It is disingenuous to suggest that every Aboriginal person is impoverished because that is not true. There are many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working well and effectively in organisations," she told The Australian last week. Mr Mundine echoed that view, citing the Indigenous Business and Economic Program as he argued Labor needed to shift its focus to promoting the success of Indigenous communities. "I sat at a conference once and it talked about health problems in Aboriginals, it talked about crime in Aboriginals, it talked about unemployment in Aboriginals," he said. "I'm a very positive person. By the end of that conference, I sat there and said: 'God, I must be one of the most miserable people on the planet'. "We're not recognising the incredible success of what's happening. You look at the Indigenous Business and Economic Program. It's gone from a 6.7 million program to 8.2 billion, 40,000 jobs for, not only for Aboriginal people, 25,000 for Aboriginal people, but 20,000 other people in Australia who are working for Aboriginal businesses." Mr Mundine added the government could only change outcomes by injecting "positivity" into the conversation around Indigenous issues, warning: "If we keep talking about negative stuff, then we'll always end up with negative stuff".
Sky News AU
5 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Warren Mundine responds to Pat Dodson's call for reconciliation and WA scheme offering Stolen Generation survivors $85k
Indigenous affairs advocate Warren Mundine has argued First Peoples of Australia already have sovereignty after former Labor senator Pat Dodson's comments. Mr Dodson spoke at a Reconciliation Week event in Western Australia on Tuesday where he raised hopes of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Aussies, describing it as "unfinished business" that must not be neglected. 'If we are to have meaningful reconciliation in this country, the nation must come to grips with our inherent collective rights as First Peoples," he said in Fremantle. "An approach to reconciliation in which the focus is only on the practical business of Closing the Gap suggests that all (that) the First Peoples are entitled to is equality in the standards of life enjoyed by other citizens and little more. 'To reframe reconciliation as solely practical risks displacing from the national conscience the historical root causes of the structural inequality. 'It reinforces a form of psychological terra nullius that has been likened to a collective amnesia about the past which becomes manifest in an ideological inability to come to grips with and accommodate the inherent sovereign rights of Indigenous people in a modern nation state. The consequences of this have been devastating for First Peoples." Mr Mundine on Sky News argued "we get treated all the same, we're all citizens". He pointed to the 1967 referendum which asked Australia to vote on the recognising of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution. More than 90 per cent supported it which saw First Peoples included in the census and gave the government power to make laws for the the Indigenous community. "In regard to the sovereignty issue, we have sovereignty already. We're citizens of this country. We enjoy all the sovereignty rights of this county," Mr Mundine said. "In fact, we've gotten benefits from the sovereignty rights of this country. And that is in regard to Native title, the High Court decision in regard to the native title saying that we had rights. And that terra nullius is now doesn't exist anymore." The prominent anti-Voice campaigner referred to a recent High Court decision on property rights for Aboriginals, First Nations programs, heritage legislation and mining and energy industries giving royalties to Aboriginals as examples of sovereignty. Sky News host Danica Di Giorgio then asked about a Western Australian government redress scheme where Stolen Generation survivors will be each given $85,000. Those in the community who were forcibly removed from their families in the state before 1972 will be eligible to receive the taxpayer-funded payout. WA Attorney General Tony Buti estimated between 2,500 to 3,000 people in the state are eligible, meaning the cost of the scheme could reach $250 million. Mr Mundine stressed "there has to be burden of proof". Mr Dodson this week also urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to forge ahead with a national truth telling commission, also known as Makarrata, and a treaty process, which are the two other requests in the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart. "They can do that because it doesn't require constitutional referendum, it can be done by way of legislation," he said on ABC's 7.30 this week. If it went ahead it could be met with mixed feelings given the Voice, also one of the requests, was voted against in almost all jurisdictions in a 2023 referendum. Mr Dodson - also known as "the father of reconciliation" due to his advocacy work - retired from federal politics in 2024 due to treatment on cancer.
Epoch Times
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
WA to Pay $85,000 to Indigenous Survivors of the Stolen Generations
Western Australia (WA) has unveiled a long-awaited scheme to financially compensate members of the Stolen Generations, offering up to $85,000 per person. The scheme will deliver individual taxpayer-funded payments to Aboriginals removed from their families by the state prior to July 1, 1972. State Premier Roger Cook said the gesture was a necessary step. 'No amount of money could ever make up for the experience of Stolen Generations members and their families, and the ongoing effects on people's lives,' he said. Applications for the scheme will open later in 2025, with initial payments expected to be processed by year's end. The announcement aligns WA with almost all other states and territories, with Queensland now the only jurisdiction without such a program. Announcement Follows 'Sorry Day' Observance The decision comes a day after National Sorry Day, which commemorates the release of the 1997 Bringing Them Home report. That report chronicled the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children forcibly taken from their communities over several decades. Related Stories 5/11/2025 4/24/2025 WA has historically seen the highest number of children removed under these policies. Compensation for survivors was among more than 50 key recommendations made in the report. Cook called the announcement 'a major step in the pursuit of reconciliation and healing.' In February, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed federal support would continue. 'The process of healing that began with the Apology goes on, a process we are assisting by extending the Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme to June 30, 2028,' Albanese said during his address marking the 17th anniversary of the national apology. Support from Aboriginal Group The Healing Foundation, a national organisation supporting Stolen Generations survivors, praised the WA government's move. CEO Shannan Dodson said the decision followed years of advocacy. 'I pay tribute and honour all the Stolen Generations organisations that have advocated and stood alongside survivors throughout this long journey,' she said. She noted that while financial compensation cannot erase the trauma, it does offer acknowledgment and some form of restitution. Concerns Scheme Lacks Nuance Chair of the Close the Gap Research group, Gary Johns, said the premier was correct in saying the state could not change history. 'The scheme does not distinguish Indigenous children taken from families, to those given up, or those taken responsibly for their protection, and those who allegedly were stolen,' he told The Epoch Times. 'By lumping every applicant together the moral underpinning of the scheme has been degraded,' he added, saying it erred more towards virtue signalling. 'Taxpayers should condemn the scheme.'
ABC News
01-05-2025
- ABC News
Lake Bolac farmer found guilty of destroying Aboriginal rock formation
A south-west Victorian farmer has been found guilty of destroying an ancient Aboriginal rock formation on his property in 2021. A Ballarat magistrate on Thursday convicted and sentenced Adrian McMaster for breaching the Aboriginal Heritage Act. In 2021, the 65-year-old used an excavator to remove rocks from a 1,500-year-old, 300-metre-long stone arrangement resembling an eel on his Lake Bolac property. The giant formation is known to Djap Wurrung traditional owners as the kuyang ceremonial ground and has been a recognised and registered site of Aboriginal significance since 1975. A pile of rocks from the partially destroyed 300-metre-long stone arrangement. ( ABC News: Sian Johnson ) Last month in the Ballarat Magistrates' Court, McMaster disputed the charge, telling the court he believed the rocks presented a "safety issue". The matter was argued on two key points — whether McMaster's actions constituted a "mistake of fact or law" and whether that mistake was "reasonable and honest". On Thursday, Magistrate Mark Stratmann deemed that although McMaster had made a mistake of fact, his conduct was neither reasonable nor honest. Magistrate Stratmann told the court this ruling was based on McMaster's comments that he had seen no Aboriginals in the area, along with his failure to act on repeated warnings that he was interfering with a known Aboriginal heritage site. He also referenced McMaster's long association with the Lake Bolac property, his admission there were "Chinese whispers" about cultural heritage on the land and McMaster's ongoing work with a mining industry that routinely dealt with sites of cultural significance. "He suffered from an absence of knowledge that he did nothing to sharpen," Magistrate Stratmann said. McMaster was sentenced with a recorded conviction, a 12-month undertaking for good behaviour and ordered to donate $7,000 to the Aboriginal Heritage Council for ongoing protection and preservation of the site. The prosecution also requested McMaster cover more than $14,000 in court costs. The final figure owed by McMaster is yet to be determined by the court. ABC Ballarat — local news in your inbox Get our local newsletter, delivered free each Wednesday Your information is being handled in accordance with the Email address Subscribe
Sky News AU
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Cannot be trusted': Peta Credlin and Andrew Bolt deliver blistering rebuke of Labor in wake of reignited Voice discussion; label Wong's comments no accident
Sky News hosts Peta Credlin and Andrew Bolt have fiercely slammed Labor for resurrecting the Voice to Parliament three days out from the federal election. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the Voice, which was overwhelmingly rejected by more than 60 per cent of Australians in a referendum in 2023, was now inevitable. 'I think we'll look back on it in 10 years' time and it'll be a bit like marriage equality,' she said on the Betoota Talks podcast, comparing the two issues. 'I always used to say, marriage equality, which took us such a bloody fight to get that done – and I thought, all this fuss – it'll become something, it'll be like, people go 'did we even have an argument about that?'. Peta Credlin suggested the reason why Penny Wong resurrected the Voice from the dead was to stir up increased support from younger voters that had drifted away from Labor towards the Greens. She also claimed that the comments had been strategically pushed out in the dying days of the campaign, "late enough" that it wouldn't get widely reported, but with enough time that "they can then claim it as some sort of mandate" if Labor won the election. The host argued that to revive the Voice now would "trash" the democratic decision Labor took in the first place to take the polarising issue to a referendum. Credlin also suggested a renewed effort to legislate the Voice was "front and centre" in Labor's widespread preference deals with the Greens. "So every Australian who voted No needs to send the PM a message in terms he can't help but understand and that message is to throw him out of office on his ear," she said. "Because, you've heard me say this before, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." Sky News presenter Andrew Bolt also blasted the Foreign Minister 'who never says a careless word', describing her comments as 'absolutely stunning'. 'Australians 18 months ago said no to dividing us by race, no to the Voice, a kind of advisory parliament just for Aboriginals. 60 per cent of Australians voted no at a referendum, but here is Penny Wong suggesting that it may soon be quite inevitable," he said. Bolt poured cold water on the Prime Minister's assurances on Wednesday that Labor would not revitalise the Voice if re-elected, stating 'but what if Albanese changed his mind, he's changed it before, what if the Greens forced him to make a law to create this Voice in exchange for its support?" Credlin also stressed that the messaging coming from the Prime Minister "cannot be trusted", following his comments on ABC Radio on Wednesday. "She did not say that. She spoke about how people will look back on what the issues were. That's very different from saying it's inevitable, she did not say that at all', Mr Albanese said in response to Senator Wong's remarks. Credlin said Australians had "heard this so often from the liar in the Lodge" and that the Prime Minister has developed a tendency of "Saying one thing, yet doing another,". "He cannot be trusted.' she said. Featuring as a guest on Ms Credlin's program on Wednesday, former Liberal Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the Foreign Minister's comments represented a flagrant disregard for the failure of the Voice referendum in October 2023. "This is a giant two-fingered salute to the voters of Australia, who resoundingly said no to a Voice," he said. "What Penny Wong has admitted today is 'you're going to get the Voice anyway if we stay in government'. "The only language people like Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese will understand is being booted out, because if they stay the Voice is coming regardless of how we voted, whether we like it or not." On Wednesday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Labor of pushing a "secret plan to legislate the Voice". 'Under a Labor-Greens government, we see this secret plan to legislate the voice and Penny Wong has let that cat out of the bag," he said at a press conference. After considerable backlash from the Opposition Leader and Indigenous figures, Ms Wong confirmed: 'The Voice is gone'. "The Prime Minister has made that clear, and the Australian people have made their position clear, and we respect the result of the referendum," she said.
