3 months ago
26
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called the culture war over Welcome to Country ceremonies a “dry gully” in a speech at the Garma Festival.
Native Title holders will receive $75 million and mobile TAFE programs $35 million, Albanese announced on Gumatj country at Gulkula in the Northern Territory on Saturday.
Albanese said the government must repay and build trust with Indigenous Australians, criticising “those who choose the cheap politics of division over the patient work of lasting change, or who seek to turn the grace and generosity of a Welcome to Country into a political weapon”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrives at the 25th annual Garma Festival in Gulkula, Northern Territory.Credit: AAP
“Culture wars are a dry gully. They offer us nothing, they lead us nowhere. The way forward is to invest in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, trust in their aspirations and draw from their knowledge. Because when we lay these strong foundations together, there is no limit to what we can build,” he said.
The latest update to Closing the Gap data, published this week, showed Australia had moved backwards on four of the 15 assessed targets. A further six metrics were improving but not on track to meet targets.
One of the most alarming movements was a rise in suicide rates, with self-harm reported as the most frequent cause of death for Indigenous people aged 15 to 39. Rates were increasing for those aged 25 to 39.
Fewer children were assessed as being developmentally on track, and more adults were incarcerated. The only on-track targets were in early childhood education, land and water rights, and economic participation.
Minister for Indigenous Australia Malarndirri McCarthy said she was pleased the majority of targets were seeing some improvement, but found it “very concerning” to see worsening rates of incarceration, children in out-of-home care and suicide.
“It’s important that state and territory governments all back in their commitments under the National Agreement with actions that will help improve outcomes for First Nations people,” she said.
But Productivity Commissioner Selwyn Button said the report reflected the “limited progress of governments in collectively acting”, saying they were falling “well short of what has been promised”.
Loading
A statement released by the Uluru Dialogue, co-chaired by Voice to parliament architects Megan Davis and Pat Anderson, said Indigenous calls for help were falling on deaf ears.
“We are tired of being told, yet again, that there is no progress on Closing the Gap, there is more to do, there is more data to get, there are more bureaucrats to convince, more departments to get on board, more to persuade,” it said.
“The disappointment we feel this week isn’t only directed at the lack of progress. It’s directed at the sheer magnitude of how different this year could have been if we had a voice.”
The statement described the Garma Festival, which began on Friday, as “a performative opportunity for the government to repeat their talking points”.
Albanese’s address at last year’s festival was criticised for lacking ambition following the Voice referendum’s failure. He had announced the referendum question’s wording at the 2023 festival.
Education Minister Jason Clare and Environment and Water Minister Murray Watt will attend this year’s festival, which is hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation. Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser will represent the opposition.
Yothu Yindi Foundation chief executive Denise Bowden said she was grateful for the prime minister’s attendance, saying it offered Indigenous communities the chance to speak directly to Albanese about infrastructure and education investment as well as GST reform.
“[Albanese’s] got a loaded cabinet, and he’s got plenty of numbers on his side, and I certainly hope that he’ll be utilising that power,” she told ABC’s RN Breakfast on Friday.
Most Viewed in Politics
Loading
