COVID-19 has shown up a mind-bending contradiction. On one hand, the arts are entwined with our daily lives. Yet culture has disappeared from federal policy. Something has gone fundamentally wrong.
The Indigenous Constitutional Voice has been miscast by mischievous politicians as quasi-separatism. Australians were frightened by the inference it was not just illiberal, but un-Australian.
State archives hold precious Noongar letters pleading for the return of Stolen Generations children. Among them, I find my grandmother’s grandfather: historical records of love.
Some of the key points in the Uluru Statement mirror demands first made in the 1920s, including genuine Aboriginal self-determination and an Aboriginal board to sit under the Commonwealth government.
James Ross/AAP
The Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association, founded in 1924, made several demands to protect Indigenous rights, including installing an Aboriginal board to sit beneath the federal government.
There’s ample evidence that a government-led approach to Indigenous policy-making has not always led to good outcomes for Indigenous peoples.
Lukas Coch/AAP
The Coalition government is stressing partnerships and accountability in its Indigenous policies, but PM Scott Morrison is actually taking a top-down approach and ignoring Indigenous advice.
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to recast how decisions are made about Indigenous affairs.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
We have welcomed the opportunity to guide the co-design process because we feel this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to recast how decisions are made in Indigenous affairs.
‘It’s really an appalling story of lack of accountability [and] lack of oversight by this government’, says Michelle Grattan on the findings in the interim report from the aged care royal commission.
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As the first Indigenous federal cabinet minister, Ken Wyatt is widely respected in first peoples communities, but by the same token, the expectations on him are very high.
Siena Stubbs, 17, from Yirrkala in East Arnhem Shire reads the Imagination Declaration on behalf of a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students at the 2019 Garma Festival.
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Marnee Shay, The University of Queensland; Annette Woods, Queensland University of Technology, and Grace Sarra, Queensland University of Technology
A group of school students have just shown what real leadership looks like on Indigenous issues – and you’ll hear more about their ideas in coming months at your local school, childcare centre or uni.
“We have not yet had true reconciliation, and a country that is not truly reconciled is not truly whole,” says Anthony Albanese at the Garma Festival.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Anthony Albanese says an Indigenous Voice must be enshrined in the Constitution, making it difficult to see how he and Scott Morrison will be able to agree on a referendum question.
The Queensland treaty process is still in the early stages and negotiations will not begin for several years. But it’s still a historic step forward for Indigenous communities.
Tracey Nearmy/AAP
Queensland has become the latest state or territory to embark on an Indigenous treaty process. But for lasting progress to be made, the federal government cannot shirk its responsibility.
Professor Megan Davis is an independent expert member of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
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Megan Davis on a First Nations Voice in the Constitution
The Conversation, CC BY31.4 MB(download)
Megan Davis says the idea of including an Indigenous Voice in the Constitution is being rejected on an understanding that "simply isn't true" but believes Australia has the "capacity to correct this".
The government has announced its plan to put a referendum this term to recognise Indigenous Australians in the Constitution.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Michelle Grattan speaks with University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini about the government’s plans to put forward a referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians in the Constitution.
The government’s proposal for a referendum will only happen if it can get consensus on the content of what would go into the constitution, and there’s a high probability of a favourable outcome.
Dan Peled/AAP
It would be another miracle if the Morrison government managed to have a referendum passed to give Australia’s Indigenous people constitutional recognition.
In his first major policy address, Ken Wyatt noted how previous governments have failed Indigenous Australians with a ‘top-down, command and control approach.’
Rohan Thomson/AAP
Ken Wyatt’s promise of a referendum on constitutional recognition within three years marks a dramatic shift from the Turnbull government’s rejection of the Uluru Statement of the Heart.
The appointment of Ken Wyatt as the first Indigenous minister for Indigenous Australians is a significant moment in the nation’s history.
AAP/Lukas Coch
While the new minister has the chance to make a real difference, unrealistic expectations of him should be tempered- real change will take not just the whole government, but the nation.
First, change the constitution. Then, negotiate the detailed design of the First Nations voice to parliament: this is the only way to bring about meaningful reform.
Today we’re asking: what Queensland seats are the ones to watch on election night? How to give Indigenous Australians a true voice in politics? And how can we improve trust in the political system?
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The myth of ‘the Queensland voter’, Australia’s trust deficit, and the path to Indigenous recognition
The Conversation122 MB(download)
Today, an election-themed episode about some of the biggest policy questions Australia faces, featuring Indigenous academic lawyer Eddie Synot and political scientist Anne Tiernan.
The Coalition government has rejected the Uluru Statement’s call for an Indigenous voice to Parliament, just one of many disappointments for Indigenous peoples.
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Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University