'It would be far more dignifying if we were recognised and respected as individuals in our own right who are not simply defined by our racial heritage but by the content of our character. 'No, we Indigenous Australians have not come to agreement on this statement, as you have also claimed. 'And, no, Prime Minister, we don't need another handout, as you have described the Uluru statement to be. 'This government has yet to demonstrate how this proposed voice will deliver practical outcomes and unite, rather than drive a wedge further between, Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia,' Senator Price said. The former deputy mayor of Alice Springs used her maiden speech to condemn Mr Albanese's promise for a referendum. 'I personally have had more than my fill of being symbolically recognised.' Senator Price, who sits with The Nationals as a member of the NT's Country Liberal Party, used her maiden speech to the chamber this week to deride the now ubiquitous acknowledgement to traditional owners, with federal Parliament now having 10 Indigenous members. Professor Marcia Langton, a co-author of the Uluru Statement from the Heart who is also speaking at the Garma Festival, argued this voice was necessary to protect Aboriginal people from genocide and questioned if critics 'can read and write'. 'Perhaps a word of advice, since that is what you are seeking: listen to everyone, not just those who support your virtue-signalling agenda but also those you contradict,' she said. Jacinta Price has used her new national platform to campaign against the prime minister's plan, being unveiled this weekend in Arnhem Land, for a referendum to be held to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the Constitution. Like her Indigenous mother Bess Price, a former Northern Territory Country Liberals minister, the NT's newest senator has been a fierce critic of welcome to country ceremonies and is opposed to the idea of an Aboriginal Voice to Parliament. While some left-leaning Labor lawmakers - and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese - say the legal change would help improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, others have slammed the idea as 'patronising', saying it would do little to lift thousands out of poverty.Ī cultural gap is widening, with conservatives denouncing symbolic gestures that do nothing to tackle issues such as domestic violence and alcohol abuse, and left-leaning advocates who emphasise Australia's colonial and racist past.Ĭonservative Indigenous senator Jacinta Price has made enemies with other Aboriginal politicians by campaigning against what she calls symbolic gestures (pictured making her maiden speech this week) Her maiden speech to the Senate this week has exposed the stark divide between Indigenous MPs and community leaders, particularly over those who want a 'Voice to Parliament' enshrined into the Constitution.Ī Voice to Parliament is an idea put forward in the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart, and would be a body of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people set up in Canberra to advise Parliament on policies and projects. Conservative senator Jacinta Price has made enemies of other Aboriginal politicians by campaigning against what she deems tokenistic virtue-signalling.
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