Price slams Albanese for ignoring voice of Indigenous people

Shadow Indigenous Affairs Minister Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has blasted the Albanese government for ignoring the voices of Indigenous people one year after the failure of the Voice referendum.

In an interview with the Weekend Australian, Ms Price said the Federal government was not interested in hearing of the ongoing problems Indigenous people face.

“They’re not interested in hearing the voices of Indigenous Australians who want practical solutions and their voices heard through our democratic parliamentary system,” she said.

“The Albanese government had no backup plan if the referendum failed, and they are just scrambling now.”

Ms Nampijinpa Price is calling for an audit of Indigenous Affairs spending and reform of existing structures.

Just last week Senator Price called for an inquiry into and councils, saying things had gone “seriously wrong” under the Albanese government.

“As an Indigenous woman herself, Minister McCarthy should appreciate the significance of these elders speaking out against the Central Land Council,” Senator Price said in a statement.

Senator Jacinta Price addresses the National Press Club in Canberra in September last year.

“In Indigenous cultures, what your elders say deserves attention – they have seen and heard more than those who have come after them, and their words are not something to be trivialised.”

“The Central Land Council may have been around for 50 years, but that is no reason in and of itself to celebrate.

If an organisation has not delivered or fulfilled its purpose for its people, then the number of years it has existed is irrelevant.

“If Anthony Albanese and Minister McCarthy want to listen to Aboriginal voices, they have ample opportunity right now, in front of their faces.”

“If they really wanted to be champions of Indigenous empowerment and independence, they would be listening and acting on what these elders are saying.”

Senator Price said the prime minister had several chances to support motions for an Inquiry, but he had refused every time.

“It’s simple – a Prime Minister who refuses to show the leadership that it takes to support a call like this is not fit to run this country,” she said.