Subjects: The Prime Minister’s divisive Voice, Treaty, Truth proposal; the barbaric attacks on Israel and the ramifications around Australia.
E&OE
SABRA LANE:
Peter Dutton, thanks for joining AM.
PETER DUTTON:
Thanks, Sabra.
SABRA LANE:
On Sunday, assuming it’s a ‘No’ result, how do you think Australia will view itself?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I hope Australia can view itself as having rejected a proposition that hadn’t been properly explained or planned or thought through. I think there’s a lot of regret in terms of the division that’s been created, the money that’s been expended, and no practical outcome that was going to be delivered for Indigenous Australians.
I think every Indigenous Australian, every non-Indigenous Australian, wants to see a better situation for people, particularly in remote and regional areas, and I hope that the country can come together quickly and to provide support to those communities, but also for the Government to get back to some of the core issues, including cost of living, that a lot of families right across the country are suffering at the moment.
SABRA LANE:
Will you feel a sense of satisfaction that your side of politics has knocked off this idea put forward by Indigenous leaders six years ago?
PETER DUTTON:
I think the proposition that the Prime Minister’s put to the Australian people, the words so broad and against advice, it would have been a very significant and detrimental change to our system of government.
So, in that sense, I think there is – and including with some Indigenous people who have spoken with great authority on this matter – I think there will be a sense of relief. But at the same time I think it’s unfair that a lot of younger Indigenous people in particular have had their expectations lifted, they’ve heard that there’s racism involved in people’s decision, but the fact is that four or five out of ten Labor voters are predicted to vote ‘no’, and when you get that sort of outcome, you know that it’s a rejection – not of Indigenous people, not of a burning desire to do good for Indigenous Australians – it’s a rejection of the model put forward unwisely by the Prime Minister and the campaign conducted in such a way that he’s been able to turn 65 per cent support, which was the initial reaction, into something much less than that.
SABRA LANE:
Just a couple of points. You say it’s the Prime Minister’s idea, but this was put forward by Indigenous leaders after a lengthy consultation process and you’ll have to reconcile your own side on this, won’t you? Julian Leeser quit the frontbench to campaign on this and there are plenty of senior Liberals who’ve campaigned for it: Ken Wyatt, Fred Chaney, Mark Speakman, Jeremy Rockliff, Julie Bishop, Malcolm Turnbull.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, Sabra, I’ve said constantly from the start that what’s been important here is that we have respect for people, whether they’re voting ‘yes’ or ‘no’. I’ve written to the Prime Minister in January of this year asking in a respectful way for questions to be answered, for the detail to be provided, and I think the Prime Minister’s made a catastrophic mistake in not providing the detail to Australians.
He’s instinctively won their hearts because Australians do want better outcomes for Indigenous Australians, but he hasn’t won their minds and that’s the reality for a vast majority of Australians, in my judgement, and I hope that people will vote ‘no’ on the weekend, not to reject the proposition of helping or recognising Indigenous Australians, quite the opposite. But people roundly have rejected the Voice proposal and the Prime Minister wrote a cheque that he couldn’t cash.
The fact is that Australians, all Australians, own the Constitution – and a proposition to change the wording of the Constitution, to insert a new chapter, is a decision made by the majority of Australians and the Prime Minister should have been more forthright in his advice to those advocating the Voice.
SABRA LANE:
The Prime Minister has ruled out legislating a Voice. What is it you think should be done next?
PETER DUTTON:
I think there needs to be a very close look at where the money is being spent within communities. There’s a lot of angst within Indigenous communities as you go around the country speaking to elders and speaking to women, to families, they’re concerned about where money is being spent. Now, there are lots of programmes…
SABRA LANE:
There are – sorry just to pick you up on that point – but there are plenty of processes at the moment that check on how the money is spent. We’ve got parliamentary committee processes, you’ve got Auditor-Generals, you’ve got the Productivity Commission. You’re suggesting another layer?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, Sabra, I just think the amount of money – and there’s goodwill on both sides of politics in this regard – but the amount of money that’s tipped into the top of the funnel in Canberra, when you get to Alice Springs and you see the conditions that people are living in, the lack of support that’s provided there, the money’s going somewhere and it’s not to those who are most in need. So, I think questions are reasonably asked because they’re being asked – that is the Voice of people on the street in Alice Springs that you speak with – they’re asking these questions. So, I think it’s respectful that we hear what they’ve had to say and that we act on it accordingly. I think that’s a very important point, and I think we shouldn’t be afraid in any area of public expense to ask those questions: ‘is the money being most effective in the way that it’s applied or spent?’.
There are lots of programs that work well, the voice of Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians has been heard in the design, for example, of regional health services. There’s a lot of support provided through the NACCHOs, for example, and I think you can go through different areas of public policy that apply to Indigenous Australians – some working, some not, and I think that’s the focus beyond Saturday.
SABRA LANE:
In regards to the Middle East situation, Australia’s spy chief, ASIO Chief Mike Burgess, has cautioned people to moderate their language around the ongoing unrest in the Middle East. He remains concerned about opportunistic violence with little or no warning. Do you agree with those assessments?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, of course. I mean, he’s the expert and I think he’s been able to provide that advice. I spoke with Mr Burgess yesterday and I had a briefing the day before from the intelligence agencies. So, I think we need to be very cautious about the level of angst, particularly within the Jewish community at the moment, where people are literally scared in our country. It’s an abomination, but that’s the reality.
People are fearful for their kids wearing Jewish school uniforms, they’re worried about gathering in places where there could be a target, and we know that the Jewish community itself has ramped up the security settings that they have in place, and no doubt ASIO and the Australian Federal Police and the state policing authorities are liaising very closely.
So, it’s a precarious time and my beef is with the pro-Hamas protesters and people here who are creating an unsafe environment because of their language. I think Mr Burgess is right to call it out.
SABRA LANE:
Mr Dutton, thanks for your time on AM.
PETER DUTTON:
Thank you, Sabra. Thank you.
[ends]