Key Points
- The Greens want Treaty and Truth telling preparations to start immediately.
- Anthony Albanese insists his focus is on the Voice referendum this year.
- The budget outlined no extra details on the other elements of the Uluru Statement.
Labor is facing demands for an "insurance policy" in case the Voice to Parliament referendum fails, amid fears it could walk away from its long-term plans if Australians vote against constitutional change.
Crossbenchers are urging the federal government to start work on , and follow through regardless of .
Labor allocated $5.8 million towards a national Makarrata commission — which would oversee Truth and with the Commonwealth — in October, but how that money has been spent, and Labor's time-frame after the referendum, remain unclear.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has focused his attention on the Voice — the budget allocating over $300 million to this year's referendum — but no additional funds for Truth and Treaty.
And asked whether he would guarantee funding for Makarrata next year, Mr Albanese did not answer directly.
"I'm about a successful referendum. I think that the consequences of the referendum failing will be bad for the country ... What's on my agenda is a referendum this year. I'm very focused on that, and I'm focused on a successful outcome," he told SBS News.
Greens warn Labor could be left unprepared
Australians have not passed a referendum in half a century, and Greens Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Dorinda Cox warned Labor could be left unprepared if history repeats itself.
Asked whether she believed a lack of preparation could pave the way for Labor to walk away from the process, Senator Cox told SBS News, "I think so".
"Should this referendum not be successful, we need an insurance policy, and we need Makarrata. We need this government to commit to doing that. You can do two things at once," she said.
"On the Sunday when we all wake up, I do not want to be the person saying, 'What now?'"
Labor's first budget in October last year allocated $5.8 million for establishing a Makarrata commission — earmarking a total of $27.7 million in future — but the timeline remains unclear.
The National Indigenous Australians Agency told Senate estimates on Wednesday that just $900,000 had been put aside for this financial year, and not all of that had been spent. But a spokesperson insisted the government remains "very committed" to all three elements of the Uluru Statement.
"What I'm asking them to do right now is the practical application of the money that they already have banked," Senator Cox said.
"They've already committed this money in the budget ... The [money] is still sitting there in the kitty waiting."
Dorinda Cox insists Labor can work on Voice and Treaty at the same time. Source: AAP / Michael O'Brien
Millions for Makarrata, but unclear how it's being used
Speaking after the budget, Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney reiterated Labor's commitment to implementing in full, including Treaty and Truth.
"The commitment is not just for the Voice ... Truth will be told. It has to be. And I want to really encourage you to think about the referendum," she said.
Senator Cox described Ms Burney's commitment as "solid", but that said that needed to be replicated "from the top".
"We are not going to continue to put the burden on our Indigenous Affairs Minister, as the black voice in this. We need everyone. We are asking our allies to walk with us," she said.
"What I'm asking them to do right now is the practical application of the money that they already have banked."
Lidia Thorpe says Labor wants 'a powerless Voice'
The Greens threw their support behind the Voice in February, a day after their Indigenous Australians spokesperson Lidia Thorpe resigned to campaign freely on the issue.
But the decision was a compromise for the party, which retains a preference for Treaty and Truth processes to come before the Voice referendum.
Senator Thorpe, now an independent, said a lack of funding for Makarrata in the budget was "consistent" with Mr Albanese's "inability" to talk beyond the Voice.
"This is a party that has been talking about Treaty since the days of [Bob] Hawke and [Paul] Keating, but has never taken steps to begin the process," she told SBS News.
Lidia Thorpe has demanded Treaty and Truth come regardless of the Voice, which she says will be "powerless". Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
Senator Thorpe said although Treaty had been "the clearest and most consistent demand" of Indigenous people, it was obvious Mr Albanese "only cares about the Voice".
"The Labor government would rather give us rations with a powerless Voice than to respond to what First Nations people have been demanding since colonisation," she said.
Voice key to Treaty, advocates say
But Sally Scales, a member of the Voice referendum group, insists the body is key to ultimately realising the goal of Truth and Treaty.
"I just don't know how we will be able to do that when we are still voiceless in the community. How would we be able to do a Treaty process if we don't have a voice to have that negotiation with government?," she asked SBS News.
Ms Scales said a "slow, deliberate" Treaty process was required to bring all Indigenous people, including those for whom English is not a first language, into the conversation.
"If you're not allowing that time and you're rushing it through, that's not a proper Treaty process," she said.
"For us to have a proper Treaty discussion, we need a seat at the table. We need to be a part of that decision-making."
