[ad_1]
Regional Indigenous leaders say Dutton is spreading ‘misinformation and confusion’ on the voice
Lorena Allam
Politicians of the Australian parliament can have their opinions, but they will count for only 227 votes at the referendum. It is the opinions of the nearly 18 million other Australian voters that will really count in deciding “yes” or “no”, a coalition of 13 regional Indigenous leaders say.
Peter Dutton has chosen to spread misinformation, confusion and ignore the support of the vast majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
It is simply wrong to label the proposal the “Prime Minister’s Canberra Voice” and “divisive”.
We hoped for better from our politicians.
In saying “no” the Liberals and Nationals are seeking to take us backwards as a nation.
We called for bipartisan support for the referendum, but political games are being played with our lives and futures, and the future of the entire nation.
Mr Dutton and the Liberals have very little understanding of our lives and experience and present no solutions despite 21 of 26 years in government.
They continue to focus on attacking the government and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and wish to maintain the top-down system of ‘Canberra knows best’ that continues to fail.
Mr Dutton supports legislated local and regional voices as though that is some brilliant, original idea of the Liberal Party. But we have operated at the local and regional level for nearly 10 years now, mostly under a Coalition Government.
We have experienced firsthand that our current system is broken, because decisions are made by politicians without our on the ground input.
Mr Dutton knows as well as we do, local and regional voices must be linked to the national level to provide an effective and empowering approach to close the gap. This is exactly what will be provided though Voice.
Mr Dutton did not respond to our request to meet in Canberra, or to our invitation to visit our regions so we could show him why constitutional recognition through Voice is the change we need – linking from local and regional to national.
The 13 empowered communities leaders are from across Australia from Cape York, to Redfern, the Ngarrindjeri lands in SA, North East Arnhem Land, NT, East and West Kimberley, and the NPY (Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, NT).
Key events
Rip Curl Pro gets underway at Winkipop
The opening round of the men’s Rip Curl Pro is underway in clean, two-to-three-foot waves at Winkipop, AAP reports.
World Surf League chief of sport Jessi Miley-Dyer said the decision was made to start the men’s and women’s competitions today, with conditions predicted to tail off from Friday.
The start comes after a two-day delay in the event waiting period and organisers have moved to Winkipop from the neighbouring Bells beach.
Miley-Dyer said:
We are going to call competition on at Winkipop today. There isn’t quite enough swell at the moment on the Bells side, but Winki is offering up some really fun waves.
We have called both the men’s and women’s opening rounds on and hope to complete both by day’s end.
This swell is a short one for just today and maybe tomorrow morning, so we want to make the most of the opportunity before we face some challenging conditions over the next couple of days.
The first heat of the event is Australian Ethan Ewing taking on American Nat Young and Costa Rican Carlos Munoz.
The last non-elimination heat of the day will be eight-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore up against veteran American Courtney Conlogue and Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy.
Australians Jack Robinson and Molly Picklum are the No 1 seeds after three rounds of the world tour, while compatriot Tyler Wright is the defending women’s Rip Curl Pro champion.
As more reactions come in to the news of the Inland Rail’s cost blowouts exceeding $30bn, independent MP Allegra Spender says she wants to push for amendments to improve Infrastructure Australia’s decision making process.
Today we’ve learned the cost Inland Rail has blown out from $8bn to $16bn and now to $31bn. Why does this keep happening? The problem starts with politicians making decisions without looking at the evidence. We must spend public money more effectively. 🧵 1/2 pic.twitter.com/OPyyMb9vnc
— Allegra Spender (@spenderallegra) April 6, 2023
Infrastructure Australia has huge potential to improve infra decisions – but it’s not delivering yet. I have amendments that would help IA reach its potential.
Will this govt back sensible changes to improve spending integrity?
Stay Tuned! 🧵 2/2https://t.co/xt9XSaHaWF— Allegra Spender (@spenderallegra) April 6, 2023
Elias Visontay
Australasian Railway Association urges swift action after damning Inland Rail review
The Australasian Railway Association has urged the government to swiftly implement the recommendations made following the damning review of the Inland Rail project, and has called for clarity on whether it will commit to delivering the full project all the way to Brisbane.
In the hours after the release of Dr Kerry Schott’s review which found the project’s price tag had ballooned from $16.4bn to $31.4bn in the space of two years, and is now four years behind schedule, the government announced it will accept all 19 of Schott’s recommendations “in full or in-principle” as it sought “to rescue Inland Rail from the shameful state it was left in by the Coalition”.
A key recommendation made by Schott is to prioritise the delivery of the Melbourne to Parkes stretch of the 1,700km project that aims to create an inland freight corridor between Melbourne and Brisbane capable of running double stacked trains between the two cities in 24 hours.
A key goal of the project is to shift the freight from hundreds of thousands of trucks off roads and onto rail as a way to reduce emissions, however the project has attracted controversy over potential flooding risk and environmental concerns.
The government has been less certain about plans to build from Parkes to Brisbane, and on Thursday, Australasian Railway Association CEO Caroline Wilkie called for certainty as to whether the full track would be built.
It is critical that there is certainty around the route beyond Parkes and we look forward to seeing approvals and more detailed costings being determined as soon as possible.
We must move more freight on rail to meet growing demand and respond to the climate crisis. It is absolutely critical that Inland Rail is delivered as quickly and efficiently as possible. Failure to do so would see more trucks on the road and undermine the rail industry’s efforts to support a more sustainable national freight network.
Other recommendations include the immediate appointment of a CEO of the project, other governance changes, and appointing independent cost estimators.
Read more:
Australia condemns Taliban’s ban on female Afghan UN workers
The foreign minister has taken to Twitter in condemnation of the Taliban’s plan to ban all female Afghan employees of the UN from working.
The UN said the ban would lead to even less humanitarian aid reaching Afghanistan.
Penny Wong says Australia “stands with the people of Afghanistan”.
Australia condemns the Taliban’s decision to ban women Afghan UN staff delivering life-saving humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan.
We support the @UN in its tireless advocacy for the rights of women and girls.
Australia stands with the people of Afghanistan.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) April 6, 2023
Australian police join multinational raid on cybercrime marketplace
Australian police have participated in a multinational raid on an online cybercrime marketplace, arresting 10 suspects and seizing computers, drugs and cash, AAP reports.
A coalition of law enforcement agencies – including in the US, UK, the Netherlands and Australia – shut down the cybercrime website Genesis Market and executed over 100 arrests around the world on Tuesday.
The invite-only marketplace is used by criminals to buy and sell sensitive data such as login credentials, browsing history and autofill form data, for as little as one Australian dollar.
Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Scott Lee said the investigation identified 36,000 Australian devices for sale on Genesis Market, which had the potential to cause $46m worth of financial harm to the community.
Cybercrime is increasing in scale and frequency. For a small cost, individuals with nefarious intentions could purchase a packaged dataset that would allow them to gain access to a victim’s government services and online banking.
Investigations are ongoing but police say they have already arrested their highest value targets, including a 31-year-old man at Box Hill in Victoria, who allegedly spent over $50,000 buying information from the marketplace.
Lee urged anyone who believes they may have been affected to take action to protect themselves, advising them to change their passwords and run antivirus software on their devices.
Caitlin Cassidy
The vice-chancellor at the Australian National University says he is “deeply saddened” by the Liberal party’s decision to campaign against the voice.
I am deeply saddened by the decision of the Liberal Party to actively campaign against the Voice referendum. I see the Voice as a chance for modern Australia to recognize it First Nations people and their 65000+ year past. want to know more? here is a FAQ https://t.co/X4S0J5Udxu
— Brian P Schmidt (@cosmicpinot) April 6, 2023
ANU is among a string of universities including UNSW, the University of Wollongong, the University of Swinburne and Curtin University that have pledged public support of the voice.
Regional Indigenous leaders say Dutton is spreading ‘misinformation and confusion’ on the voice
Lorena Allam
Politicians of the Australian parliament can have their opinions, but they will count for only 227 votes at the referendum. It is the opinions of the nearly 18 million other Australian voters that will really count in deciding “yes” or “no”, a coalition of 13 regional Indigenous leaders say.
Peter Dutton has chosen to spread misinformation, confusion and ignore the support of the vast majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
It is simply wrong to label the proposal the “Prime Minister’s Canberra Voice” and “divisive”.
We hoped for better from our politicians.
In saying “no” the Liberals and Nationals are seeking to take us backwards as a nation.
We called for bipartisan support for the referendum, but political games are being played with our lives and futures, and the future of the entire nation.
Mr Dutton and the Liberals have very little understanding of our lives and experience and present no solutions despite 21 of 26 years in government.
They continue to focus on attacking the government and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and wish to maintain the top-down system of ‘Canberra knows best’ that continues to fail.
Mr Dutton supports legislated local and regional voices as though that is some brilliant, original idea of the Liberal Party. But we have operated at the local and regional level for nearly 10 years now, mostly under a Coalition Government.
We have experienced firsthand that our current system is broken, because decisions are made by politicians without our on the ground input.
Mr Dutton knows as well as we do, local and regional voices must be linked to the national level to provide an effective and empowering approach to close the gap. This is exactly what will be provided though Voice.
Mr Dutton did not respond to our request to meet in Canberra, or to our invitation to visit our regions so we could show him why constitutional recognition through Voice is the change we need – linking from local and regional to national.
The 13 empowered communities leaders are from across Australia from Cape York, to Redfern, the Ngarrindjeri lands in SA, North East Arnhem Land, NT, East and West Kimberley, and the NPY (Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, NT).
Liberals ‘going low’ with dismissive language towards Indigenous academics, Noel Pearson says
Picking up on Dutton’s dismissive language towards “city-based academics” being the voice. In his powerful interview on ABC Radio this morning, Noel Pearson said Dutton’s comments taking aim at Indigenous academics is part of what he means about the Liberal’s campaign “going low”.
This rhetoric we’re going to see a lot of it over the next six months, when he talks about academics in that sneering way, as if Aboriginal people getting educated…
Well, that’s what I mean about going low.
His the voice of Canberra, seeking to tell the Australian people from Canberra what what should happen. Whereas we want to voice to Canberra. We want to voice from the grassroots speaking to Canberra, and that’s what the voice will be about.
It’ll be a very good thing for the future of our communities, that we have a say in what Canberra does, and that the bureaucrats and politicians at least are required to listen to those voices. It is exactly the opposite of the kind of voice that professional politicians like Dutton have.
Dutton and his colleagues think that telling the Australian people what should happen on an issue like this is the only way these things should happen. And unfortunately for him, the Australian constitution actually puts the power in the people to decide this question. And thank God, we have the Australian people deciding this question rather than the Liberal party.
Dutton reiterates opposition to Indigenous voice
The Coalition leader, Peter Dutton, was on the Today Show largely reiterating the same lines he came out with yesterday when he announced that the Liberals would be formally opposing the voice to parliament.
Asked about whether he is willing to negotiate still or whether it’s a fait accompli at this point, Dutton said:
Well, we’ve said yesterday we want to sit down with the government and the constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians is very important but the voice goes a step beyond what I think is realistic and what’s in our country’s best interests. So happy to sit down.
The report recommended a local and regional body before a national body and as people in Indigenous communities have said to us, they just don’t want city-based academics pretend to represent their views.
They want practical outcomes on the ground and we want money spent in a wise way to help with housing and maternal services and birthing units and rehabilitation units etc, jobs. All of that is important but I don’t think the prime minister’s Canberra-based voice is going to deliver that.
Focus of Indigenous voice should not be on politicians in Canberra: Malarndirri McCarthy
The assistant minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy has told ABC News that the focus of the voice to parliament was never meant to be on politicians in Canberra.
It is difficult to win a referendum. We know that only eight out of 44 have been won in our country. Of course we’ve tried to seek bipartisanship from the get go. Naturally, it is very disappointing that Peter Dutton has made the announcement that he has.
… Of course there is a tremendous amount of work and it certainly doesn’t happen when the emphasis is always on Canberra and the politicians in Canberra.
And this is why we have even in the parliament now a friendship group for the Uluru Statement where politicians have been invited to that, to try and get people to realise that this is a difficult journey, but let’s not forget how it all began.
It actually has been one that both sides of parliament have walked for some time since even prime minister John Howard. This is not just about a voice of the minister, as Peter Dutton has wanted to play here. This is about the First Nations people who gathered at Uluru after much dialogue across the country.
Liberal opposition to the voice still offers potential for bipartisanship: Birmingham
The leader of the opposition in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, told ABC News Breakfast that they are opposing the voice to parliament because it’s what regional and rural representatives say their constituents want.
ABC News Breakfast’s Madeleine Morris asked Birmingham:
I will run you through who supports the voice. According to Newspoll yesterday, 54% of Australians, a majority of states, millennials, wealthy Australians, NAB, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Rio Tinto, Wesfarmers, Woolworths, Jeremy Rockliff, the premier of Tasmania, the Nationals in WA, your Liberal opposition counterparts in the states aren’t opposed. In opposing this, exactly who are the federal Liberals representing?
Birmingham:
Yesterday was a meeting that brought together Liberals from all around the country and rural and regional members of parliament in particular who often represent communities that have large numbers of Indigenous communities within them.
We heard from all those members of parliament yesterday, bringing their perspectives and many expressing concerns about the views on the ground from their Indigenous communities and perspectives where they were suggesting that those communities would rather see stronger local voices built up that were able to reflect the local concern.
Birmingham insists the Liberal position does still offer the potential for bipartisanship.
Yesterday’s decision is one that does offer the potential for bipartisanship. There was a strong commitment out of yesterday for bipartisan support for constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australian.
There is a journey to go and still and on that journey I hope there is scope to find a means for a positive outcome in relation to something that can be achieved in a unifying way and constitutional recognition can achieve that.
The bilby photos you need
If Plibersek’s love for the bilby wasn’t evident with her words of admiration for its “pink ears, soft grey coat, and little bouncy feet,” here are some pictures of the minister lovingly gazing at the endangered marsupial at Taronga Zoo, where the announcement was made.
Plibersek said at the announcement of the bilby’s new recovery plan would see practical steps taken to help the species:
We would like to see bilbies roaming in the wild again. That means we need to take greater care of the wild populations that still exist.
It means we need to invest in fenced areas where we remove cats and foxes, the greatest threats to the bilbies.
We need to invest in the science that would support the recovery efforts for the bilby.
And it means, very particularly, we need to work with First Nations custodians, Indigenous rangers and Indigenous land holders because most of the surviving bilby populations are in Indigenous protected areas and other land managed by First Nations Australians.
Bilby receives $5m and new recovery plan from government
Australia’s answer to the Easter bunny, the bilby, is being gifted a new recovery plan by the government this Easter.
With the species currently listed as vulnerable, the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, says she wants to make sure it can be a beloved Easter icon for generations.
The species which once inhabited two-thirds of Australia has been reduced to 15% largely due to habitat loss, introduced predators like cats and foxes, and fire.
The new Recovery Plan will draw on First Nations knowledge and the latest research in an effort to boost population numbers.
The government will also invest more than $5m in programs to protect the Greater Bilby. This includes almost $1.6m to manage threats to bilbies in Central Australia, especially fire and feral predators.
State environment ministers from Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales have all signed on to cooperate in the recovery plan.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, says:
With its pink ears, soft grey coat, and little bouncy feet, the Greater Bilby is an iconic Australian animal.
We want to make sure it can be a beloved Easter icon for generations. That means tackling threats like rabbits, an invasive animal whose eating and digging threatens over 300 native species.
We know that feral cats and foxes, fires, and habitat clearing all threaten the Greater Bilby. We need to lift our game to meet our target of zero new extinctions, and this Recovery Plan is another step to make that a reality.
If you want to understand where the push came for the bilby to be Australia’s easter mascot, this video explains it:
Australia and New Zealand to discuss Aukus participation
Australian and New Zealand defence ministers are set to hold security talks as interest builds in broadening the Aukus partnership, AAP reports.
Deputy prime minister Richard Marles will visit Wellington on Thursday where he will meet with New Zealand’s deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni, defence minister Andrew Little and finance minister Grant Robertson.
While the Aukus agreement will deliver Australia nuclear-powered submarines using American and British technology, there are other non-nuclear aspects to the deal.
A second pillar to the tripartite deal, which is of interest to the NZ government, covers the sharing of advanced military technologies, including quantum computing and artificial intelligence.
Marles said the ministers would discuss opportunities to enhance the strategic focus of the relationship and working closely to improve outcomes for the region.
Little has said New Zealand is interested in exploring participation in the second pillar, which could include such things as surveillance and radio technology.
NZ is concerned Aukus may jeopardise the Treaty of Rarotonga which designates large swathes of the Pacific free of nuclear weapons.
Government responds to inland rail review
Elias Visontay
The Albanese government has committed to continuing the delivery of the Inland Rail freight megaprojects that an independent review found had suffered governance failures, delays and “astonishing” cost blowouts under the former Coalition government.
In the hours after the release of Dr Kerry Schott’s review, which found the project’s price tag had ballooned from $16.4bn to $31.4bn in the space of two years, and was four years behind schedule, the government announced it would accept all 19 of Schott’s recommendations “in full or in principle” as it sought “to rescue Inland Rail from the shameful state it was left in by the Coalition”.
The government will move ahead with a staged approach to Inland Rail, prioritising the stretch from outside Melbourne to Parkes in central west NSW. However, Catherine King, the minister for infrastructure, transport and regional development, said progress beyond that, for the section linking up to Brisbane, would depend on further planning progress.
When this government can have faith that adequate environmental planning approvals are in place and there is sufficient certainty as to the scope and cost to build more of Inland Rail, we will do just that.
King also said Inland Rail “requires a fundamental reset”. “Given the abysmal state the former government left the project in, we must take immediate action to get it back on track.”
Other recommendations the government will be implementing include the appointment of an independent cost estimator, after Schott’s review concluded there was little confidence in the project’s current estimates.
Four key intermodal terminals will also be built, as well as a raft of changes to the governance structure of the project that will see the formation of a separate subsidiary entity under the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) to oversee the project’s delivery.
Envisioned as a freight rail link between Melbourne and Brisbane through an inland corridor that is capable of running double-stacked freight trains between the two cities in 24 hours, the Inland Rail project has attracted criticism from experts and regional communities over the planned track alignment in light of flood risk and other environmental concerns.
Read more:
Adeshola Ore
Daniel Andrews condemns Liberal voice stance
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has lashed the federal Liberal party for opposing the Indigenous voice to parliament, describing it as an “appalling” decision.
The Victorian Liberal party has appeared to distance itself from its federal colleagues, saying it had an “open mind” to the proposal.
Speaking this morning, Andrews said the Liberal party “stood condemned”:
They are a mean, nasty outfit with hearts about as big as their dwindling primary vote. We need to do this. This is our moment. We need to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a voice and deliver, in full, on the Uluru statement from the heart.
What is the Indigenous voice to parliament and how might it work?
We’ve been covering off a lot of the reactions in the aftermath of the Liberal party’s decision to oppose the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum.
If you or anyone you know is still seeking an explanation of the what the voice is and how it would work, this video has your answers!
Guardian’s Indigenous affairs reporter Sarah Collard explains what we know so far about how the Albanese government hopes to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the constitution and what it means for all Australians:
Infrastructure minister blasts Coalition’s “1,700km of incompetence”
An independent review of the inland rail has this morning been handed down showing the predicted price tag of the megaproject has almost doubled in two years to more than $30bn.
The infrastructure minister, Catherine King, has called the report a “damning indictment” of Coalition handling of Inland Rail, labelling it “1,700km of incompetence”.
Catherine King says Schott report is “damning indictment” of Coalition handling of Inland Rail, “1,700km of incompetence”, cost blown out from $9.3bn to $31bn, and can’t put a date on it.
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) April 5, 2023
The inland rail was the subject of a major investigation by Guardian Australia’s rural network last year. In addition to those cost blowouts, if you want to see how the infrastructure project is affecting the people living along the track you can follow along the route with our interactive here:
PM says he is taking a break
At the end of that press conference, the prime minister also flags that he’ll be on leave for a week from this Saturday.
I have not had any leave this year, so I will be on leave for one week.
Richard Marles and Penny Wong will be acting during that period and I look forward to having some time off …
I will be in Australia but I’d ask that my privacy be respected.
[ad_2]
Source link
