First Nations leaders are dismayed by a lack of political will to focus on Indigenous affairs since the failed Voice to Parliament referendum. Ahead of the federal election, they're calling on politicians to enact improvements to the lives of First Nations people and combat deepening division.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Music
00:06Ingrained in the lush landscapes of Mangala Station in North Queensland is a rich history.
00:17It's Dash, it's my daughter's horse.
00:19For two decades, Nwagi traditional owner Jacob Cassidy has run cultural tours about the site's colonial history.
00:27That's where the old homestead site was.
00:29While spearheading the regeneration of the land.
00:32Yeah, they're magnificent old trees, these things.
00:35It's a long way from the halls of Parliament House.
00:38But there's no escaping politics.
00:41Jacob Cassidy believes the country is at a crossroads.
00:45Aboriginal people have been used as political football for many, many years.
00:49And I think those embers of racism that were evident in that colonisation period,
00:58the fans are blowing those winds of racism across this country again.
01:04When Anthony Albanese claimed victory at the 2022 federal election, Indigenous recognition was front and centre.
01:11On behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I commit to the Uluru Statement from the heart and fall.
01:17But three years on, and after the failed Voice to Parliament referendum, the political tone has shifted.
01:26The government has basically no appetite for Indigenous rights recognition at the moment.
01:36And there's been a strong pivot towards economic initiatives.
01:39In Queensland, the new LNP State Government has scrapped the truth-telling inquiry and path to treaty process.
01:46And Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has refused to stand in front of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags if elected Prime Minister.
01:55There seems to be some kind of conservative backlash internationally against Indigenous rights.
02:04And this seems to be all stemming from, I guess, Trumpism in the United States.
02:11Advocates are urging political leaders to not abandon First Nations people.
02:16What we're seeing is not a lot of commitment to the policies and programs that stop the appalling rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children hitting justice systems and protection systems.
02:29For communities like Palm Island off the North Queensland coast, the priorities are clear.
02:35We still have more work to do, particularly for liveability, cost of living in our communities, better freight subsidies, certainly better grocery prices.
02:45And housing in our community because overcrowding continues to plague us.
02:51On Mangala Station, Jacob Cassidy worries about the toll of community division on the next generation.
02:58I've always been proud of this fact that Australia has been a place of a fair go for all.
03:05And I hope we continue down that path.