Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, the Prime Minister's proposition for an untried voice to be inserted into the Constitution was rejected in every state of our nation. The result could not have been more conclusive. According to the current count, 63.8 per cent of my home state of WA voted no, as did 72 per cent of my electorate of Durack. Whilst we thank sincerely all the volunteers and acknowledge how lucky we are to have free and fair referendums in this country, there's no escaping that most Australians believe this was a complete waste of time and money. The referendum cost taxpayers $450 million during the most extreme cost-of-living crisis in decades, a referendum that delivered nothing except division.

But it didn't have to be this way. The Prime Minister continuously dismissed practical concerns and questions and instead went all in on the vibe of the Voice. He refused to hold a constitutional convention and chose not to strike a compromise that could have succeeded. To lose in such a landslide is an indictment on his leadership. I think it's clear he has lost some standing within his own party. Indeed, by the looks of the faces sitting opposite me over the last few days, I think it's more than just a little bit of standing. This week we have seen the government's support for Israel be undermined by his own caucus. Not only has he let down the activist wing of his party but he has also let down our Indigenous Australians.

Some from the 'yes' campaign have proclaimed this result a rejection of the Indigenous community. Frankly, that could not be farther from the truth. 'Yes' and 'no' voters alike have expressed that the status quo is not acceptable and that they want us to support our most marginalised. In fact, I would argue that there has never been more focus on Indigenous advantage in this country. To do so, I argue that we must begin by being honest about the problems that exist. This means not being afraid to challenge the politically correct climate and focusing on the programs that we know work and are desperately needed—programs to address the big issues of getting more kids to school, making the home a safe place, stopping kids from having kids and helping parents to have skills and a job. It's common sense that the biggest threat to the success of the next generation isn't what happened decades ago or centuries ago but what is happening today. Yet Labor are standing in the way of practical solutions.

Yesterday, in the other place, Labor and the Greens voted against a motion calling for a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities. Such an inquiry would practically address the disgraceful abuse being inflicted today. Protecting children from harm should be our No. 1 priority in this place, even if it highlights an ugly reality. Quite frankly, we've just got to be brave enough, and we're not. The motion also called for an inquiry into the current billions of dollars of expenditure in this space. An audit would be a good step in acknowledging the waste, mismanagement and perhaps fraud that have occurred in this space and distinguish the worthiest programs.

Our forward-looking strategy should consist, firstly, of income management for welfare recipients in our most vulnerable communities, like the cashless debit card. This would get more food on the dinner table and less alcohol abuse in the household. We also need to acknowledge the scourge of domestic violence. Between 2015 and 2019, an Indigenous female was 7.6 times more likely to die by homicide than a non-Indigenous female.

Yet we know far more attention is paid when the victim is a middle-class white woman in the suburbs, rather than an Indigenous woman in regional Australia. Frankly, this is shameful, and we need to really address these issues. Why are we discriminating against Aboriginal women? Honestly, it breaks my heart when I think about the women in my electorate—that nobody thinks that what happens to them is important. But, likewise, we should be investing in education and youth diversion programs that seek to increase school attendance and healthy relationships between Indigenous kids and their community.

I want to mention two wonderful women I met last night from my electorate, Sarka and Keda, who are participants in this year's National Rural Women's Coalition Leadership and Advocacy Muster. Thank you for your leadership and thank you for standing up, putting your head above the parapet and trying to find solutions for our Australian Aboriginals.