My latest Opinion Piece - The Voice Debate is Finally Over.

The Voice debate is finally over. The result was conclusive with every State rejecting the Prime Minister’s proposal. Heavy defeats occurred in WA and in my electorate of Durack with 63 per cent and 73 per cent respective No votes.

Debates as to why this proposal failed will continue for years to come. My conclusion is the failure was largely due to the Albanese Government rushing the process.

They dismissed practical concerns and questions and instead went all in on the vibe. The Government failed to demonstrate how inserting an untried Voice into the Constitution would deliver any meaningful change.

The Prime Minister has a lot to answer for. To lose in a landslide is an indictment of his leadership and judgment to not strike a compromise that could have succeeded. He made this his number-one priority during the most extreme cost-of-living crisis in decades. This was an unnecessary exercise costing $450 million, which delivered nothing but division.

Australians, by their very nature, are hardworking and tolerant of cultural differences. What concerns me is that this referendum has brought about unintended consequences. The Voice appears to be the straw that broke the back of political correctness. We have gone along with these unspoken rules for decades and my sense is that people are fed up. The result of this potential lack of tolerance remains to be seen. Regardless, Anthony Albanese must take responsibility.

The question remains how do we overcome Indigenous disadvantage?

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 are needed to address the big issues of getting more kids into school and off the streets.

The biggest threat to the success of the next generation isn’t what happened decades or centuries ago, but what is happening today.

A royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities would address the disgraceful abuse being inflicted today. Protecting children from harm should be our top priority, even if it highlights an ugly reality. This week the Albanese Government voted against this solution.

Billions of dollars a year are spent on addressing Indigenous disadvantage. An inquiry into the current expenditure, proposed by the Coalition, would be a good step in acknowledging the waste, mismanagement and sometimes fraud that has occurred in this space.

However, an audit will only take us so far. We need to look forward, not backwards. Give me a whiteboard and I’ll quickly write down several programs that should be backed in.

We should reinstate the cashless debit card as a matter of urgency. Income management delivers more food on the table for kids instead of grog for parents. Ending the normalisation of alcohol abuse will assist Aboriginal kids to grow up in a safe and stable environment. When kids feel safer at home, they are less likely to be on the streets causing trouble.

Between 2015-19, an Indigenous female was 7.6 times as likely to die by homicide as a non-Indigenous female. Yet we know far more attention is paid when the victim is a middle-class white woman. We shouldn’t be scared to highlight the scourge. Delivering support services for victims is not enough. We also need to scale up prevention and intervention programs for the perpetrators of domestic violence.

Attending school is critical to getting ahead in life. Programs like SHINE, which operates across schools in the Mid West, seek to keep young women engaged and build positive relationships with the school. Aboriginal students participating in this program have higher than average attendance.

I also know of some very successful diversionary programs such as SafeSPACE where activities are run before and after school at Roebourne PCYC. Aboriginal kids are given a safe place to have fun and learn important life skills, including cooking for themselves and washing their own clothes.

The activists are wrong when they proclaim the referendum result as the end of reconciliation in Australia. We cannot give up on improving the lives of our most marginalised. That is not the Australian way. We are a country that believes in a hand-up.

The one positive out of the failed referendum is the increased understanding of Indigenous disadvantage and that things must change. Investing in the most successful programs involving local Aboriginal people and addressing the root causes of disadvantage is our path forward.

*Published in the West Australian, 23 October 2023

The Hon Melissa Price MP

Federal Member for Durack

Opposition Whip

Protecting Indigenous Children

I addressed the House this week about the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse in Indigenous Communities. As the member who represents the second-largest population of Indigenous Australians, I know, that sadly, Indigenous children are at risk of child sexual abuse. This was demonstrated through the hundreds of powerful submissions from the victims to the recent Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Australia's energy security under threat from the Labor Government

Yesterday in the House I spoke about Australia’s energy grid, which is under imminent threat of blackouts this summer, as the Albanese Government’s energy plan drives the premature closure of baseload energy without any guarantee of replacement. Australians are already paying some of the most expensive energy bills in the world under this government. When will Labor learn?

Local Roads and Community Infrastructure funding programme

Last week I spoke to the House about the Coalition's highly successful LRCI funding program, an injection of hope into local communities during trying Covid times. Why, when our economic conditions are even worse than before, has the Albanese Labor Government cancelled this vital funding? When will Labor have the regions on their radar?

World Suicide Prevention Day

Last week in Parliament I spoke about World Suicide Prevention day, held on the 10 September 2023. Each year around 3,000 Australians choose to take their own lives. It is if particular concern to me, being the member for Durack, that people in rural Australia and Indigenous Australians, are twice as likely to take their own lives. We must do better.

My Opinion Piece on the Voice to Parliament - 'Oh No Farnsy'

This month the Yes campaign celebrated the release of a new advertisement to the tune of John Farnham’s Australian classic, You’re the Voice. I have much respect for John, I wish him all the best and I do really love that song. Who doesn’t?

It must be said however, that the reaction from the Yes campaign and some of its sympathisers in the media has been astonishing. We have heard how this advertisement has touched so many supporters, moving them to tears. Some have even said that this ad would be the turning point in the campaign.

It is frankly quite embarrassing how out of touch some are. Do they really believe there are a contingent of voters in the community who are thinking, “Oh I wasn’t convinced by Cate Blanchett, Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Chaney, Qantas, nor the AFL’s support for the Voice, but now Farnsy is doing it too, I’m sold”.

No amount of celebrity endorsements or studio ad craft can cover for the clear lack of clarity surrounding Labor’s proposal. Still all fur coat and no knickers. Basic questions, like how many people will be on the Voice, how will they be elected, how will this structure lead to better outcomes and what will the annual cost to the taxpayer be, have still not been answered.

I would say that this ad actually makes a pretty good case for the No argument and I’m not just referring to the irony in the line “You’re the Voice, try and understand it”.

The ad highlights a number of landmark moments in Australian history that are meant to pull at the heartstrings of Australians and demonstrate that this proposal is simply the next step in Australian social progress.

However, the Voice is fundamentally different from the moments in history that the Yes campaign is comparing it to.

For instance, it highlights the 1967 referendum campaign which allowed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be counted as part of the population and for the Commonwealth to make laws for them.

That referendum question was very different to the one being asked today, particularly on two fronts. The first being that the 1967 referendum sought to deliver equal rights to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Previously they had not been allowed to be counted in the census and were stuck under State and Territory protection regimes.

Naturally, the prospect of equal rights is fitting for an egalitarian society like Australia. This provides the context for the second big difference between the campaigns. The 1967 referendum was one of the most successful referendum results in Australian history with more than 90 per cent across the country supporting the amendments. We were unified.

At that referendum, Australians sought to right the wrongs of the past by providing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders with equal constitutional rights. The question before us now is whether we go back to a time where the rights of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians are not the same.

As the member for the largest electorate in Australia, I understand very well the difficulties facing many vulnerable Indigenous communities in remote and regional Australia. I also understand that sometimes we might need to divert from the principle of equal treatment to close the gap, for example when it comes to getting more children to school. However, this should not be the long-term goal and therefore a permanent divisive structure in the Constitution, in my opinion, would be an abandonment of our egalitarian values.

Similarly, the ad highlighted how far we have come as a nation in terms of combatting racism. A powerful contrast was displayed between the abuse suffered by Nicky Winmar at Victoria Park and the overwhelming support given to Cathy Freeman at the Sydney Olympics. Of course, racism still exists in Australia and it should be called out whenever it rears its ugly head. My fear is that this debate has turned very toxic and has created more division within the community. Regardless of the result, my worry is we will struggle to get the genie back into the bottle.

Also included in the ad was the result of the same-sex marriage plebiscite in 2017. The decision Australians made in 2017 was about delivering equal marriage rights to all Australians and importantly was a legislated change. Whereas a constitutional Voice would be permanent, with its influence to be determined by the High Court.

Australians understand the importance of social progress and guaranteeing equality of opportunity. However, the promise of social progress is not enough. Likewise, voters feeling good and righteous will not help my Aboriginal constituents. Inserting a permanent and untested body that will divide Australians by race, into our Constitution, is not the next step on our path to a more equal society.

*Published in the West Australian, 16 September 2023

The Hon Melissa Price MP

Federal Member for Durack

Opposition Whip

Hydrogen or Hoax?

This week in Parliament I spoke about how our Prime Minister had promised to invest in Geraldton’s electricity grid, which is now at its ‘end of life’.

Shortly after, the Albanese Government broke their promise, back tracking their investment and once again ignoring Geraldton. Without a modern transmission line, the renewable energy dream could be over in the Midwest.

Labor - Is this Hydrogen or a Hoax?

Durack Agricultural Shows

I took the chance this week in Parliament to highlight the many successful Agricultural Shows in Durack. Every year my team and I attend these shows and I always enjoy the opportunity to talk to my Durack constituents about the issues that are most concerning to them. What I am consistently hearing on the ground is that they are not at all happy with the Albanese and Cook Labor Governments.

My Opinion Piece on The Voice - what kind of investment, Treasurer?

Treasurer, if the Voice is an investment give us the details?

In the Treasurer’s opinion piece yesterday he encouraged Western Australians to think of the Voice as an investment. I encourage Western Australians to do the same. 

Consider this, would you invest in a project with practically no substantive detail? Would you personally invest in a project with unknown cost, unknown structure and unknown benefits? A project that is proposed to last forever.

Before signing on a reasonable investor would want these questions answered and would not be swayed by a salesman’s promises of feeling good afterwards and unexplained positive returns.

With the Prime Minister finally confirming the referendum date for October 14, I know Western Australians will begin to focus on this and understand the significance of their decision.

The fundamental problem with the Yes campaign is that they believe they are on the right side of history. In this belief they believe it is enough to just say that the Voice will lead to better outcomes for our first Australians and that any question as to how it will practically work are not important. 

Of course it is not just the yes campaign who want to see better outcomes for our Indigenous brothers and sisters. All Australians want to see the unacceptable gaps in life expectancy, education and incarceration closed, but we also need to know how we get there.

The Voice is being sold as the tool to do just this, but no information has been provided to how it will practically work. We don’t know how many members it will have, how representatives will be chosen or how this structure will deliver better outcomes.

I am privileged to represent Australia’s second largest Indigenous population. The Indigenous communities in Durack are not some homogeneous mob. The only model so far referenced includes a national body of 24 members, three of which from WA. Are three people seriously going to provide expert advice on what policies need to be implemented across each unique WA community?

Even if they are to be chosen, how will they be chosen? What will be the process? Will this occur through direct election? In the Nordic Sami Parliaments only Sami people are entitled to enrol to vote for their representatives. You must prove the Sami language is spoken in your home or the home of your parents or grandparents in order to be eligible. Does Labor think that is workable in Australia?

Then we have the issue of delivering better outcomes. The Albanese Government cancelled the cashless debit card and allowed for alcohol bans in vulnerable NT communities to expire. Both actions were justified by Labor as listening to Indigenous people on the ground and both have resulted in chaos. 

Despite so many uncertainties, we do know the Voice is just the beginning. As the Prime Minister has made clear, his Government supports the Uluru Statement in full. That means a Treaty is just around the corner. If you thought there was little information about the Voice, wait until we get to a Treaty.

Australians must decide on the biggest change to our Constitution in our history. It’s only fair that basic questions and concerns are answered. Yet, the Prime Minister is asking us to sign a binding contract without first seeing its terms.

In February I wrote in the West that we needed to forget the ‘vibe’ and it’s the details that matter.  After six months of moral lecturing, we are no closer to learning anything of substance.

Australians deserve answers, and to echo another of the Prime Minister’s favourite lines, if not now, when?

As an investor if you’re unsure, you generally play it safe. As a voter I would encourage the same. If you don’t know, vote no.

*Published in the West Australian, 1 September 2023

The Hon Melissa Price MP

Federal Member for Durack

Opposition Whip

Question to the Prime Minister on a Treaty and the Voice

Yesterday in Parliament I asked the Prime Minister if he remains committed to a national treaty as called for in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

As usual, the Labor Government were unable to answer any questions about the Voice to Parliament.

Even our Prime Minister, Mr Anthony Albanese, tellingly evaded my question.

Why is it so hard to get an answer from the Government about the Voice?

One can easily assume it because they don't actually know.

My Opinion Piece on The Voice to Parliament

The Voice. What exactly is it and what are we being asked to vote on and what is next? These are questions I hear every day and in truth I don’t know how to answer it.

That’s because we don’t know how The Voice will represent our WA Aboriginal community, how it will be selected, how much it will cost, what it’s focus will be, or most importantly, how it will close the gap.

What we do know is that it will be permanent, and that Labor are banking on people overlooking all the uncertainty and voting on a vibe. Well, I say the details matter.

West Aussies are uncertain and confused, just like we are regarding the changes to the WA Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act.  Just like their State counterparts, Federal Labor is pushing on without addressing basic concerns and questions.

Firstly, I don’t see how this proposal will represent our regional Indigenous communities. I am privileged to represent Australia’s second largest Indigenous population. The Indigenous communities in Durack are not some homogeneous mob. In the Pilbara alone there are over thirty different languages spoken. How will the unique needs and concerns of these groups be reflected on the Voice committee?

The Prime Minister has not confirmed how many members there will be, saying such matters will be dealt with by Parliament. That would be a nice dodge if we ignored the fact that the Prime Minister controls Parliament, for now.

Nonetheless, one model referenced so far includes a national body of 24 members, three of which from WA. Are three people seriously going to provide expert advice on what policies need to be implemented across each unique WA community?

Secondly, how will the Voice representatives will be selected? The official Yes pamphlet says “Members of the Voice will be chosen by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in their local area”.  Again, there is the issue of ‘local’.  Communities in our north west could potentially end up being represented by someone thousands of kilometres away. Even if they are to be chosen, how will they be chosen? What will be the process? Will this occur through direct election?

In the Nordic Sami Parliaments only Sami people are entitled to enrol to vote for their representatives. You must prove the Sami language is spoken in your home or the home of your parents or grandparents in order to be eligible. Does Labor think that is workable in Australia?

Thirdly, it’s clear no issue will be beyond its focus or influence. Voice proponents have confirmed it’s power to influence not just Parliament, but all federal departments, agencies and other bodies such as the Reserve Bank. The Voice will be able to comment on anything from submarines to interest rates.

Despite so many uncertainties, we do know the Voice is just the beginning. This week in Parliament we highlighted the fact that Labor supports the Uluru Statement in full. That means a Treaty is just around the corner. If you thought there was little information about the Voice, wait until we get to a Treaty.

I questioned the Minister for Indigenous Australians on whether the Voice, Treaty, Truth process involves any financial payment by the Commonwealth. Instead of responding to the prospect of reparations the Minister said she had repeatedly explained the need for the Voice and extensively about the Uluru Statement. The Government has already begun spending money on the creation of a treaty but yesterday refused to say how this money is being spent.

The Prime Minister is asking us to sign a binding contract without first seeing its terms. Why aren’t they being upfront about what the Voice and subsequent Treaty will look like?

Australians must decide on the biggest change to our Constitution in our history. It’s only fair that basic questions and concerns are answered, and a coherent proposal is put forward.

In February I wrote in the West that we needed to forget the ‘vibe’ and it’s the details that matter.  After six months of moral lecturing, we are no closer to learning anything of substance. We don’t even know the date of the referendum.

Australians deserve answers, and to echo another of the Prime Minister’s favourite lines, if not now, when?

Maybe he will share more detail at Garma this weekend.

The Hon Melissa Price MP

Federal Member for Durack

Opposition Whip

Question to the Minister for Indigenous Australians

This week in Parliament I asked the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Linda Burney MP, about the Voice, Treaty, Truth process and if this will involve any financial payment by the Commonwealth. Unsurprisingly, the Minister was unable to answer my simple question. When will the Labor Government speak the truth?

Have Your Say

30 Second Community Survey