Doorstop interview – Hobart | Prime Minister of Australia
ADREN MCKAY: Thank you so much for coming. The turn-out is spectacular. My name is Arden, I’m the leader of the chapter for Montrose, Glenorchy, Goodwood. The list of suburbs seems to increase every time I look at it. I would like to just introduce a couple of special guests, Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, and the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks, everyone. And thank you to, we’ve got Julie and Carol and Andrew here from the Federal Parliament. And we’ve got a host of state MPs here, and others. It’s fantastic that so many of you are out there helping. There are around about, well at least 50,000 people now, have volunteered for the Yes campaign. On top of that, you’ve got members of political parties who are campaigning out there, and campaigning right around the country. And we know that today’s the first day of voting, and Australians, when they get the very easy pitch, when you’re knocking on doors, that I’ve found, is to talk about what this vote is actually about. It’s about recognition of the first Australians in our nation’s founding document. Pretty straightforward. And the second thing is, it’s about a non-binding advisory committee so that we can listen to Indigenous Australians about matters that affect them. And why would we want to do that? Because you get better outcomes, you get much more efficiency, when you listen to people. We know that that’s the case. We saw that during COVID, when there was catastrophic predictions of what was occurring in Indigenous communities. It was only when people went out and spoke to those communities about the delivery of vaccines and about keeping safe and getting good health outcomes, that turned around and got a much better outcome than what was anticipated. Similarly, when we look at community health programs, Justice Reinvestment, when we look at the Indigenous Rangers programs, they’re all successful because people have agency over their lives. And when you do that, you get better outcomes. But you also get something else, you get Indigenous people taking responsibility for those outcomes, which is why this should be above politics. This isn’t a radical proposal, nor is it a conservative proposal, it’s a mainstream proposal. And it’s a proposal which has come from Indigenous people themselves. A very, in my view, a very gracious and humble request, just to, as I came around here and met you, you put your hand out in a sign of friendship and greeting. And you get that hand joined. And that’s really what Indigenous Australians are asking of non-Indigenous Australians, just to join them in friendship going forward. And that’s why I sincerely hope that Australians vote Yes. People are now only focusing on what the question is. So, in these last two weeks, every conversation that people have will be critical. And that’s how this referendum will be won, with those one-on-one conversations around the front door, on the phones, around kitchen tables, outside P&Cs, on the school pickups, in workplaces. Because when we have those one-on-one conversations, you have Yes, which is positive and optimistic and about the future. Or you have No, which is more of the same. We have No right now. This is No. Where we have an eight-year life expectancy gap, where an Indigenous young males more likely to go to jail than to go to university. We can do better. And we should do better. And a fear campaign can be pretty powerful, but no country ever enlarged itself and got better through fear campaigns. What enlarges a country is optimism and hope for the future. And a No vote is about Australia shrinking in on ourselves, as well. So, it’s about respect for Indigenous Australians. It’s also very much about how we feel about ourselves. Whether we feel better about ourselves, just as we did when Kevin Rudd gave the Apology. And at that time, like marriage equality, every time there has been a social change, there have been fear campaigns. None of them have been realised. So, we can wake up on October 15 with a country that’s more reconciled, with a country that’s stronger, with a country that projects ourselves as being more confident about who we are and the fact we share this continent with the oldest continuous culture on earth. It’s a source of great pride. I was at both the footy grand finals on the weekend. In spite of some of the absurd lead-up and suggestions of what the crowd should do, you know what happened? The crowd stood up, showed respect when the Welcome to Country happened, just like they showed respect when the Australian National Anthem was played. That’s the way we do it in Australia. Showing respect. And we have a chance to do that on October 14.
LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS: Thanks, everybody. Carol and Julie and Andrew. I’d also like to say hello to Ella, to Dave, and to Rodney Dillon. I know that there are some other First Nations people here from local organisations. I won’t say too much more than what the Prime Minister has said. I think he has really covered off, very well, the reason why this is such an important issue for all Australians. I want us, on the 15th of October, to be able to stand up taller, stand up prouder, and stand up stronger as a nation. The vote will mean, of course, listening, and it will mean better outcomes. But it will also mean recognition. Recognition that will bring our country together. Recognition of 65,000 years of story, of culture, which we all share, whether we’re Aboriginal or not. And that’s what brings us together as a nation. And the Prime Minister made the point about listening. I’ll give you a perfect example. I received one of the papers this morning about the Trachoma program in Central Australia. Unfortunately, this is a diamond in the rough, where one of the programs is working in Aboriginal affairs. But the reason it’s working is because there was involvement and consultation with the local community through the University of Melbourne. And it’s halved the trachoma rates in Central Australia. Now, trachoma doesn’t exist in mainstream Australia. Neither does rheumatic heart fever, rheumatic heart disease. These are issues that we, through listening, through consultation, we can fix. Another fantastic example is the Abbott’s, Tony Abbott’s, remote scheme for getting kids back to school. I can’t remember the whole name of it. $270 million in 84 schools in Central Australia once again, and the attendance rate has, guess what? Gone backwards, because the decisions were made in Canberra about that. Can I just finish up by saying this is, for most Australians this referendum may not mean a great deal. It won’t change people’s material lives. But for us as a nation, and for First Nations people, it will mean so much. I get quite emotional when I come to things like this, because it’s such a shot in the arm for us to keep going. And it says to me, as a Yes vote will say on the 14th of October, non-Aboriginal Australia, we are with you, we are seeing you and we are hearing you. And for Aboriginal people, that will be an enormous moment. Thank you.