Senator Says Colonisation Had No Lasting Negative Impact on Aboriginal People

National's Northern Territory Senator Jacinta Price prior to being interviewed by television at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on July 28, 2022. AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Price, says there are no ongoing negative impacts from the British colonisation of Australia, and has called on Indigenous Australians to move away from the victimhood narrative.

During a speech at the National Press Club on Sept. 14, Senator Price argued that the conversation around colonisation and its ongoing impacts on Indigenous Australians can be harmful.

“If we keep telling Aboriginal people that they are victims, we are effectively removing their agency, and giving them the expectation somebody else is responsible for their lives,” Sen. Price said.

“That is the worst possible thing you can do to any human being, is tell them they’re a victim without agency.

“That’s what I refuse to do.”

Meanwhile, Indigenous Australians Minister Senator Linda Burney has described Ms. Price’s comments as “offensive” and says the Senator’s comments deny the experience of many Indigenous families, particularly those with intergenerational trauma.

“We only have to look at the Stolen Generations and the impacts that has had, in terms of ongoing trauma and pain. Her comments are a betrayal of so many people’s stories,” Sen. Burney said.

Indigenous Liberal Senator, Kerrynne Liddle, did not comment on Ms. Price’s statement, saying that it’s not a topic many Indigenous Australians consider.

“When I go and visit people—my own family even—in remote and regional areas, and in the cities, they don’t talk about the impacts of colonisation,” Sen. Liddle said.

“That’s what the academics talk about.”

This comes as both the Yes and No campaigns ramp up, with Sen. Price detailing her reasons for voting No in the upcoming Voice referendum.

“[The Voice] is built on lies and an aggressive attempt to fracture our nation’s founding document and divide the country built upon it,” she said.

Price Critical of Indigenous Organisations, Says ‘Racist’ Label Stifles Debate on The Voice

Sen. Price also criticised Indigenous organisations, claiming they seek to “demonise colonial settlement in its entirety and nurture a national self-loathing about the foundations of modern Australian achievement.”

She said that Indigenous Australians already have a voice, with her being one of 11 Indigenous voices currently in parliament.

“I will not accept the lie, the rationalisation of many Indigenous voices of the Yes campaign, who suggest our democratically elected voices are redundant because we belong to political parties,” she said.

“We are being asked by a few elites to enshrine it [the Voice] within our constitution, without knowing its functions or powers.”

She later spoke at The Great Voice Debate hosted by The Australian, where she criticised Professor Marcia Langton’s argument that the No campaign was racist and stupid.

Ms. Langton has also claimed the No campaign is based on “lies.”

“Families have been broken apart by social workers who are, by and large, white and racist,” Ms. Langton said. “We need a radical culture change to stop the police from criminalising more and more people. Simply because the police are racist, because they get brownie points [for] rounding people up.”

Sen. Price said that people such as Ms. Langton believe that Australia is racist.

“We need to get away from the issue of race. If you can’t even see yourself as an Australian, at least see yourself as a human being,” Sen. Price said.

“We need honesty in this debate. We know that that is the agenda of many who support the voice and we’re not going to take any other suggestion otherwise. There are treaties in negotiation around the country right now,” she said.

According to a poll by The Guardian, support for the Yes campaign has dropped 21 percent nationally over the past year.

On Oct. 14, Australians will vote on whether to constitutionally enshrine an Indigenous voice to Parliament.