‘Like a QAnon Conspiracy Theory’: PM Steers Clear of Reparation Claims

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during Question Time while holding up the Uluru Statement from the Heart at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Aug. 8, 2023. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rebuked claims that the Uluru Statement from the Heart also includes a plan to pay reparations to Indigenous people, labelling it a “conspiracy” theory by those opposing a change to the Constitution.

“It is something ... like a whole lot of the QAnon theories. We have all sorts of conspiracy stuff out there, but this is a ripper,” he told the Australian Parliament on Aug. 8.

Holding one sheet of paper, he said, “That is the Uluru Statement from the Heart on an A4 bit of paper. That is it.”

The 26-page Uluru Statement from the Heart in question was published as part of a 112-page document by the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws (pdf). It also includes detailed minutes and outcomes from 13 meetings that contributed to the final Uluru Statement from the Heart.

But Mr. Albanese argued that “over a thousand meetings” led up to the final convention that drafted the Uluru Statement.

“And it came up with what is an eloquent statement from the heart, not only one that fits on an A4 page but one that was signed by the delegates to the constitutional convention, signed by the leaders who were there at Uluru,” he said.

“What we have here are conspiracy theories colliding with each other.

“There’s a whole lot of projection going on here—more projection than at a film festival—and it’s coming from those opposite, who do not want to debate the facts and take what is in the Uluru statement, an eloquent request from Indigenous Australians to come together as a nation.”

It comes after the FOI documents, originally published in March, gained increasing media attention last week.

According to the publicly distributed one-page Uluru Statement, the ultimate goal of the advocates behind the movement is to establish a treaty called Makarrata.

But the FOI reveals that there is strong support for the pursuit of reparations through a fixed percentage of GDP, land tax, or royalties under a treaty.

Confirmation About the Document

Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the shadow Indigenous minister and spokesperson for the No campaign said her office called the FOI team at NIAA seeking clarification around the issue.

“My staff got a phone call at 12:54 this afternoon with a verbal clarification that the document is in fact the 26 pages and not just, of course, the one page,” she told Sky News Australia on Aug. 8.

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

Ms. Price called on the prime minister to “come clean” to the Australian people about details on The Voice and the issue of treaty-making between the government and Indigenous people.

She said Australians were “dumbfounded” at the idea of reparations, describing it as a huge distraction from helping the people truly in need of assistance.

“A lot of Australians can’t understand why we would go down this path of treaty with our own citizens,” she said.

“It’s not supporting our most marginalised Australians ... It’s a whole other agenda.”

But the CEO of NIAA, Jody Broun, wrote to Ms. Price to clarify that the Uluru Statement from the Heart is just one-page.

“The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a one-page document, confirmed by the authors Noel Pearson, Pat Anderson AO, and Professor Dr. Megan Davis,” the NIAA told The Epoch Times in a statement.

“The National Indigenous Australians Agency released a document under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (FOI Act), containing the one-page Uluru Statement from the Heart, followed by 25 pages of background information and excerpts of regional dialogues that informed the one-page Uluru Statement from the Heart.”

Referendum Not About Treaty, PM says

The prime minister assured Australians that Makarrata treaty was about promoting reconciliation, not about reparations or compensation.

“‘Makarrata’ is a Yolngu word coming from Arnhem Land, from the traditional owners, that speaks about a coming together after conflict. That is simply what it means,” Mr. Albanese told the Parliament on Aug. 7.

“The idea of a Makarrata that has been requested is, of course, a positive one and, yes, we had measures in the budget for it,” he added, referring to the $900,000 (US$590,000) that has been spent thus far on a Makarrata Commission.

He also noted that some states have already begun negotiating their own treaties, such as Queensland where it has bipartisan support.

“Well, my priority is the referendum. That’s my priority. But Treaty, of course, are being advanced in different places,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Aug. 6.

Mr. Albanese repeatedly stated that the referendum was not about a treaty and that Australians were not voting on the topic of financial compensation.

“No. I can’t say it any clearer. Compensation has nothing to do with what people will vote on in the last quarter of this year,” he told 2GB radio in July.

However, there has been confusion with Labor’s Finance Minister Senator Katy Gallagher contradicting the prime minister.

Referring to the budget for the Makarrata Commission, “That investment is to support one element of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which included constitutional recognition through a voice to our nation’s Parliament, truth-telling, and treaty,” she told the Senate on July 31.

Establish a Treaty Through ‘The Voice’

According to the roadmap outlined in the FOI documents, once The Voice body is established, it will promote a Bill to establish a Makarrata Commission that will supervise agreement-making between Australian governments and Indigenous people.

While details are still up for discussion, it outlines goals including “reparations for past criminal acts and compensation for present and future criminal acts.”

“The dialogues discussed that a Treaty could include a proper say in decision-making, the establishment of a truth commission, reparations, a financial settlement (such as seeking a percentage of GDP), the resolution of land, water, and resources issues, recognition of authority and customary law, and guarantees of respect for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples,” the document states.

In discussions for where the financial settlement could be drawn from, some suggested securing economic independence through land tax, tariffs, or other forms of levies.