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Turnbull speaks of mistreatment of First Australians to mark 50 years since referendum – politics live
Turnbull speaks of mistreatment of First Australians to mark 50 years since referendum – politics live
(35 minutes later)
2.29am BST
02:29
Friend of the blog, Anna Vidot of the ABC, is reporting from the rural affairs estimates.
Wow.HALF the prawns coming into Australia were infected with #whitespot, Dept Ag says its OperationCatti report shows. #estimates #auspol
This is based on what the Dept knew at the time, and "retrofits knowledge" they have now, #estimates was told. #whitespot
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2.27am BST
02:27
Birmingham: "it took me several tries to get into parliament". Try try try again! #auspol @gabriellechan pic.twitter.com/aBCXcJfMmo
2.25am BST
02:25
Hey diddle diddle...
Simon Birmingham reading on school visit to Queenbeyan Public School #auspol ping @gabriellechan pic.twitter.com/ZEE4m7ABdP
2.16am BST
02:16
In the house, we are back to the school funding package.
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02:16
This is weird.
While #estimates enjoys morning tea, let us ponder this: ~a TONNE of meat was seized from intl passengers at GoldCoast airport ALONE last yr
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02:15
It really was a pretty amazing moment, having so many Indigenous campaigners here.
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02:07
Nice.
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02:06
The fake refugee rev up was simply to keep the applications coming in, or rather to “keep the run rate going”. Thanks to Mark Di Stefano of Buzzfeed.
Using a cricket metaphor, Immigration confirms nearly all of the so-called "fake refugees" would have already lodged claims by this year. pic.twitter.com/VcLVECIV2N
1.56am BST
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01:56
Senator Pauline Hanson has popped up to ask questions at Ag #Estimates!! Rural Affairs committee is full of new faces today! #auspol
Senator Pauline Hanson has popped up to ask questions at Ag #Estimates!! Rural Affairs committee is full of new faces today! #auspol
Hanson: what happens to Aus cattle killed under halal certification.Dept says they're all stunned prior to slaughter. #estimates #auspol
Hanson: what happens to Aus cattle killed under halal certification.Dept says they're all stunned prior to slaughter. #estimates #auspol
Hanson says she's been advised cattle are alive when slaughtered.Dept points out stunned is alive, but unconscious. #estimates #auspol
Hanson says she's been advised cattle are alive when slaughtered.Dept points out stunned is alive, but unconscious. #estimates #auspol
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One of the referendum campaigners, Aunty Dulcie Flower, slipped next to a fountain at the ceremony in parliament house this morning. It is an easy mistake as there is a black moat around the base of the fountain on an otherwise white floor. Mike Bowers has also come a cropper twice in there before, once walking backwards. The deputy PM Barnaby Joyce was one of a number who came to her aid.
One of the referendum campaigners, Aunty Dulcie Flower, slipped next to a fountain at the ceremony in parliament house this morning. It is an easy mistake as there is a black moat around the base of the fountain on an otherwise white floor. Mike Bowers has also come a cropper twice in there before, once walking backwards. The deputy PM Barnaby Joyce was one of a number who came to her aid.
Mike Bowers checked on her and she said
Mike Bowers checked on her and she said
only my dignity is damaged.
only my dignity is damaged.
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Treasurer Scott Morrison is introducing the bill to increase the Medicare levy by 0.5% to pay for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Treasurer Scott Morrison is introducing the bill to increase the Medicare levy by 0.5% to pay for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Morrison has said all the money will go towards the NDIS. He says Labor has failed to support the “shared responsibility”, given Labor is only supporting the rise for those on incomes above $87,000.
Morrison has said all the money will go towards the NDIS. He says Labor has failed to support the “shared responsibility”, given Labor is only supporting the rise for those on incomes above $87,000.
He says Labor is not putting the money towards the NDIS. (I think this claim is on the basis that Labor says it was fully funded when they left office.)
He says Labor is not putting the money towards the NDIS. (I think this claim is on the basis that Labor says it was fully funded when they left office.)
1.27am BST
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1.18am BST
01:18
Bill Shorten recognises constitutional recognition is hard and is not the final word, but it says Australians are prepared to write a new chapter.
It has to be as real as Australia can make it.
He says the parliament waits for the advice from the meeting at Uluru. Shorten acknowledges the government in 1967 did not fund the “no” case in the referendum.
Both sides supported the referendum, so 50 years on, Shorten says surely the parliament can find bipartisanship on constitutional referendum.
It is our turn to step up, not to find fault but to find common ground.
Shorten says then in the future we can look back and say remember when we stepped up.
1.15am BST
01:15
Bill Shorten says in too many ways, not enough has changed.
Too many Indigenous men are more likely to go to jail than to university.
Too many mothers still lose their precious babies through preventable disease.
Changing this means tackling the nitty gritty of disadvantage.
He says the regional differences and community differences have their own cultures and particular circumstances.
But every community has the right to participate in the Australian community.
1.12am BST
01:12
Bill Shorten honours one of the campaigners, Pastor Doug, a former footballer, who screened a film showing Aboriginal hardship in 1957.
It captured hunger and disease. It showed children too weak to brush flies from their faces. One newspaper said there were cries of disgust and horror, and people openly wept.
The meeting attended by 1500, supported by the Australian Workers Union, launched the first petition to parliament for constitutional change. In the years that followed, folding tables and clipboards were set up in church halls and shopping streets, in country towns and big cities.
And by 1963, campaigners for change had collected 103,000 names before the internet, before social media, before smartphones. It was human commitment, face-to-face meetings, persuasive arguing.
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1.07am BST
01:07
Shorten: census a racist system which broke families and shattered connections
Bill Shorten calls out the racism of the census as it existed pre-1967.
Exclusion from the census was a disgraceful insult. A bitter legacy of the better fight over federation and [its obsession with] race. Far more harm was done by the failure to make laws with regards to Australians. This gave successive federal commonwealth governments an alibi for failure. It left First Australians at the mercy of patchwork policies. Fighting against institutionalised prejudice with inequality and [denied] basic freedoms. A racist system which broke families and shattered connections with the country.
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1.03am BST
01:03
Bill Shorten says today’s events commemorate and celebrate two signal moments in the Australian story.
We honour the heroes who made it possible. The 1967 referendum, and the High Court’s Mabo decision were triumphs for true telling and decency. Both were platforms for further progress. And, overwhelmingly, both were victories authored by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. People who for so long had been relegated to silent roles, written out of the script altogether, finally took centre stage. In 1967, they looked non-Indigenous Australia in the eye and said, “Count us together, make us one people”.
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1.00am BST
01:00
Bill Shorten begins his statement to the house.
I want to thank our friends from the Torres Strait for that welcome ceremony. It is always astonishing to see the world’s oldest culture brought to life right in front of you. And on behalf of the opposition, I want to give a special welcome to the original warriors for change, and their proud family members. Your presence here today enriches this day. It puts a human face on our history. In fighting to be part of the Australian identity, you, in fact, gifted, a larger identity to all Australians. You and your guests simply make us more proud to be Australian.
12.58am BST
00:58
The PM has announced a $138m Indigenous education package “to enable the economic and social inclusion for which the 1967 campaign was fought”.
We are joined today by 50 Indigenous youths parliamentarians who stand today on the shoulders of these giants. I want to thank the ‘67 referendum campaigners and the Mabo campaigners for the gift they gave our nation. I thank all First Australians, who preserved their ancient culture. Your culture defines who you are, it speaks to your country, your identity, your belonging. And as we embrace in reconciliation, your culture enriches us all. For time out of mind, for more than 50,000 years, your people and your culture have shaped and been shaped, cared for and been cared by, defined and been defined by this land, our land, Australia.
12.55am BST
00:55
The prime minister names too many Indigenous people to record who were involved in the campaign, who worked towards the 1967 referendum.
He moves on to the Mabo case, acknowledging Eddie’s widow Bonita.
It was Eddie Mabo and the other plaintiffs, James Rice and others, whose perseverance brought about the High Court’s decision to bring about the rights of the people of the Murray islands and the Torres Strait. They are all represented here today. I want to acknowledge the presence of Eddie Mabo’s wife and their daughter Gale. Eddie Mabo was an advocate of the 1967 referendum, fighting for equal rights, including education. But despite the success of the ‘67 campaign in 1972, Eddie Mabo still had to get permission of the Queensland authorities to visit his dying father. That permission was denied. Six weeks later he died.
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12.51am BST
00:51
Malcolm Turnbull acknowledges the work being done in Uluru on the proposed constitutional referendum.
It is vitally important our First Australians consider and debate the models of recognition free of political interference and the diversity of views and opinions within the Indigenous communities are discussed. The next step in constitutional recognition needs to be embraced by all Australians. But it needs first to be embraced by our First Australians if it is to be proposed at all.
12.48am BST
00:48
Turnbull talks about an Indigenous campaigner, who said:
The government counted everything, they counted the cattle, the cars the TV, but they didn’t count us, it was like we were invisible.
He reflects on the Australia of 1967.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in many parts of the country could still not freely attend public swimming pools, sit in a public class room without fear of exclusion, have a drink at the pubs with their mates, and fundamentally, our First Australians could not shape their own identity. This discrimination and exclusion diminished us all as Australians. It did not reflect the sacrifice and contribution the First Australians made to our nation, or the humanity of all of us.
