August 17, 2023
KATTER’S Australian Party MP Bob Katter is putting the Federal Government on notice, calling on it to detail the budget in both time and money that it has spent or allocated to The Voice referendum.
“Over the same time frame, what has the government spent or allocated to providing First Australian communities with access to market gardens to meet basic nutritional requirements or title deeds to allow for home and business ownership,” Mr Katter will ask in a series of questions tabled to the Minister for Indigenous Australians.
Mr Katter has on multiple occasions labelled The Voice has paternalistic, separatist, and tokenistic, stating he believed it would not hear the concerns of the “fair dinkum” First Australians in the remote community areas he represents, rather be a platform for a “Sydney university double-degree” type.
“But let’s be fair dinkum, the Voice is simply another government department. It will employ bureaucrats to review the work of other bureaucrats that get their writing instructions from even more bureaucrats,” Mr Katter said.
“Australians have already paid dearly for the failings of the now defunct ATSIC (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission). What will happen to its replacement, the NIAA (National Indigenous Australians Agency). Isn’t NIAA chartered with whatever “the Voice” is supposed to achieve?”
He said while politics was being played on a grand scale in Canberra, communities he represented were being ignored.
"Has anyone asked the people in Doomadgee or Mornington Island what they want? And if they did, they'd probably start off with asking for a decent feed - cheap meat, fruit and vegetables.”
Below are the questions on notice Mr Katter will table for the Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians:
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
QUESTION IN WRITING
For the next sitting
HON BOB KATTER: To ask the Minister for Indigenous Australians —
(1) Could the Minister detail the budget, both in time and money, that the government has spent or allocated to “The Voice” Referendum?
(2) Over the same time frame, what has the government spent or allocated to providing remote First Australian communities with access to market gardens to meet basic nutritional requirements or title deeds to allow for home and business ownership?
(3) Could the Minister clearly advise why constitutional change is required to establish what is essentially another government department?
(4) How will the role and functions of “The Voice” specifically differ from that of the now defunct ATSIC (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission), and the current NIAA (National Indigenous Australians Agency), with a charter eerily similar to what “the Voice” is supposed to achieve?
(5) How can the Australian public, including some of most remote and impoverished Indigenous communities, be assured that the “The Voice” will be able to achieve outcomes that successive Indigenous government agencies and “Closing the Gap” government policies have been unable to achieve?
(6) Is the Minister aware of the deep community division that is being caused by the roadshow government funded “yes” campaign with allegations of racism and bigotry levelled at some that simply are questioning the mechanism for change?
(7) Should awareness be raised that those voting ‘no’ might simply be sceptical of the mechanism proposed and instead prefer a less paternalistic model that focuses on improved integration and equality of opportunity instead of deep division?