DEAR News Of The Area,

JACINTA Nampijinpa-Price’s comments, that colonialism has not had a negative impact upon Indigenous people, do not surprise, but disgust me.

This type of argument is similar to the formula used in the denial campaigns against sugar, tobacco and climate change, that have been an effective strategy for delaying policy progress, through creating uncertainty by confusing the facts.

Now rather than dueling scientists, the jury’s out while Indigenous people are to decide whether colonialism has been a bad thing or not.

The Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians has played the card of denial for the coalition’s ‘No’ campaign and their corporate sponsors will be smirking with approval.

Anyone with a conscience, which I wonder how much is the issue here, doesn’t need convincing that colonialism has been catastrophic for Indigenous people.

The Europeans didn’t give the indigenous Australians food and running water, they took it from them and sold it back to them later.

The issues involved in ‘Closing the Gap’ are the legacy of loss of country, sustainability and culture, frontier war massacres, stolen generations and a ruthless assimilation policy, the symptomatic disparity of imposed European cultural influences between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians is conclusive.

Even in the present age of post-truth politics, any fake news narrative of alternative facts won’t change this.

A parliamentary Indigenous Voice offers Aboriginal Australians a more accessible form of representative democracy, only giving Australia’s most marginalized ethnicity the same lobbying access to our political decision makers as the powerful interests opposing it.

Yet, Nampijinpa-Price argues there is no need for an Indigenous voice, with Indigenous representatives including people like her in the parliament.

I shudder to think.

Probably she has enhanced her career options with the coalition and their sponsors, but it doesn’t change the fact of colonialism’s negative consequences for Indigenous people, to say otherwise is to be factually incredible.

Perhaps she should have a turn at saying ‘Sorry’.

Regards,
Peter MURPHY.