Thank you for your support to date.
 

I’m emailing to update you on our efforts to secure the real change that Indigenous communities need. 
 

In the wake of Australians roundly rejecting Labor’s Voice, it’s time to focus on the immediate practical changes that will make a difference. 
 

Last Tuesday, I moved a motion in the Senate demanding that the Labor Government support the Coalition’s call for a Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities, and conduct an  audit of spending on Indigenous programs, two practical policy ideas to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians and help Close the Gap 


 

You would think with all the lofty rhetoric we heard over the Voice referendum campaign about listening to Indigenous Australians, that those activists who campaigned for Yes would now support using the existing tools in our Constitution to do some actual work and move towards implementing some actual solutions. 
 

John, Labor and the Greens voted down my motion for practical assistance for Indigenous Australians just days after they were bemoaning Australians rejecting their vague, divisive, and risky Voice proposal. 
 

The gap between their words and their actions is stark to the point of hypocrisy. A nationwide referendum and hundreds of millions of dollars spent campaigning for a bigger city bureaucracy dividing Australians by race, but as soon as something real and on the ground comes along to help the people they say needed the Voice, they are quick to dismiss it. 
 

I say Australians want accountability, transparency, and action and the Labor Government should support the Coalition’s call for a Royal Commission and greater accountability.
 

The heartbreaking stories of child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities, sometimes going without investigation for years, are a national shame. We owe these children action and I won’t stop fighting for them. 
 

We’ve also seen the Australian National Audit Office find that Land Councils are falling short on transparency and accountability. This money is meant to support Indigenous communities. The potential for it to be lost to mismanagement, rather than reaching the people it was set aside for, is a major hole in efforts to help these communities. We need an audit on behalf of both the people this is meant to help, and all Australian taxpayers. 
 

Finally, we need to return to finding and implementing practical policies that will Close the Gap. 
 

As I've said many times before, the gap is more about place than about race. It exists, not between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, but between the cities and remote Australia. The gap is between those who have easy access to education, medicines and emergency services and those who do not. 
 

John, the Nationals will keep standing up for regional Australia, including Indigenous Australians, with practical policies and action and holding the Government to account for its hypocrisy.