Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who serves as the federal opposition spokesperson for Indigenous Australians, vocally expressed her outrage as online miscreants leaked her personal contact on Twitter, leading to an outpouring of disturbing and offensive messages.
Addressing her maiden National Press Club, she shared her experience of becoming a target of constant abuse during her campaign against a Voice to Parliament. Having her phone number disclosed on Wednesday marked the beginning of an unending flurry of repugnant messages she had to endure.
Ms. Price commented on the deep division etched in the nation since the Prime Minister introduced the referendum, and the horrific racial vilification she, along with Warren Mundine, have been subjected to.
She accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of igniting division and failing to maintain the harmonious spirit of the Australian people. In her words, “The Prime Minister needs to own up to the inception of the division we are struggling against. Instead of dividing the nation, he should have adopted appropriate procedures to involve the people and respect constitutional conventions.”
Ms. Price, a vehement critic of a Voice and key spokesperson for Fair Australia, also unveiled her international press club address to condemn what she termed the ‘three deceptions’ enveloping the Voice referendum. She contested the belief that Indigenous Australia is voiceless, every Indigenous Australian desires a Voice, and the widely circulated notion that it’s merely an advisory board.
Her critical speech comes at a time when many Australians are set to cast their votes on October 14 to alter the constitution for recognising the First Peoples of Australia with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. While she agrees that many Australians strive to do their best for fellow citizens, she called into question the referendum’s insufficient consultation progress, highlighting the lack of constitutional conventions to discern public expectations on recognition.
Ms. Price condemned the concept of the Voice as fundamentally flawed. According to her, it’s built on false pretences and appears to be an aggressive endeavour to disrupt our nation’s cornerstone document.
The senator for the Country Liberal party took the government to task for displaying moral superiority and hollow gestures relating to Indigenous affairs. Ms. Price extended her support to the recognition of Indigenous Australians, but voiced her concerns over the ambiguity associated with the official Voice.
While advocating common sense solutions to improve the lives of marginalized citizens, she argued that the Labor government had failed to conduct constitutional conventions aimed at understanding public perception on recognition. In the event that the October 14 vote fails, she has expressed her resolve to hold existing structures and programs accountable.
