Grace Tame has joined dozens of organisations in strongly rejecting Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s calls for a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities.
In the wake of the defeat of the Voice to Parliament referendum, Mr Dutton this week demanded “practical action” to address Indigenous affairs and attempted to suspend standing orders to set up the royal commission and an audit into spending on Indigenous programs.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese labelled it a “political stunt”, and one of Mr Dutton’s own colleagues, backbencher Bridget Archer – a survivor of child sexual abuse – chastised her leader for “weaponising” the issue for “political advantage”.
Now, Indigenous leaders and child safety advocates, some of whom have broken the “week of silence” declared in the aftermath of the referendum result, have voiced their concern.
In a joint statement, signed by the likes of the Coalition of Peaks, NACCHO, Lowitja Institute, Reconciliation Australia, and the Australian Education Union, the group said the safety of children “should not be politicised or used as a platform to advance a political position”.
“It is frustrating and disappointing to hear the Opposition Leader and (Indigenous affairs spokeswoman) Senator (Jacinta Nampijinpa) Price repeating the same claims and calls they made earlier this year, again with no evidence and no credible solutions,” they said.
“Child abuse is far too prevalent in Australia full stop. Singling out Aboriginal families and communities is harmful and puts ideology before evidence.
“The most effective and immediate action government can take to make children safe and protect their human rights is to stand up a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s commissioner with the legislated power to investigate and make recommendations on issues impacting children. This will be more effective and more powerful than any royal commission.”
The Grace Tame Foundation also criticised the Coalition for using child sexual abuse for political purposes, adding that it was a universal problem that wasn’t unique to Indigenous communities.
Ms Tame, also a survivor of child sexual abuse, said she was disappointed with Mr Dutton’s politicking and pointed out the irony of his hard-line stance after months of actively campaigning against a Voice to Parliament.
“It is clearly a self-serving and cynical attempt to leverage the momentum of the political football that is still in the air, which is almost guaranteed to further exacerbate the intergenerational trauma of First Nations communities,” she said.
“I find it incredibly ironic that the Leader of the Opposition was so strongly against the Voice to Parliament for reasons including that he did not want to divide a country by race, yet is now calling for a royal commission that singles out First Nations communities.
“If the Leader of the Opposition is so invested in addressing the nationwide epidemic of child sexual abuse and all the issues facing our First Nations communities, it would have made logical sense to encourage bipartisan support for an advisory body intended specifically for such purposes.”
Meanwhile, after a bruising parliamentary sitting week Mr Albanese on Friday lamented the “disappointing” outcome of the Voice to Parliament referendum, but said he respected the outcome.
He stood firmly by his decision to send Australians to the polls and praised former Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt for his work while in government.
“We do respect it (the outcome). We understand that will be difficult for Indigenous Australians and they’re entitled to think about what next steps want to be taken,” Mr Albanese said.
“We, at the same time, will continue to get on with Closing the Gap and measures that we can put in place.”