- The Guardian
- Issue #2112
“I commit to the Uluru statement from the Heart in full.” (Anthony Albanese, 31 May, 2022)
Before he became Prime Minister, back when Australians were all really sick and tired of the Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison Liberal-National Coalition government, Anthony Albanese committed to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Quandamooka man Dean Parkin, director of From the Heart, has pointed out that the Uluru Statement was “very clear” on the need for an actual truth-telling commission. It looks like Albanese has broken a promise.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is not a quickly dreamed-up feelgood document. It took serious work and commitment from Aboriginal people to produce. It took a lot more democracy than the winner-takes-all variety practised by our bourgeois parliamentarians.
Before he became Prime Minister, Albanese made a commitment to Voice, Treaty and Truth, the three key demands of the Uluru statement from the heart. He lost the referendum on making an Indigenous Voice to Parliament part of Australia’s Constitution. As predicted by supporters of the Voice, he’s now running scared on other meaningful changes that will make a difference to Indigenous Australians, and walking back from his promise to set up a Makaratta, or truth telling commission.
Albanese won’t say what’s happened to the money that has already been set aside for this good idea, and is pretending to never have agreed to set up the commission in the first place. He seems to have decided that Aboriginal people are not a winning issue for Labor. So in a mangled speech at the 2024 Garma festival, he has walked away from taking action.
Aboriginal people are not a niche issue to be put in the ‘too hard’ basket when its not convenient for politicians to take action. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are Australians. This paper is produced on Aboriginal land. The Communist Party of Australia knows that Aboriginal people are suffering from and have long suffered from the effects of imperialism. Albanese’s clear commitment to a Makaratta is not something that should be walked away from when the going gets tough.
Imperialism affects all Australians. The imperialism that is a consequence of capitalism is why this country is being turned into a landing strip for US bombers, a base for US troops, and a port for US-controlled nuclear-powered submarines. Imperialism is why we have been signed up for almost half a trillion dollars to support AUKUS.
Speaking of democracy, we don’t get a choice about AUKUS or the US alliance. Our major parties of government are both pledged to support the USA.
The Communist Party of Australia actively supported Aboriginal people’s rights before any other political party in this country, and has continued to do so. That’s not because we’re ‘nice’ in a middle-class way. It’s because Communists understand how capitalism leads to colonialism, and imperialism.
Albanese’s walk-away was predictable, because politicians look for momentum – how the public is moving on an issue. Labor is not up for being brave. Regardless of momentum, the CPA stands with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, because it’s important to defeat the capitalism and imperialism that harms us all.
