- The Guardian
- Issue #2170
There’s a lot of bad news out there. This paper often tries to shine a light on bad news not reported elsewhere. This editorial is about a good news topic: Indigenous Australians.
Australia’s media doesn’t do a good job with Indigenous Australians. The Murdoch-owned papers show no compunction at printing frankly racist cartoons, and articles attacking high-profile Aboriginal people. Other media outlets only report Indigenous affairs if they absolutely have to. To put it plainly, they don’t make enough fuss about Indigenous triumphs. Here are a few under-reported good news stories.
As of April 2025 South Australia became the first Australian jurisdiction to establish a First Nations Voice to Parliament. The SA Voice is based on the Uluru Statement from the Heart and it works as the national voice was supposed to. It’s an elected body representing Aboriginal people to the South Australian Parliament on topics that the state government can do something about. This includes things like corrections and justice, housing, child protection, education, and health. How’s it going so far? It’s early days, but the body is definitely representative and democratic.
As of October 2025 Victoria has a treaty. The treaty includes the creation of a permanent Aboriginal advisory and decision-making body. First people’s Assembly co chair Ngarra Murray said “our people will no longer tolerate being the political football that politicians kick around looking to further selfish interests.”
These representative bodies aren’t the promised land. They do not have legislative power, but they’re not nothing, and they’re not the end of it. There’s still a lot more to be done.
Indigenous people tend to be reported on in terms of problems to be fixed, with the very honourable reception of all-indigenous Koori Mail newspaper. If you haven’t looked at the Koori Mail, check it out, it’s a tonic, bursting with news, much of it positive. Indigenous people were never waiting for white Australians to ‘fix’ things.
Something that doesn’t have to be fixed, but should be celebrated, is the Indigenous contribution to the nation. Supply Nation CEO Kate Russell cites studies showing that Indigenous-led businesses contribute $42.6 billion in social and economic value each year.
Indigenous culture is thriving. There’s an opera in the Noongar language coming out this month in Western Australia. Indigenous cinema is doing well world-wide (see Guardian #2166 13 October 2025 for a run-down), as are hip-hop and literature. Aboriginal languages are being used, revived, and taught.
Of course all’s not rosy. That Victorian treaty will be torn up if the Liberal Party gets back into power. Queensland’s government seems actively hostile to any positive steps. Across the country, mining companies see Aboriginal people – as companies under capitalism see all people – as an obstacle that needs to be placated, not as the owners of the land. Racism persists as right-wingers wage culture war on the use of Indigenous place names. As this paper has reported, governments in Victoria, Queensland, and the Northern Territory have taken backward steps on the issue of bail laws and ‘tough on crime’ measures that are especially tough on Aboriginal people.
The Communist Party of Australia was the first political party in Australia to take Indigenous rights seriously. We celebrate Aboriginal triumphs and support Aboriginal struggles. We do this on Aboriginal land.
