Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon have publicly shown their support for a treaty with First Nations peoples after Voice, despite the Prime Minister telling Australia that the vote on an Indigenous Voice in Parliament will have nothing to do with a treaty.
Mr Albanese repeatedly insisted that the proposed indigenous advisory body was “not about a treaty” during a fiery interview with host Ben Fordham on his 2GB radio show last Wednesday.
And now images have resurfaced of the prime minister wearing a Midnight Oil T-shirt emblazoned with the words ‘Voice, Truth, Treaty’ during a farewell concert at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion in October, just nine months ago.
This was three months after Mr Albanese outlined plans to hold a referendum recognizing Aboriginal Australians in the constitution and to present a Voice to Parliament, which is based on the Uluru Heart Statement.
Voice, Treaty and Truth are the three pillars of the Uluru Declaration, which was released in 2017. Midnight Oil has been a strong supporter of the Uluru Declaration from the Heart and the establishment of an Indigenous Voice in Parliament.
Mr. Albanese’s partner, Ms. Haydon, also wrote about her support for the Uluru Declaration in various now-deleted posts on her LinkedIn account.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rocked the band’s “Voice, Treaty, Truth” T-shirt at Midnight Oil’s farewell concert at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion last October. It was a band shirt.
Ms Haydon used her social media profile to write about the ‘themes’ of the Uluru Declaration of the Heart last year.
In LinkedIn posts discovered shortly after Mr. Albanese’s election last year, Ms. Haydon wrote: “This week I commit to re-reading the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’ which has three themes: Voice. Treatise. Voice.’
‘We desperately need a First Nations voice in parliament…it would become an institution of lasting importance to First Nations and all of Australia.’
In a post from last year, he shared a cartoon of an Aboriginal rights protester with the caption: “Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was, always will be aboriginal land. #ulurustatementfromtheheart #treaty #changethedate’, in which she appears to advocate for a treaty.
Ms Haydon removed her LinkedIn profile when Daily Mail Australia published a story about her posts. She had previously stated that she wanted to avoid making political comments as an associate of the prime minister.
In his interview with Fordham, Mr. Albanese said that the Voice was not about reparations and repeatedly “is not about a treaty.”
“I can’t say it more clearly, compensation has nothing to do with what people will vote for later this year.”
Mr. Fordham asked: ‘I’m talking about after that (the Voice). There are three stages, after going through the Voice, is it natural to assume that after going through the Voice?’
Albanese said, ‘No, it’s not natural.’
But Mr Albanese has agreed to execute the Uluru Declaration from the heart ‘in its entirety’, which includes a Makarrata Commission with the ultimate goal of moving towards a treaty between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.
Daily Mail Australia reached out to the Prime Minister’s office for comment.
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott (pictured) criticized the Albanese’s clothing choice, calling Voice to Parliament an “activist takeover” during an interview on 2GB.
READ MORE: Three pillars of Voice to Parliament – Voice, Truth and Treaty
Polls show support for The Voice has hovered just below 50 percent, with recent polls finding 48 percent of voters would vote Yes and 52 percent would vote No (Pictured Anthony Albanese is seen with First Nation (LR) caucus members Malarndirri McCarthy, Warren Snowdon, Linda Burney and Senator Pat Dodson at Parliament House)
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott criticized the Albanese on Monday for wearing the band’s shirt when speaking to Radio 2GB about the referendum. .
“I guess this is the problem when you become a billboard,” Abbott said.
“I go back to that initial statement you made as Prime Minister: ‘The new government is committed to the Uluru Declaration from the heart in its entirety.’
‘In other words, Voice, Treatise, Truth ‘in its entirety’.’
“That’s why, as I said, it was a moment of amnesia for the prime minister to deny here in this chair last week that the Voice had anything to do with the treaty, it has everything to do with the treaty.”
‘The goal of having a Voice, if the activists are to be believed, is to start the treaty-making process. And the government ministers have said so.
Australia is currently one of the only Commonwealth countries without a treaty with its First Nations peoples.
Abbott, who has been one of the Voice’s most outspoken critics and arguably the most opposed to any former prime minister’s proposal, told Fordham that he did not want to see Australia divided by race.
“I don’t want to see our country divided by ancestry or race,” he said.
“I don’t want to see indigenous separatism reinforced in our constitution and I don’t want to see government affairs further hampered.”
This assertion by Mr Abbott comes despite the fact that the Australian constitution already refers to race in section 51 and section 25.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus also rejected claims that the Voice would inject race into the constitution.
Abbott argued that he supported “indigenous recognition”, but claimed that Voice was purely an “activist takeover”.
“We don’t give the elderly their own voice, we don’t give immigrants a special voice, we don’t give young people or people with disabilities a special voice,” he said.
‘Everyone has an equal voice in the national parliament, and now there are 11 indigenous people in the national parliament.’
“That is a very good voice for indigenous peoples and let’s keep the national parliament as the only voice for all of us.”
Abbott also criticized “wake-up companies” providing a “rush of money” to the Yes campaign.
Fordham asked Abbott why he did not push for constitutional recognition of indigenous peoples during his time as prime minister.
Mr. Abbott replied that he ‘rolled over’ before he could.
When asked why the Coalition never followed through on indigenous recognition after he left office, Abbott stated that he was “sidetracked” by the Uluru Heart Declaration.
It comes as polls show support for Voice has hovered just below 50 percent, with Two Resolve Political Monitor polls conducted for The Sydney Morning Herald finding 48 percent of voters would vote Yes and 52 percent would vote No.
The Voice of Parliament referendum is expected to take place between October and December this year.
