The Northern Territory is considering setting up its own Voice-style body despite the referendum being shot down by the majority of the country in October.
The territory launched an inquiry last year into whether a statutory body should be established to provide advice on legal matters that affect the Aboriginal community.
The move has drawn outrage from NT Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price who labelled it a ‘waste of taxpayer’s money’.
The NT’s body, if it goes ahead, would follow South ‘s First Nations’ Voice, which was set up in 2023 and will hold elections for delegates in March.
Victoria is also pushing for a treaty with Indigenous ns through its First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria.
The Queensland Government previously said it ‘strongly supports the need to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders with a greater voice on the issues that impact them and their lives’.
The Indigenous Voice referendum was overwhelmingly shot down on October 14 with more than 60 per cent of Aussies voting against it.
Northern Territory’s inquiry into establishing an Indigenous advisory body to review laws has been slammed as a ‘waste of taxpayers’ money’ by NT Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (pictured)
Ms Nampijinpa Price, though, is vehemently opposed to the NT following South and Victoria and said the inquiry shows the Territory government does not know how to help Indigenous people.
‘Northern Territorians already had their say on a voice to parliament, and they gave an overwhelming No to the idea – 60.3 per cent No,’ she told Daily Mail .
‘A parliamentary inquiry is a waste of both time and taxpayers’ money, and is a clear sign of a government with no plans and no ideas to tackle the problems facing our communities.’
Though Ms Nampijinpa Price, who is the Coalition’s spokeswoman for Indigenous ns, is stridently against a Voice-style body in the NT, there are many who support it.
The Northern n Aboriginal Justice Agency wants the body set up and said it should ‘provide views on the development of proposed laws and policies at the earliest possible stages of the law and policy making processes and well in advance of the introduction of bills into the (NT) Legislative Assembly.
‘This is critical to ensuring that Aboriginal peoples have the genuine opportunity to influence decision-making in relation to the laws and policies that affect them,’ the agency wrote in its submission.
Human rights group Civil Liberties said the body should be an ‘NT voice to the NT parliament’ that would recommend how proposed bills affecting Indigenous Territorians ‘could be improved for the benefit of the entire community and/or for the First Nations community of the NT without deleterious effect on non-First Nations Territorians’.
The n Lawyers Alliance (ALA) said having an NT Voice is ‘essential’ to bridging the gap between the living standards of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Territorians.
In its submission to the inquiry, the ALA said ‘While any statutory body would be established by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory, its composition and daily operations should be independent from the Legislative Assembly and government departments/agencies.’
Another submission, from the Northern and Central Land Councils, said ‘Aboriginal people must be empowered to have a say in policies and legislation that affect them.
Despite the Indigenous Voice to Parliament being voted down in last October’s referendum, the Northern Territory is looking into setting up it’s own Voice-style body. Members of the Aboriginal community in Aurukun on the NT’s Cape York Peninsula are pictured
‘Any review of the impacts of proposed laws on Aboriginal people must be led by Aboriginal people.’
It also warned that ‘If a Legislative Assembly committee proves to be the preferred model for a review body, checks need to be put in place to ensure the body remains Aboriginal-led in the event of the assembly having minimal or no Aboriginal members.’
The Territory’s Attorney-General’s department said if a body is to be set up, the inquiry must decide on its level of independence.
The department said the inquiry also needs to look at membership qualifications, election processes, what laws it could advise on and whether the NT Government would be bound by its recommendations.