More than a hundred First Nations advocacy groups and organisations have banded together to oppose Peter Dutton’s calls for a royal commission into the abuse of Indigenous children, accusing the opposition of “political point-scoring” and “demonising” communities.
The opposition leader and his shadow Indigenous Australians minister, the senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, have repeatedly pushed for a royal commission into alleged child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities.
A joint statement backed by more than 100 community Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisationscalls for the safety of children to “not be politicised or used as a platform to advance a political position”.
There have already been 33 reports into child protection since the Bringing Them Home report in 1997, the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (Snaicc) said.
Chair Muriel Bamblett accused the opposition of spreading “fear, distrust and divisiveness”.
“Those who don’t pause to entertain the truth will always spin a story of fear, distrust and divisiveness for their own interests,” Bamblett said.
Bamblett said the calls risked perpetuating harmful prejudice about First Nations communities.
“We are demonising Aboriginal men and reinforcing false stereotypes just to get media attention,” Bamblett said. “We know nationally that most violence and abuse towards Aboriginal people is by non-Aboriginal people.”
Dutton is also facing presure from within his party after his calls for a royal commission.
Bridget Archer blasted Peter Dutton for appearing to “weaponise” child sexual abuse for “some perceived political advantage” after the Liberal backbencher crossed the floor in parliament this week to vote against a motion calling for a royal commission into child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities.
As Indigenous communities attempt to navigate the sadness and hurt felt by the loss and rejection of this referendum, the focus has to be on healing and showing up in support of First Nations leadership, the advocacy group GetUp said.
The GetUp chief executive and Widjabul Wia-bal woman Larissa Baldwin-Roberts said the calls were a “despicable attack” on First Nations families after the voice to parliament referendum was rejected.
“We need the government to show up and listen to what is happening right now in our communities in the wake of this referendum,” Baldwin-Roberts said.
“These are the same tactics and lies that were weaponised against communities that resulted in the NT intervention.”
The Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (Amsant), which represents the Aboriginal community controlled health services across the Northern Territory, said all children had a right to be safe in their homes and communities.
The Amsant CEO, John Patterson, said any abuse of a child was unacceptable: “Any abuse of any child is abhorrent and profoundly offensive to Aboriginal culture, which has at its heart the care and nurture of children.”
Patterson said there were already recommendations from inquiriesthat required urgent action.
“Rather than generate more recommendations from yet more inquiries, we need to ensure we implement existing recommendations from previous inquiries, including from the royal commission into the care and protection of children,” Patterson said.
If there is any evidence of abuse of children in communities or elsewhere, it must be reported to law enforcement, he said.
“We remind politicians that they are subject to the same laws on mandatory reporting of sexual abuse as all members of the community,” he added.
The federal government said calls for another royal commission did not address the underlying cases of violence and abuse.
“We don’t need another royal commission to tell us that concrete action is needed. Our focus is on the immediate issue of keeping children and women safe,” a spokesperson for the federal government said.
“Our focus is on ending violence against women and children in one generation.”
The spokesperson said the most recent federal budget allocated $589.3m to support women and children’s safety, including $262.6m to support First Nations women and children.
The opposition leader has been contacted for further comment.
