Last week it was announced the 43-year-old former SAS soldier and barrister, Keith Wolahan, will replace conservative Liberal party stalwart Kevin Andrews after winning a long-running preselection battle to represent the Victorian electorate of Menzies, which covers the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
The Liberal Party currently holds the seat by a seven-point margin, making it a stronghold for the Coalition and a sure thing at the next election.
While party leadership has framed the coup as a “changing of the guard”, conservatives have been left wondering what their new representative stands for. And on the subject of constitutional recognition of Indigenous people at least, Wolahan certainly is no moderate.
OPINION: A video recording of a talk given to the Samuel Griffith Society in 2017 shows Wolahan lay out his opposition for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
As a Perth newsreader, Narelda Jacobs had to mute her desire as a gay Aboriginal woman with a keen eye for injustice to speak out. But now the television journalist, and host of the Mardi Gras broadcast shares her new power and vision for a brighter future.
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A veteran federal Liberal MP says the Morrison government must embrace the vision of the Uluru statement in its entirety if the nation is to reconcile its past with Indigenous Australians.
Victorian backbencher Russell Broadbent is urging his own party to reconsider its opposition towards adopting the 2017 Statement from the Heart in full, saying that recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the nationâs constitution is the only path towards healing.
Victorian backbencher Russell Broadbent, an outspoken critic of the Coalitionâs refugee policies, said the call for truth and justice âcan no longer be ignoredâ and there was âdeep listeningâ to be done.
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The Australian government’s failure to deliver on reconciliation measures demanded in the Uluru Statement of the Heart continues to evoke anger and disappointment, a new report says.
The 2021 State of Reconciliation report says Australia is at a tipping point in the reconciliation process and demands a shift from “safe” to “brave” actions to ensure further progress.
It draws on interviews and data sourced from First Nations organisations, leaders and the community.
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Reconciliation Australia chief executive Karen Mundine said there remains a gap to bridge to continue progress towards reconciliation in Australia.
“Actions must involve truth-telling and actively addressing issues of systemic racism and instances where the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are ignored, denied or reduced,” she said.