Indigenous leader Warren Mundine has dismissed Bill Shorten’s claim that too many Aboriginal children are being removed from their families as “a load of garbage”, saying the Opposition Leader “doesn’t have a friggin’ clue” what is going on in remote communities.
At the weekend, Mr Shorten highlighted his promise to hold a summit within the first 100 days of a Labor government to tackle the issue of indigenous child protection, hitting out at “know-it-all whitefellas” who “come in paternalistic” in their approach to indigenous affairs.
Mr Shorten made the comments during a visit to the Northern Territory community of Barunga, east of Katherine.
Mr Mundine, a former federal ALP president, said Mr Shorten was a “living example” of the kind of “whitefella” he was criticising.
“The man is a complete fool and it’s a disgrace that this guy is actually running for prime minister of this country when he’s just talking of more reviews,” Mr Mundine said. “I’m quite happy to sit down and have a conversation about it and save him the trouble of another talkfest.”
In February, a toddler was raped in Tennant Creek, having remained with relatives despite the family being the subject of 52 notifications to child protection services over 16 years.
“In the last few weeks we’ve seen the violent abuse of Aboriginal children that is happening out there, and we know that is only the tip of the iceberg because we’ve had about 40 reviews nationally on these areas since about 2004,” Mr Mundine said. “I’ve sat on several of those and, quite frankly I’m very, very angry in regard to Bill Shorten’s response. I found it a load of garbage and he needs to get his facts right.”
Indigenous Labor MP Linda Burney defended Mr Shorten, saying an opinion piece by former ALP powerbroker Graham Richardson, published in The Australianyesterday, was “disgracefully inaccurate” in claiming Mr Shorten had suggested leaving indigenous children in vulnerable circumstances.
“In Australia today, more First Nations children are in out-of-home care than ever before,” Ms Burney said. “The rate of removal of these children is the highest it has even been and, as we know, too many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are ending up in juvenile justice institutions. This issue is complex and few would claim to have the answers.”
Ms Burney cited her previous role as a minister with responsibility for child protection in the NSW government.
“I understand as well as anyone this wicked policy challenge,” she said. “It means looking at the reasons underpinning child removal rates, and identifying why there has been such a significant increase since the apology (to the Stolen Generations in 2008).
“It doesn’t mean — as suggested by yesterday’s article — turning a blind eye to the social problems, simply to drive down child removal rates. On the contrary, it means tackling these things head-on and having an honest conversation about how this situation changes.”
