Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor on Thursday and joined Labor in defeating Dutton’s call for a debate on a royal commission and an audit of spending on Indigenous programs.
The two ideas – advocated by opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman and leading No campaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price – were key pillars of the Coalition’s Indigenous policy as it mobilised against the Voice to parliament.
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“The depth and feeling when you speak to people in Alice Springs,as I’ve done with Jacinta Price,it is palpable. When you speak with people who are involved in community services,in policing – they are heartbroken. They are exhausted,” Dutton said.
“This is about protecting children,it’s about protecting vulnerable children in our country who are being sexually abused.”
But the board of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory said the “substantial resources” required for a royal commission would be better used on the ground,including by acting on poverty,schooling and youth incarceration.
“Our Aboriginal organisations and communities do not minimise the issue of the abuse and neglect of children,” the board said. “Political grandstanding by those who actively campaigned against Aboriginal communities having a voice on matters that concern us can only be divisive and destructive.”