Labor will establish a national Indigenous caucus of federal, state and territory MPs aimed at increasing representation, voter enrolment and party representation among Australia’s first peoples.
Bill Shorten is hosting the first meeting of the caucus in Brisbane on Monday, attended by Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, New South Wales Labor opposition leader Luke Foley, Tasmanian opposition leader Bryan Green and Indigenous affairs ministers and shadow ministers from every jurisdiction.
Shorten said he wanted to increase Indigenous representation not only within the Labor party but across all parties.
He said Labor senators and MPs Patrick Dodson, Linda Burney and Malarndirri McCarthy, as well as the Liberal Indigenous health minister, Ken Wyatt, could inspire a new round of young Indigenous leaders.
“If we are going to bring about that change, we need more Indigenous people leading the conversation,” Shorten said.
The caucus meeting will consider an Indigenous enrolment drive, in preparation for a referendum on constitutional recognition.
It will also consider a young leaders program where young Indigenous people are identified and paired directly with MPs.
The caucus meeting will examine ways to dismantle barriers to ALP membership.
The move comes after last election, when the Australian Electoral Commission estimated only half of the Indigenous people in the Northern Territory were enrolled to vote.
“There is a massive gap – and we need to do something about it,” Shorten said.
“It’s critical that we put strategies in place to ensure all Australians are enrolled to vote,” he said.
“Having such large numbers of people off the electoral roll means Indigenous people don’t have the voice they should.”
There are five Indigenous MPs and senators in the federal parliament, including Dodson, McCarthy, Burney, Wyatt and the independent senator Jacqui Lambie.
Liberal senator Neville Bonner was the first Indigenous representative in the federal parliament, elected in 1971 and serving until 1983, when he was dropped down the Liberal party ticket. Wyatt was the first Indigenous MP elected into the lower house, winning his seat of Hasluck in 2010.
