Interview of Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud on Sky News
PETER STEFANOVIC
Let's bring in The Nationals Leader David Littleproud now. David, good to see you again. So where are you at? Where do you think we are at one year on from the failed Voice Referendum?
DAVID LITTLEPROUD
Yeah. Well, sadly, after 12 months and a waste of $450 million, this Government has effectively wiped its hands of Indigenous Australians and trying to close the gap. We were the first ones as Nationals to come out and oppose the Voice on a principle position of repeating the mistakes of the past. This was at mark two, that's what they were proposing. But what we did when the No vote came through 12 months ago today was go back into the Parliament and move two motions. One was around a forensic audit of the money that's been spent on Indigenous affairs in this country, to make sure that it's actually hitting the ground and getting the results and closing the gap.
And the second one was around a Rural Commission into child sexual abuse in Central Australia. The government opposed both and yet has done nothing for 12 months since. What that message was 12 months ago was for politicians to just get on and do the job. We didn't need any more bureaucracy, we just needed leadership.
And unfortunately, the Prime Minister has dropped Indigenous Australians like no tomorrow, and they've had nothing done. And there's been no look at how we can do things better. And that's what the Australian people told us. The Nationals were proud to lead that, but we still want to lead a way forward for Indigenous Australians because there is a closing the gap in many parts of the country.
PETER STEFANOVIC
Well, just on that, I mean, because the Indigenous Affairs Minister Malarndirri McCarthy, she wants to sit down with Jacinta Price to kickstart for a reconciliation process. Should they be getting together?
DAVID LITTLEPROUD
Well, Jacinta Price has made very clear that she's prepared to do that. But if you are sincere about that, you don't give less than 24 hours’ notice to sit down, as something as serious as Indigenous Affairs and the complexity of it and say, let's have a talk about this and a way forward. You actually preface that with some time and some agenda items that we've just talked about along with looking at the Land Councils and how we unlock and their hold over much of the land that has been given to them under Native Title, to unlock it for an economic development.
Not hold it there for a select few, but unlock that economic development of individual Indigenous Australians to take advantage of it. And that's what we're saying, practical real solutions. But if you're genuine about it, well take the time and sit down. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is prepared to do that. And I'll be with her today in Alice Springs to talk about those sort of things.
PETER STEFANOVIC
Alright, we'll carry a bit of that live too as we see it too. David, also a few other items this morning to get to quickly. You've been on the front foot when it comes to the Blayney mine. Tanya Plibersek, I was interested to see these comments. She says, a mural at the Bathurst Post Office is proof of the existence of the blue-banded bee dreaming story, which is why she killed the application. What are your thoughts on that?
DAVID LITTLEPROUD
Well, this gets more bizarre by the day. Effectively, she's saying to us, she's putting the same weighting of a modern painted mural to that of those that were painted thousands of years ago on a cave.
Some modern interpretation shouldn’t be the same as what was put on a cave when the local Indigenous group that represent Indigenous Australians in that part of the world believe that it is a baseless claim. In fact, an independent panel said that Tanya Plibersek is giving it currency by saying no, that mural painted on a wall, not on a cave, has some currency.
I mean, she's grasping at straws trying to cover her tracks. We've made it very clear The Nationals and the Liberals will approve this mine. The 800 jobs will start as soon as the election is done. We want to give certainty and sovereign capability of this country and take away that sovereign risk.
PETER STEFANOVIC
And just to squeeze another one in before we go, David, sorry to interrupt. The Queensland Premier, this is interesting today. He wants a nuclear plebiscite if he's successful. How do you feel about that this morning?
DAVID LITTLEPROUD
Oh, this is another addition to the closing down sale in Queensland. I mean, he's spending every last cent and just doing whatever he can before he closes down and gets kicked out. There will be a plebiscite on nuclear energy in this country. It's called a federal election. And if he wants to have a good hard look, have a look in my electorate and an electorate of Flynn, in Maranoa and Flynn. I suspect you'll see that there'll be very strong support for Colin Boyce and myself. That's a strong indication that Queensland, particularly in those areas, want a nuclear power plant. They want a future that's not just wind turbines and solar panels.
PETER STEFANOVIC
All right, closing down sale. There you go. Hey, what do you make of that two-party preferred result? The NewsPoll this morning?
DAVID LITTLEPROUD
Oh, look, it's encouraging. I think Australians are simply asking themselves, do they feel safe and they feel better off after two and a half years of Anthony Albanese. And the answer is no, they don't. And so they're getting angry and we're putting up real solutions in energy and taking on the supermarkets and a sensible migration policy that might give people some hope that they might own a home one day and bring in some tradies rather than some dog groomers and martial arts instructors.
PETER STEFANOVIC
We'll leave it there, David Littleproud, thanks for your time.
