Jacinta Nampijinpa Price defends Australia Day on The Young IPA Podcast

Alice Springs town councillor and academic with the Centre for Independent Studies Jacinta Nampijinpa Price joined The Young IPA Podcast to discuss her views on Australia Day. Here are some highlights from the interview:

On Australia Day

• “My views are that we should stay on January 26^th.”
• “There’s an idea that all Aboriginal people think as one which is utterly untrue and we’re all individuals with our own different minds.”
• “The idea from Richard Di Natale – ‘we need to listen to the First Nations people’ – well which First Nations people are we talking about? Because we all have differing views on the topic and there are a lot of us who want to get on with our fellow Australians without this division.”
• Changing the date “isn’t going to make any significant impact whatsoever on the ground for the most marginalised.”
• “It’s a complete copout and pretend way to act like you actually care for Aboriginal people. I’ve never heard Richard di Natale and say that he is outraged by the levels of family and domestic violence that occurs in regional communities. I’ve never once heard him say that.”

On the reaction to her comments

• “Mostly there has been an incredible outpour of support from everyday Australians form many different backgrounds – white Australians, Australians from other countries…and Aboriginal people that have come out in support of maintaining the day. Even those who once were in favour of changing the date, but since hearing the arguments that I have put forward they’ve changed their mind.”
• “If you’re a free thinker, you’re attacked…if you want to be a leader you can expect to be viciously attacked for standing up and having an opinion.”
• “It’s OK to voice an opinion that is different without being attacked”

On how this detracts from other issues

• “I’ve got Aboriginal women coming to me saying ‘this is ridiculous. I’ve been a victim of domestic and family violence and sexual abuse as a child.’ For these privileged people to be banging on about changing the date of Australia Day as if this is the most important issue disgusts me as it’s drowning out the voices of those who are actual real victims.”
• “If people actually chose to march the streets in the numbers that they do for changing the date but for the victims of family violence towards Aboriginal women and children, we might get around to solving those issues and doing it together.”

On which party stands up for Aboriginal people

• “There are a lot more conservative Aboriginal people out there. People like to believe the myth that the Left, the Greens and Labor are the party for Aboriginal people. Well they haven’t done much in terms of trying to assist Aboriginal people over the years as we’ve seen.”
• “The White Australia Policy was a Labor policy and something that the Liberals came and changed. It was the Liberals who assisted Aboriginal people to gain the vote.”
• “Labor and the Left want to continue to peddle this victimhood mentality of Aboriginal people and see us as victims that need to be saved. That doesn’t empower us. I look at the conservative idea of one being able to stand on their own two feet.”

For the rest of the interview, listen to the full episode on iTunes, Soundcloud or the IPA website.