Patrick Dodson lists greatest injustices on First Nations people and why Voice is so critical
Senator Patrick Dodson appeared at the National Press Club. (Image credit: Still image taken from ABC's coverage)
Patrick Dodson, the father of the modern reconciliation movement in Australia, has appeared at the National Press Club and hasn’t minced his words when discussing the plight of First Nations people.
“What drives me is the ongoing injustice I see; the out of home placements of our kids, the high levels of incarceration, the high levels of suicide that we see amongst our young people,” said Mr Dodson, who was appointed as a special envoy for reconciliation and for the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart by the Albanese government.
“The awful living conditions and poverty I see, the lack of hope which I see in the streets of my own home town of Broome, the awfully frustrating changes that are needed in the criminal justice system and the so-called benefits which we should be enjoying but which aren’t being delivered,” he continued to NPC host, journalist Anna Henderson, an NPC director.
“That’s what drives me; we need to change, we need to have an effective Voice to the parliament; we need to have recognition as the first peoples.
“You can’t live in your own country and not be recognised. And that’s the challenge for us as Australians.
“After the vote on October 14, people are going to have to look in the mirror and ask, ‘What have we done and why have we done what we did and where is it going to take us?”
