Veteran MP slams Pearson
Veteran Far North MP Warren Entsch has taken a swipe at Voice to Parliament advocate Noel Pearson, saying he has garnered at least $550m in government funding for his programs and there is little to show for it.
Speaking in parliament, Mr Entsch said the lawyer and founder of the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership had never been popularly elected as an Indigenous leader.
“Noel has been on the government’s payroll for decades, advising and influencing Indigenous policy, and I say to government: do we really need the architect of so many policy failures involved in producing another one?
“While he identifies himself as a Cape York Indigenous leader, Noel Pearson has never stood for an election,” Mr Entsch said.
He said Mr Pearson had been “held up as a messiah — like a figurehead for Indigenous Australians”.
“There is no doubt that Noel has significant influence over Indigenous affairs, but I, like many others in Cape York who have seen the reality of his influence, have long been critical of governments and bureaucrats that only care to listen for his voice,” Mr Entsch said.
He said over decades, Mr Pearson had received millions “for his pet projects”.
“Many of these remote communities that Noel has used as policy experiments remain dysfunctional, whether it’s Cape York welfare reform, Cape York Employment, Good to Great Schools or a range of other concessions — the list of Noel’s entities and programs just goes on and on,” Mr Entsch said.
He said Mr Pearson labelled dissenters racist.
“The communities in Cape York who have, effectively, banned Noel — like Mapoon — are doing exceptionally well,” Mr Entsch said.
“Those who’ve let Noel’s influence into their communities remain dysfunctional.”
“I am not opposed to the Voice per se,” he said.
But Mr Entsch said there was no substantive detail.
“The old line, ‘trust us, vote yes and we’ll figure out the details later,’ is simply not going to fly,” Mr Entsch said.
He said he understood why many people had reservations about the Voice to Parliament.
“Recognition is absolutely critical – we need to be taking recognition out of this debate and installing it in the Constitution immediately,” he insisted.
Mr Entsch said remote communities faced entirely different challenges to Indigenous communities in metropolitan areas, citing the lack of housing for young adults seeking to stay and work in community as an example.
He said often the only opportunity was the governmentdriven Community Development Program (CDP) work.
“Those who wish to remain in their communities are faced with limited options,” he said.
Mr Entsch believed improving quality of life was critical.
“It seems that all we ever do is go around in circles,” Mr Entsch said.
He labelled the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) “an abject failure”.
“A privileged few did very well out of it,” Mr Entsch noted.
Comment has been sought from Mr Pearson via his representative.