Voice to Parliament No campaigner Gary Johns has defended comments he made at a conservative political conference over the weekend after they were attacked by politicians across the spectrum.
The former Labor MP and President of No campaign group Recognise A Better Way was attacked for comments he made at the CPAC conference in Sydney in which he spoke about the need for Indigenous Australians to learn English and claim some Indigenous Australians lived in a “stupor”.
“…If you’re not trying to get those people either out of that remote community or out of the stupor in which they live, or give them the tools to allow them to adapt to life in the modern world, the world we inherited, then you’re doing wrong." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also weighed in when asked about the issue during a press conference.
“What's happened in the last generation or two such that some Aboriginal children mainly in remote, very remote communities, cannot speak sufficiently well English, or read it, or write it.Mr Johns accused his critics of attempting to shut down the debate because they couldn’t answer the simple question about the lack of English language skills in remote communities.
Mr Johns also defended his statement that “being Aboriginal is not enough”, telling Bolt that “we can all have an identity. It doesn’t pay the rent doesn't get you through school.” The former Labor MP said there wouldn’t be an issue with Indigenous Australians living an alternative lifestyle if it wasn’t leading to such negative consequences.
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