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RUBY:

From Schwartz Media I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am.

After five years of inaction, the Albanese government has made implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart a key item of business. Anthony Albanese has described it as a hand held out to the country.

But there are still questions over whether a referendum will succeed. Patrick Dodson is telling colleagues they should put it up regardless - if the vote is lost, the country will have to live with it.

Today, columnist from The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno on the first week of a new parliament.

It’s Friday, July 29.

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Archival tape - [Welcome to Country song]

RUBY:

Paul, it’s been a big week in politics. The Albanese government sat for the very first time, so what stood out to you in terms of defining the week, or what is becoming clear about Anthony Albanese’s agenda?

PAUL:

Well Ruby, it’s a good question, and I think it's worth starting with reconciliation.

Archival tape - [Welcome to Country song continues]

Archival tape - [Applause]

PAUL:

Anthony Albanese knows that a Prime Minister can change the course of a nation. And he’s grasping that opportunity with an enthusiasm that wasn't as obvious in the campaign.

Archival tape -- Paul Girrawah House (Ngambri and Ngunnawal Custodian):

“(Indigenous language introduction) Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, young men, young women, distinguished guests. The Honourable Anthony Albanese, MP Prime Minister…”

PAUL:

This was particularly so in the first ceremony of the opening of Parliament, the ‘welcome to country’. And it was really quite moving.

Archival tape -- Paul Girrawah House (Ngambri and Ngunnawal Custodian):

“With this welcome to the country, our main aim as local custodians is establish an atmosphere of mutual respect through the acknowledgement of our ancestors, and the recognition of our rights to declare a special place in the pre- and post- history of the region…”

PAUL:

Albanese used his remarks to underscore his commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, promising its implementation and really making it a key agenda item for his government. And I'd have to say in doing so, creating another big test for himself.

Archival tape -- Anthony Albanese:

“I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we may pay much respect to the elders past, present and emerging on behalf of the Government of Australia. Recommit to the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.”

Archival tape - [Applause]

PAUL:

He said the Uluru statement, with its voice to Parliament, was an opportunity that must be seized.

Archival tape -- Anthony Albanese:

“So I say to everyone here, all of my parliamentary colleagues, don't miss your chance because you're not here for that long. None of us will be. And when you’re sitting on the porch thinking about what you did, you can either have a source of pride or a source of regret.”

PAUL:

He described it as a generous offer from Indigenous Australians, one that is about reconciliation and recognising dispossession and colonisation. And these words are key to the project.

Archival tape -- Anthony Albanese:

“It is a good and honest and a decent and human act to reach out and make sure everyone has a place and is welcome. It says a lot.”

PAUL:

And he put it as a question, Why wouldn't you grasp the hand they've held out?

RUBY:

Okay. And Paul, the Uluru Statement from the Heart, it was first presented to the Parliament back in 2017 and it proposes a voice to parliament, a treaty process and a truth telling process. What are your thoughts on Albanese's capacity to bring Australia onside with it?

PAUL:

Well, Ruby, it helps to recognise a little bit of the history - it started with Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister choosing to reject the Uluru Statement, and claiming very speciously that it asked for a third chamber of the Parliament.

Archival tape -- Malcolm Turnbull:

“It would be in effect a third chamber now as to its prospects in a referendum. Let me tell you honestly, as someone who's had some experience in how easy it is to change the Australian Constitution, it would have no prospect of success whatsoever…”

PAUL:

Prominent Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson said at the time Turnbull had broken the first nations hearts of the country.

Archival tape -- Noel Pearson:

“…with a whole lot of dog whistling, about third chambers of Parliament and so on. This is really disappointing. There could have been a way to say no to this without all of the egregious dog whistling that is present in the Prime Minister's press release…”

PAUL:

Well, Scott Morrison was also disinclined. He set up a process that would look into legislating the called for advisory body or the voice instead of enshrining it in the constitution, but he didn't even get around to doing that.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“I don't believe I don't believe it'll derail the process from moving ahead and listening to the voices of local Indigenous communities and organising that as best as we possibly can. I'm very committed to doing that for one simple reason. It helps us deliver better services to Indigenous people right across the country…”

PAUL:

Now, given the failure rate of constitutional referendums in Australia, there is a view that any controversial or contested proposal that doesn't have bipartisan support is doomed to failure and would better not be put. And I think this is where it gets interesting in the new parliament.

Senator Patrick Dodson - Albanese’s special envoy for reconciliation and implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a revered Aboriginal elder - believes the time for stalling is over and the referendum should be put to the people. If it fails, he's told colleagues, it'll be a reality check for where we are as a nation. It would show we're still reluctant to take this significant step towards healing the hole in Australia's heart.

RUBY:

That's a significant development, isn't it, that the man who is responsible for the implementation of the Uluru statement is essentially saying ‘crash or crash through’?

PAUL:

Well, it certainly is. And while Anthony Albanese would welcome bipartisan support for a referendum, he's pushing ahead either way. It's still not clear where Peter Dutton and the Opposition will end up. But I believe hostile rejection would be a big political risk. It's hard to see a partisan divide here working. And on Tuesday, after Albanese described his intention to put the voice proposal to referendum well, Dutton gave a well thought through response that didn't challenge Albanese's direction, but on the other hand, he didn't enthusiastically endorse it either.

And this weekend, Albanese will go to the Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures in East Arnhem Land, where he's giving more information on how he'll progress his promise to put a referendum this term.

RUBY:

We'll be back in a moment.

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RUBY:

Paul, Anthony Albanese has made implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart a key promise for this term. But can you tell me a bit more about what else has come up this week? Because it's the first sitting week of Parliament for Labor.

PAUL:

Well, Ruby, there's no escaping that the economic and strategic circumstances into which Albanese has become Prime Minister are the most challenging in more than three decades.

Archival tape -- Jim Chalmers:

“Australians are paying a really hefty price for a decade of messed up priorities and missed opportunities…”

PAUL:

Treasurer Jim Chalmers responded by saying the numbers were confronting.

Archival tape -- Jim Chalmers:

“If you think about the global forecasts released by the International Monetary Fund overnight, they show that the global economy is heading down a precarious and perilous path…”

PAUL:

Then on Thursday, he unveiled a list of even grimmer figures trimming optimistic forecasts for growth and wages in the Coalition's pre-election budget and pointing to even higher inflation. That, he says, will get worse before it gets better.

Archival tape -- Jim Chalmers:

“And the starkest evidence of that so far is the news that we got this morning about the June quarter inflation figure, the CPI, which was 6.1% the highest for some decades…”

PAUL:

And the Treasurer said the idea that forecasted wages growth would keep up with the rising cost of living will not be credible.

Archival tape -- Jim Chalmers:

“…and there is an understanding: that a mess that it took you lot nine years to make will take longer than nine weeks for us to clean up.”

Archival tape -- Labor Members (in unison):

“Hear, hear!”

Archival tape - [Rabble]

RUBY:

And what has the conduct of politicians in Parliament been like in these early days? Because there had been a lot of talk from Albanese about changing the way that we do politics and conflict fatigue. So how did that play out?

PAUL:

Ruby, I think Chalmers’ answer is a good example. Like those proffered by other ministers in the first question time, it demonstrated what Albanese means when he talks about a new inclusive politics. It certainly doesn't mean refusing to engage in argument, leaving assertions uncontested, or being soft on your opponents.

Archival tape -- Milton Dick:

“Order! I give the call to the Prime Minister.”

PAUL:

The new speaker, Milton Dick, showed promising gravitas and familiarity with the standing orders to establish his control of the House.

Archival tape -- Milton Dick:

“The leader will resume his seat. The question was specific and it mentioned “during the campaign”. The Prime Minister is in order and I'll listen carefully to what he's saying. If you want a different answer, you'll have to ask a different question…”

PAUL:

I'd have to say it was a more assured first performance than his immediate Liberal predecessor, Andrew Wallace, who took over from the impressive Tony Smith.

Archival tape -- Milton Dick:

“Manager, we've had the point of order. What is your point of order?”

Archival tape -- Coalition MP:

“You need to bring the Prime Minister to comply-...”

Archival tape -- Milton Dick:

“There is no point of order…”

PAUL:

And in terms of the Opposition Benches, Peter Dutton set the tone linking the Government to the CFMMEU.

Archival tape -- Peter Dutton:

“Has the Prime Minister met with any of the many union bosses from the CFMEU accused of criminal behaviour including sexual assault, harassment and rape?”

Archival tape -- Milton Dick:

“I give the call to the Prime Minister…”

PAUL:

It was a tawdry fishing exercise and it got under the Prime Minister's skin.

Archival tape -- Anthony Albanese:

“If he wants to name somebody and ask if I've met with them, he's perfectly entitled to. What he's not entitled to do is to engage in that sort of smear tactic, which is what that question is…”

PAUL:

One suspects the opposition leader is merely warming up. He winked up to the press gallery, clearly pleased that his niggle rankled.

RUBY:

Hmm. Okay. What about the other big one? Climate change? Because that bill has been introduced, hasn't it? But there aren't many details yet.

PAUL:

Yeah, look, this one will probably take till September's sitting of the Senate to be finally resolved. Climate Minister Chris Bowen introduced Labor's 43% target into the Lower House, with some stiffening thanks to negotiations already with the independents and the Greens. But he didn't miss his political opponents on the other side of the House.

Archival tape -- Chris Bowen:

“It's no accident that one of the first pieces of legislation introduced by the Albanese government in the 47th Parliament is in response to one of the most urgent and pressing issues of our time: climate change.”

PAUL:

He reminded us again, yet again that the Coalition is responsible for enormous failures on climate change.

Archival tape -- Chris Bowen:

“The political infighting has seen Australia not just pause progress but go backwards to miss the economic and jobs opportunities that come from real action on climate change.”

PAUL:

But at this stage, though the signs are promising for the target to be legislated, we're not there yet. And Labor has done what it said it would do, though, which is finally introduce legislation after a decade of inaction. But until we see what the Greens do in the Senate, we won't be able to say how significant this is.

RUBY:

Okay. Well, one to watch them, Paul.

PAUL:

It certainly is, Ruby. What's interesting is that Albanese keeps setting tests like this for himself on climate and on reconciliation. But I have to say it's refreshing to have a Prime Minister who believes the job requires commitment and ambition and is embracing the challenges of it. Bye.

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RUBY:

Also in the news today,

The Treasurer Jim Chalmers has used a major economic statement to parliament to warn Australians about further inflation, rate rises, falling wages, and a slowing economy, saying households must brace for financial pain.

Treasury has revised down forecasted growth in the economy in the years to come, with inflation expected to peak at 7.75 per cent at the end of this year.

And Australia's Chief Medical Officer has declared monkeypox a "communicable disease incident of national significance".

There are 44 cases of monkeypox in Australia, mostly returning overseas travellers.

The declaration means the virus now requires national policies, interventions and public messaging.

**

7am is a daily show from The Monthly and The Saturday Paper.

It’s produced by Kara Jensen-Mackinnon, Alex Tighe and Alex Gow.

Our technical producer is Atticus Bastow.

Brian Campeau mixes the show. Our editor is Scott Mitchell. Erik Jensen is our editor-in-chief.

Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan of Envelope Audio.

Additional composition this week by Alex Gow.

I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am, see you next week.

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