Peter Dutton vows to scrap First Nations ambassador position if elected

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has promised to scrap the role of First Nations people's ambassador, a new position created under the Albanese government, if the Coalition is elected at the next election.

Justin Mohamed, a Gooreng Gooreng man, was appointed to the position in April last year to lead the government's efforts in "implementing a First Nations approach to foreign policy".

Announcing the first-of-its-kind appointment, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the new position ensured Australia would have dedicated Indigenous representation in international engagements for the first time.

In an interview with 2GB Radio on Monday, Mr Dutton said the position would be "abolished on day one" of a Coalition government.

"That money will be spent to help Australians who are struggling at the moment," he said.

The comments came after The Daily Telegraph reported that the government had spent more than $145,000 on Mr Mohamed's travel expenses in the past financial year.

The story was based on documents detailing the cost of Mr Mohamed's travel between April last year and June, released under Freedom of Information earlier this month.

"I'm not going to tolerate a situation where we are wasting taxpayer money," Mr Dutton said.

"Nobody can point to what it has achieved.

"It's the only position of its nature in the world, and it was all about talking to the Voice [to Parliament] and the Makarrata Commission and truth-telling."

A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Mr Mohamed and his team were "delivering results for all Australians, including our First Nations communities".

"Ambassador Mohamed has helped secure greater access for Indigenous peoples to the Human Rights Council, he was essential to delivering a groundbreaking treaty securing formal legal recognition of First Nations peoples’ genetic resources and traditional knowledge, and has boosted First Nations trade," she said.

"First Nations diplomacy is a powerful element of our engagement with the Pacific given the strong First Nations cultural and historical connections with our region."

Ambassador attended conferences and UN meetings

The ambassador is the head of the Office for First National International Engagement, which has a budget of $13.6 million over four years.

According to the government, the funding will support the development of a First Nations trade and investment advisory group, a First Nations visitor economy partnership, support for the use of the intellectual property system to protect Indigenous knowledge and greater First Nations business participation through Austrade.

Since becoming the ambassador, Mr Mohamed has travelled to Honolulu for the Festival of Pacific Art and Culture, San Francisco for APEC Economic Leaders Week, Dubai for the COP28 climate conference and Geneva for United Nations meetings, among other overseas trips.

Mr Mohamed spent years working in Indigenous organisations before taking the position and was most recently the Victorian government's deputy secretary of Aboriginal justice.

In March last year, he said he was "excited about the opportunities ahead to embed First Nations voices and knowledge into Australia's foreign policies and trade".

"I am looking forward to sitting down and listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country, as we develop foreign policies that have First Nations People's knowledges, voice and connection to country front and centre," he said in a statement.

Mr Mohamed has been contacted for comment.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-23/dutton-promises-to-axe-first-nations-amba...

Of course he will.

Hope 100% of Aboriginals and anyone else interested are smart enough to vote against him for this.

Armchair_Politician wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2024 at 7:39pm:


Morrison was thrown out of office in disgrace ? He didn't wipe anything.

First of all - its First Invaders - not Nations... there were successive waves of them all on top of one another for centuries...

Second of all - small wandering groups are not Nations...

Third of all - where did this 'ambassador' come from?  Whose walking nightmare is that divisive nonsense?