Malcolm Turnbull’s outright rejection of the recommendation to enshrine an Indigenous voice to parliament was deeply insulting to Aboriginal people and will set back reconciliation, the former prime minister Kevin Rudd told Q&A on Monday. He said the Referendum Council’s report was an “unremarkable recommendation” and at a minimum should be listened to. Turnbull and his Indigenous affairs minister, Nigel Scullion, said they were rejecting the proposal without committee exploration because the Australian people would never support it. Tingle said the real disaster of Turnbull’s decision was that it said: “We have asked you for what you wanted and you’re not going to get it. “What seemed to happen was this idea that somehow what was being asked for was a third chamber.

Source: The Guardian October 30, 2017 20:15 UTC