Leeser says Albanese has 'lost his direction' on Indigenous affairs

Australia's shadow minister for Indigenous affairs has accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of having no clear plan for the future of Indigenous Australia, saying that the government has been "adrift" on the issue since the failure of the Voice referendum in 2023.Liberal MP Julian Leeser laid out his vision in a speech on the first day of the annual Garma festival in north-east Arnhem Land, with a focus on education and suicide prevention.Mr Leeser also accused the federal government and Mr Albanese of lacking direction on Indigenous policy since the Voice to Parliament referendum vote, which was resoundingly rejected by Australians."Since October 2023, the Australian government's policy on Indigenous affairs has been adrift," he said in the speech."It has lacked a clear direction and sense of purpose."The Garma Festival is underway in Arnhem Land. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)'It is time to get off the mat'Mr Leeser criticised Mr Albanese, a notable no-show at this year's Garma, which has become known as Australia's key platform for Indigenous policy debate."Since the defeat of the Voice he just hasn't gotten off the mat," he said."It is time to get off the mat."After declining to attend Garma Mr Albanese said he "can't be everywhere" and would be represented at the festival by Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Indigenous Australians Minister Malarindirri McCarthy.Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles defended the PM's absence during an appearance on News Corp's News24 channel today."The prime minister is entitled to have leave and actually it's really important," Mr Marles said."We are going to be well represented there [at Garma]."Julian Leeser says addressing mental health in Indigenous communities is one of his priorities. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)Leeser speaks of father's deathMr Leeser reclaimed the shadow Indigenous Affairs portfolio earlier this year after Opposition Leader Angus Taylor named his cabinet.His views have not always aligned with other key Indigenous affairs policy advocates within his party room, including the outspoken Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, with whom he disagreed on the need for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.In his speech at Garma Mr Leeser pledged to try and reverse the nation's woeful Indigenous suicide rates and spoke of his personal loss."I lost my own father to suicide when I was a young man," he said."I have learned that to see a suicide as an act impacting a single individual is not to understand it at all … at times, it becomes a virus of hopelessness."In too many Indigenous communities, its frequency has meant it has become normalised, and it never should be normalised."Ms Leeser said a renewed focus on school education was the "secret sauce" that could help to transform Indigenous lives.He pointed to recent success by an independent Arnhem Land school, Dhupuma Barker College, in turning around school attendance rates.Statistics heralded by the school at the Garma festival today showed enrolment had nearly tripled in five years, from 24 students in 2021 to 70 in 2026.School attendance had risen by three per cent, going against the trend in other NT government schools.