Jacinta Nampijinpa Price pledges to cut Welcome to Country ceremony funding if elected
Coalition frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says she'll look to stop federal funding for Indigenous Welcome to Country ceremonies if her party wins government at this year's federal election.
Earlier this week, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton handed the Northern Territory senator the shadow ministry for government efficiency in a cabinet reshuffle.
Senator Price, who also continues in her position as shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, has now for the first time outlined her plans for the new role if the Coalition wins government.
"Going forward, what has come out of the result of the [Voice] referendum, is that Australians want to see taxpayer dollars work more effectively for them," she said.
"Right across the board, [but] certainly for marginalised Indigenous Australians.
"Australians want to cut the waste, they want to make sure that outcomes are coming to life with the way in which taxpayer dollars are being spent by their government."
Senator Price said she would "look at an audit of the billions of dollars that are spent in the Indigenous space, so that we can understand where that can be better spent", with a focus on the funding priorities of federal bodies such as the National Indigenous Australians Agency.
She said she would also look to redirect funding currently used for Welcome to Country ceremonies.
"I don't believe that we should be spending $450,000 a [government] term on Welcome to Country, when that isn't actually improving the life of a marginalised Indigenous Australian," she said.
"That kind of funding could be redirected to actually improve the lives of marginalised Indigenous Australians, as opposed to being used for what is effectively a welcoming ceremony, many of which have now become quite politicised.
"I don't think it's necessary to have to spend so much money on something that's not really helping our most marginalised."
Senator Price dismissed as "surprising" comparisons of her new portfolio to Tesla owner Elon Musk's similarly-titled role in the new Trump administration in the United States.
Mr Musk as the head of US President Donald Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency, following his election in November.
Mr Dutton's cabinet reshuffle came just weeks after the US announcement.
"That was surprising that people were comparing me to Elon Musk, because certainly I don't have the same sort of bank account as Mr Musk has," Senator Price said.
"There was no sort of looking at what Trump was doing and going 'well, how can we do that over here?'
"That certainly wasn't an inspiration for this particular role.
"I think it's come about because I've sought a more efficient way of spending dollars in the Indigenous portfolio, and I've said in the past that we should apply these sorts of measures across the board, to identify where waste exists in other portfolios."
Labor concerned programs will be cut
The new Coalition portfolio has garnered scepticism from the Albanese government's Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy, who said she feared Senator Price would use the power to cut programs in the bush.
On Thursday, Senator McCarthy said in an interview on Central Australian Aboriginal broadcaster CAAMA that Senator Price was "going to be responsible for cutting programs".
"I'm worried. I think, is she going to cut … school holiday programs like the one at the pool, you know, the skate rink?" Senator McCarthy said.
"These holiday programs are really important."
In response, Senator Price described the comments as a "scare campaign".
"We will expect a scare campaign from Labor, this is how they conduct themselves," she said.
"She's clutching at straws to suggest to Indigenous Australians that they're the sort of programs that are going to have their funding cut.
"An audit needs to determine what programs are being effective and supporting Indigenous Australians, and those sort of programs are … supporting vulnerable Indigenous Australians."
Senator Price has been in Alice Springs this week alongside Mr Dutton, where the pair on Wednesday announced that an elected Coalition government would
offer its "in-principle" support to a series of measures aimed at halting crime levels in the Red Centre town.