SARAH ABO, HOST: The prime minister has been accused of struggling to answer basic questions on a treaty with concerns support for his voice campaign is on the rocks... There seems to be a bit of confusion out there and the PM isn't providing much clarity. Even he seems to be getting a bit frustrated there's a lack of momentum around his campaign. What's the vibe like?
MALARNDIRRI MCCARTHY: I've been traveling across the states, Sarah, and that's not what I'm seeing as I'm going through Victoria and South Australia and northern New South Wales. People want to know more. Can I just reach out and just say, you know, this is not about the Prime Minister and it's certainly not about the Indigenous Affairs Minister, it's not about me. It's actually about First Nations people across the country who actually don't have a voice and would like to be able to influence policy that impacts their lives and we have to stay focused on that. Sarah, we've had so many things thrown at us over the last 6 to 8 months in the lead up to this. And this is another distraction, really. You know, when we look at what this message is all about in terms of the referendum and the question to the Australian people, it is about recognition, it is about listening. And that is all we're asking the Australian people when they go into the ballot box... And I would just say to all Australians that this is an important moment in our country's history. Stay focused on what really matters here and what matters here is the First Nations People are asking for the voice to the parliament and of course any issues that come before the Parliament should we be successful, will no doubt be inclusive of the voice so that they can have an opportunity to give their advice...
ABO: Okay, let's move on now and a record number of Australians working multiple jobs to battle the cost of living crisis. It is getting really bad out there. Nearly a million people have more than one job in this country. It's a massive figure.
MCCARTHY: Yes, Sarah and I know that certainly when we came into government, we moved on a number of issues and one of them came through last month and that was cheaper childcare. We've certainly looked at support in the area of medications and the distribution of those in people's access to health. We've been ever conscious of those concerns. You know, I am pleased that we haven't seen an increase in terms of the RBA so that we can see things starting to moderate a bit. We'd no doubt like it to moderate some more, but we are conscious of that. We've certainly increased the minimum wage and also around the care sector in trying to improve the employment prospects around their salaries. So that's been a steps we've taken, but we are conscious that we're watching this closely.