ANGELA BISHOP, HOST: Welcome back to 10 news first midday. January 26th is a complicated day for many, particularly our First Nations people. To discuss it today, we're happy to welcome Northern Territory Senator Malarndirri McCarthy to the desk and thanks so much for joining us today. Can we start with January 26th? You're among those who don't think we should move Australia Day to a different date. Why is that?
MALARNDIRRI MCCARTHY: One of the things I've always said, even before being in Parliament, Angela is that we've just got to change attitudes in our country. My concern is that whenever or if ever it changes, have we changed the attitudes and understanding between Yolŋu and Balanda, in terms of our history- black and white. Have we been able to inform the next generation of Australians, as to what our history is. The referendum last year in terms of the outcome of that, one of the things I certainly learned through that process, Angela, was a lack of understanding that many Australians had about our history and about us as First Nations people. So, I'm all for debate and discussion. I think it's important and I think it's healthy for our country. We are a democracy, and we discuss these things. But I would love to see a change in attitude towards what we want to do moving forward, both as First Nations people and Australians generally.
BISHOP: Yes, there's always a danger of generalizing how First Nations people feel about this day. Every individual has a unique perspective. Can you tell me more about how you feel about the day, and has that changed over time?
MCCARTHY: Well, I've certainly noticed over the years, the increase in the need to express the injustices across our country. I think it's important that First Nations people and those who support, all of the concerns we have around the high incarceration rates, certainly the low birth weights, our health rates. We have to constantly put that before the Australian people. And we certainly did that in the lead up to the referendum. We didn't succeed in that case. But I understand on this day in particular, we have to consciously keep putting that in front of our fellow Australians to say that, that inequality is still very, very wide. Closing the gap is still very difficult. So, one of the things I appreciate and love about Australia is that we are a democracy, and a healthy democracy is about enabling people to express their views and opinions in a very peaceful and respectful way.
BISHOP: Yesterday we saw statues of Captain Cook and Queen Victoria vandalized in Melbourne. What do you make of that kind of activism?
MCCARTHY: Well, I certainly don't agree with that, Angela. I think that we have to be better than that. We have to be bigger than that. And we have to be able to move forward and moving our country forward means all of us, not leaving people behind. But at the moment, I can well understand the frustrations of people. But we don't need to go around doing any of that. I think we are much smarter than that. Certainly, as First Nations people, we can articulate our case and we can push it in much stronger ways.
BISHOP: We also saw a lot of commentary around Woolies decision not to stock Australia Day themed merchandise, and they had to clarify that they're not taking a position against the day. What did you make of that debate?
MCCARTHY: Well, I thought it was overcooked by Peter Dutton as opposition leader. I thought it was really, unhelpful, the call that he made about banning or boycotting Woolies. That's totally unhelpful. We've got tremendous workers throughout Woolworths across Australia, and I'm in a part of Australia where we've just had significant flooding. We continue to have flooding, so food supplies have been essential for us. We've had the Stuart Highway cut off and we're facing the same problems in far north Queensland, where food is so important. So, I thought that was quite reckless of the opposition leader to call for that, and it was political point scoring that was totally unnecessary.
BISHOP: Senator McCarthy, thanks so much for your time today.