Bill Shorten Promises To Put Indigenous Affairs Back Into Its Own Department

"I want to hear the voices of Aboriginal people."

Bill Shorten has made a promise to remove Indigenous affairs responsibilities from the department of prime minister and cabinet and place them back into the department of Indigenous affairs if elected.

Alice Workman @workmanalice

In Campbelltown.

03:24 AM - 01 Jul 2016

"Tony Abbott put everything in Indigenous affairs into the department of prime minister and cabinet. What we are going to do is move the line operations back to the line departments," Shorten said while campaigning at an Aboriginal organisation in Campbelltown in Sydney's western suburbs.

"I'm looking forward to the Labor party being a party which gives Aboriginal people not just a say in policy, that puts Aboriginal people into parliament, making laws affecting their own people."

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Shorten has also said that he would scrap the handpicked Indigenous advisory council to the prime minister, installed by Tony Abbott in 2013 and chaired by Warren Mundine, in favour of an elected body.

"I want to hear the voices of Aboriginal people. I'm interested to hear the voices they choose as well as the people I might want to talk to," he told ABC radio.