Malcolm Turnbull has firmly, definitely, declared there would be no Referendum on the plans to establish a constitutionally enshrined indigenous advisory body, earning him criticism from indigenous voices such as Cape York leader Noel Pearson.

ATSIC – the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Commission, established in 1989 was one of the most controversial and expensive failures of Bob Hawke’s Labor government policies, one that promised much and delivered little.