Prime Minister Scott Morrison will meet his Indigenous advisory council for the first time on Thursday, where he will be pressed on his controversial appointment of Tony Abbott as Indigenous envoy.
The ABC can reveal Mr Abbott is unavailable to attend the meeting, but the former prime minister has now requested to meet with the council formally on a separate occasion where they will raise their concerns.
The co-chair of the Prime Minister’s advisory council, NPY Women’s Council chief executive Andrea Mason, said the agenda for the meeting this week “has been worked through well before this week” but added that “of course if he [Tony Abbott] was available we would make room on our agenda”.
“He has reached out to talk with council and we are confirming a suitable time for this to happen.
“We mentioned in our letter to the PM that we wanted to discuss the role of special envoy.”
The Prime Minister’s hand-picked Indigenous advisory council wrote to Mr Morrison, demanding a meeting and an explanation on the appointment of Mr Abbott as special envoy for Aboriginal affairs.
Ms Mason has said the first she had heard of the appointment was through the media and she had still not received a briefing from the Government on the appointment.
Mr Morrison has also said there could be a national day to celebrate Indigenous people and culture.
The Prime Minister floated the idea amid renewed debate over national celebrations being held on January 26, the date the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove.
It is understood this proposal will also be discussed.
Mr Morrison ruled out changing the date, but suggested it would be good to “chat with the Australian people” about the concept of a new national day to recognise Australia’s Indigenous history.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister declined to comment.
The ABC has sought a comment from Mr Abbott.
