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At the AIATSIS Summit in Darwin a fortnight ago, Alyawarre elder and admired leader Pat Anderson AO said out loud what many of us have been thinking and saying in our own circles for years. "Time is up," she declared, calling out the long-standing Indigenous leaders who have been at the table for decades. "When are these people, who have been in charge for decades, going to step aside and make room for the next generation?"

I have a confession: I almost cast a donkey vote at last weekend's federal elections. I was tempted to draw a smiley face on the ballot paper, not turn up, and just cop the $20 penalty. I'm not alone in feeling disillusioned with politics, not just here but globally. But then I remembered and was reminded by others: as Indigenous Australians, our right to vote was hard-won.

Walking through the Queensland Museum last Monday, I was shoulder to shoulder with school holiday crowds. Kids zigzagged and darted excitedly between display cabinets, parents marvelled, and families posed for selfies beside towering fossils in the "Dinosaurs Unearthed" exhibition; the new permanent display includes life-sized models, ancient bones, and digital recreations of creatures long extinct.

With Cyclone Alfred dominating headlines, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has delayed calling the election until mid-May. But as another federal vote looms, it’s time to ask an uncomfortable question: Why is Indigenous policy stuck on repeat?