Yamatji Navy Veteran Puts One Nation's Rod Caddies on the Spot Over Native Title and Regional Services

Two questions expose evasions and contradictions at Durack branch launch in Geraldton

Geraldton, 21 March 2026

A former Royal Australian Navy sailor and Yamatji man used two carefully constructed questions to expose inconsistencies in One Nation WA State Leader Rod Caddies' position on Indigenous land rights and regional service delivery at the party's Durack branch launch in Geraldton on Saturday.

Tamati, who served seven years in the Navy as a communicator and identifies as a Yamatji man from the Mid West, posed back-to-back questions at the Geraldton Golf Club forum that left Caddies unable to articulate a clear position on Native Title and inadvertently endorsing the expansion of an Aboriginal community service model. The questions drew hostile reactions from multiple audience members — but also drew out answers the party may not have intended to give.

Hon. Rod Caddies MLC and Senator Tyron Whitten were the guest speakers at the event, which was called to formally establish the Durack branch committee ahead of upcoming state and federal elections.

Question One: Where Do You Stand on Native Title?

The first exchange centred on established Native Title determinations for the Yamatji and Wajarri peoples across the Murchison region. Tamati asked Caddies directly whether One Nation would consider overturning those determinations if the party came to power.

"My question is on Indigenous land rights and Native Title," Tamati said. "I was a bit curious about determinations that have already been established — I'm talking more about out there in the Murchison, that area for the Yamatji Murchison people, for the Wajarri Murchison."

Caddies deflected, claiming the matter was outside state jurisdiction.

"That would be a federal thing. I don't think Tyron could even comment on that because that is something as a policy," Caddies said. "You're asking about future policy — that would have to be brought together between the people on what they think. That's a policy issue, so I can't — that would only be my opinion as a person, not as One Nation."

Tamati then highlighted a contradiction. Earlier in the forum, Caddies had been willing to comment on fuel prices — also a matter with significant federal dimensions — but refused to engage on Native Title.

"You mentioned earlier about the fuel crisis being a federal issue when it should be a West Australian issue, and you were happy to comment on that, but you're not happy to comment on this," Tamati said.

Caddies attempted to draw a distinction: "At state level, we don't have control over what you're talking about. At the state level, we do have control over the fuel."

The question was left unanswered.

After Tamati thanked Caddies for his response, multiple audience members directed abuse at him. Audio recorded at the forum captures voices from the crowd calling his question "a racist question" and telling him to "fuck off."

The forum moderator intervened, defending the exchange as legitimate democratic discourse.

"This is what we should have — open debate in this country, and be able to talk about it," the moderator said. "Whether it be LGBTQ, whether it be Islam — we should be able to openly talk as Australians and at the end of it, people get to decide."

Question Two: Short-Stay Accommodation for All

Tamati's second question shifted terrain — but carried the same strategic precision.

Referencing the Bundiyarra Aboriginal short-stay accommodation in Geraldton, Tamati noted that friends who support One Nation had acknowledged it as a positive initiative. He then asked whether the party would support establishing similar accommodation in regional towns for all Australians — Indigenous and non-Indigenous — who travel from remote communities to access medical services.

"Is this something that youse would look at establishing in regional towns for people that live even further out to come into town to seek medical attention, have accommodation, and then be able to return — just as we have the Aboriginal short-term accommodation here in Geraldton?" he asked.

Caddies embraced the idea, pointing to the Royalties for Regions program as a potential funding source and accusing the Labor government of stripping funds for other purposes.

"We get a lot of money out of these regions. Durack and O'Connor produce pretty much most of the income out of this country," Caddies said. "The amount of money that's there alone in the Royalties for Regions should be funding them things."

Caddies then moved to a familiar One Nation refrain on race-blind policy: "One Nation believes in one nation. We don't care about the colour of your skin, where you're from. You should all be treated equally. It doesn't matter about whether you're Indigenous, whether you're whatever country you're from, what colour your skin — it's about if you're an Australian who needs something, then your government should be looking after you as a citizen of this country."

Caddies on Youth Crime: "Sentencing Is Not the Answer"

In response to a separate audience question on mandatory sentencing for repeat offenders, Caddies broke from what might be expected of a One Nation representative and spoke at length against punitive approaches to youth crime.

Drawing on his 15 years working in child protection and detention centres, Caddies argued for justice reinvestment over harsher penalties.

"I don't think sentencing is the answer myself, personally. I believe in justice reinvestment and social reinvestment," he said.

He described his own upbringing — growing up with a single mother of seven children, time spent in group homes and government care — and said mentoring programs and addressing root causes were more effective than locking young people up.

"It costs us a million dollars a year to hold a juvenile in a detention centre each year," Caddies said. "Imagine if we said, okay, let's allocate $500,000 for these kids — let's employ someone full-time to work with them, take them out to do fun things. You actually will change that young life into maybe being a better adult moving into the future."

He acknowledged the political difficulty of such an approach: "What you'll get is dishonest politicians who just want to attack the opposition. As soon as you put money into something to try to fix it, they'll attack."

Reading Between the Lines

Taken together, the exchanges reveal a deliberate approach by the questioner — and unscripted honesty from the candidate.

In the first question, Tamati forced Caddies into an evasion that spoke louder than any direct answer. One Nation's base has historically been hostile to Native Title, yet Caddies could not afford to say openly that the party would seek to dismantle determinations that protect the rights of First Nations peoples in the region. The refusal to answer — and the exposed inconsistency with the fuel comments — left the party's position transparent through its absence. That multiple audience members responded to a straightforward question about land rights with abuse underlined the tension Caddies was trying to navigate.

In the second question, Tamati reframed an Aboriginal community service as a model worth replicating for all Australians. In doing so, he led Caddies into publicly validating an Indigenous initiative — the Bundiyarra short-stay accommodation — as a benchmark for regional service delivery. The party's "one nation, one people" rhetoric was turned back on itself: if everyone should be treated equally, then the Aboriginal model is the standard to aspire to.

On youth crime, Caddies departed from the tough-on-crime positioning often associated with One Nation and instead advocated for the kind of social reinvestment typically championed by progressive policy voices. His personal background — group homes, government care, a single mother — lent the remarks an authenticity that set them apart from standard political talking points.

Tamati established his own credentials in ways that made dismissal difficult. He identified as a Navy communicator with seven years' service, a Yamatji man from the Mid West, and someone with friends who support One Nation. He was not an outsider, not hostile, and not easily categorised — which made his questions all the more difficult to deflect, and the audience's hostility all the more conspicuous.

What went unspoken was that the most pointed things said at the forum were in the questions — not the answers.

The Durack One Nation Branch Launch was held at Geraldton Golf Club on 21 March 2026. Hon. Rod Caddies MLC is One Nation's WA State Leader and a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. Senator Tyron Whitten represents Western Australia in the federal Senate. The Yamatji Nation Native Title determination, one of the largest in Australian history, was registered by the Federal Court and covers significant areas of the Murchison and Gascoyne regions of Western Australia. The Bundiyarra Aboriginal Corporation operates short-stay accommodation and other services for Aboriginal people visiting Geraldton from surrounding communities.