1970s During the early 1970s, Langton was one of three leaders of the
Communist League, a group founded by Queensland doctor John McCarthy,
Peter Robb and others in 1972, which merged into the
Socialist Workers Party around 1976.), which ran until June 1979. by
Jack Patten (co-founder of the
Aborigines Progressive Association) and
Percy Reginald Stephensen. She was also involved in a number of other Black community publications, and wrote in the introduction to her 1979
Listing of Aboriginal periodicals: "the experience of producing those newspapers within a hostile white environment... because it has the power and resources, has historically defined us". Langton went to
Canberra for a year in 1977, after being elected general secretary to the
Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, where she enrolled for an anthropology degree at ANU. In 2007, Langton supported
The Intervention by the
Howard government. By this time, along with Noel Pearson, she believed that there was a crisis in over-dependence on welfare among Indigenous people, and there was a need for greater Indigenous responsibility. These views put Pearson and Langton at odds with many other Indigenous activists. She has argued that settlement with mining companies on Aboriginal land often benefits local interests more than the
Australian Government, and that the proposed 2010 resource tax on mining in Australia needed a redesign to support Indigenous rights and employment. She advocated for agreements to be made directly between mining groups and Indigenous owners of the land, with
Aboriginal corporations as mediators. Her criticisms of Indigenous litigants have been rebuffed by Indigenous lawyer
Tony McAvoy SC. On 30 October 2019, Langton and
Tom Calma were announced as co-chairs of the Senior Advisory Group—convened by
Ken Wyatt and consisting of 20 leaders and experts from across the country—of the proposed
Indigenous voice to government under the
Morrison government. In July 2021 the Indigenous Voice Co-design Process panel released its final report, often referred to as the Calma Langton report, outlining a model of a proposed Voice. Under the
Albanese government elected in 2022, the proposal changed to be an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, enshrined in the Australian Constitution. This change, along with the recognition of Indigenous Australians in the Constitution, was put to a
referendum in Australia. The referendum took place on 14 October 2023, and was defeated in all six states and by the national majority. On 1 November 2023, Langton strongly backed uniform alcohol restrictions across the Northern Territory.
Current roles and views Langton is a frequent media commentator and has served on various high-level committees on Indigenous issues. These have included the
Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, the directorship of the Centre for Indigenous Natural and Cultural Resource Management, the chair of the Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council and the chair of the
Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership. but is generally
apolitical. ==Other activities and roles==