Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today in this auspicious meeting place as a representative of the north-west, the west coast and King Island in the electorate of Braddon in Tasmania. I do this alongside the 150 representatives from regions right across the nation. This is a level playing field; the very layout of this chamber embellishes that. It's a circle. It represents that everybody in this place has an equal voice and, importantly, an equal right to be heard. That is a crucial part of our democracy. My role in this place is to represent every man, woman and child in my electorate. It is their voices that I strive to bring to this place, not necessarily my own.

In speaking about closing the gap, I have sought wise counsel from those within my electorate. Amongst the people that I spoke to was a young Aboriginal leader, a leader in our region, and one with a true voice for Indigenous peoples. When I spoke with her yesterday, she said that she was in another meeting place, in an ancient land, a rugged land, where waves were crashing in against the rocks, at Bluff Point on the west coast of Tasmania. For 60,000 years it has been a sacred meeting place. She gave me her wise counsel, speaking from the generations that have gone before her and with a clear and genuine view for the future that lies ahead. Her name is Emma Lee. I regard her as my sister and I rate her most definitely as a true leader.

Today, in this place of voices, she has leant me her voice, without agenda, in a desire to find a better pathway forward for all Tasmanians, to move towards a brighter future for us all. She gave me a very clear message, and it gives me great pride to present that message in this place to the nation. 'Ya' is the Palawa word for 'hello', and that is how a message begins. She says: 'Ya. As Indigenous peoples, we do not have a formal right or a formal say over our own affairs and, as a proud Aboriginal Tasmanian woman, I am diminished by it. I want to make a positive difference for all Tasmanians, because my cultural obligation is to welcome people to country and to care for them. If I cannot provide the advice that looks after everyone together, then how are Australian people meant to know that they too belong to us and they too share in the oldest living culture in the world?' Emma says: 'Ya. I want to make everyone welcome freely in my country with respect so that we can live and work peacefully together. The Indigenous voice will help us make a difference so that people are not lonely anymore and so that they have a connection to country and to Australia itself. I want a hand up so that you can hear me, not a hand down that speaks on my behalf. I want to belong to you so that you can belong to me and we can belong to the oldest living culture in the world. If we welcome each other in government in parliament, we can become equal in how we care for country. I want to share our culture with everyone, and I want to stop hurting, because our peoples are not allowed to have a proper say in our lives. This government can make a difference with the Indigenous voice for this place.' To my dear friend Dr Emma Lee, I deliver your message to this place and to a nation. It would do us all to take note of it.

Our government has to work to do more to ensure that Indigenous advice is formally included in all process and that we are open to other parts of the Australian community. We have made a great start in the national agreement on closing the gap to ensure Indigenous organisations have a greater say in funding outcomes. It's important that we continue to build on that goodwill. The voice means that many close the gap targets will have a greater chance of succeeding, because we are now working together, as it should be, to hear from all Australians in a process that is equal for all. That must be our goal, and I am proud to support the government's policy to create that pathway so that we can stand together on issues that are important to us all as Australians.

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