Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make my contribution on the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023. Today this government makes history, because we are also informed by history. In the steps of Whitlam and Lingiari, of Keating and the Redfern address, and of Rudd and the apology, this government seeks to join the ones before it in listening to and being guided by Indigenous voices, their needs and how Indigenous people want their families and themselves to be treated.

I'd like to paraphrase the writings of the late John Clarke, penned over 20 years ago. Australia has a vibrant and resourceful people. We share a freedom born in the abundance of nature, the richness of Earth and the bounty of sea. We are one of the world's biggest islands. We have one of the world's longest coastlines. We have plants and animals that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. We are one of the few countries on earth with our own sky. We have a fabric woven of many colours, and it's this that gives us our strength. We have been here for over 200 years, but before that there were people living here. For thousands of years they lived in perfect balance with the land. There were many nations, just as there were many nations in North America and across Canada and many Maori peoples in New Zealand. The Indigenous people of this land lived in areas as different from one another as Scotland is from Ethiopia. They lived in an area the size of Western Europe. They didn't share a common language. They had their own laws, their own beliefs, their own ways of understanding.

In this legislation we seek to show our own understanding and what we have learned from the generous and gracious Uluru Statement from the Heart. I want to focus on that last part, 'from the heart', because that is what has been profoundly demonstrated: heart—a courageous willingness to believe in the good that can be done by this parliament and this country. I find that belief, that hope that was put in us, to be humbling and inspiring. Here we have a people who've endured through the darkest of times, through a history of stolen land, stolen lives and stolen generations. Yet here they are offering to us an extended hand, an invitation to join together, to recognise one another, to change. We will take this hand. We will join together to recognise the promise of reconciliation, to change for the better the story of Australia. That's what this legislation is about: a story—a long story. It began long before any of us were alive, and it's my hope that it will continue long after we're all gone.

But we most definitely have a part to play in shaping that story and in creating a lasting legacy—a better legacy than the one that has been left so far, because the decisions of the past were not confined to our history books. They ripple and cascade and bleed into the present. They have given a disadvantage to our Indigenous people before they were even born. In Australia today, the Indigenous infant mortality rate is almost double the rate for non-Indigenous infants. I know losing a child is heartbreaking, but for that to be almost twice as likely for our First Nations mothers is unacceptable. Sadly, this disadvantage continues as they grow up. Young Indigenous men are incarcerated at an appalling 10 times the rate of other Australians, and this trend even diminishes their very lives. The gap in life expectancy is a staggering eight years. The fundamental role of government should be to care for its people, improve their lives and provide them with opportunities for success. But these numbers show that people—our people—are being left behind. This country has so often striven for the ideals of egalitarianism and equality. I think it's one of our most noble characteristics. But equality is not simply achieved by a change in behaviour; it is brought about by a change in action. And, until everyone is equal, no-one is equal.

Unfortunately, what's being discussed here isn't new or revolutionary. Indeed, I am certain there are many who have noticed these same problems being talked about again and again, because what has happened in the constant theme of our treatment of our Indigenous people—our central failing—is that we rarely listen. Even when we do, it's only on our terms, not theirs. It started with terra nullius, where Europeans declared the land to be no-one's because it didn't resemble the cultures of their homelands; where land was taken because we thought we had more use for it; where the original ways of caring for land were dismissed because we thought we knew better; where alcohol and disease were introduced because we didn't think about the consequences; and where children were taken from their families for reasons I still can't fathom.

When this nation was officially declared in 1901, we did not want the original inhabitants of the land standing with us. Every effort was made to diminish their very existence. We put it into our Constitution—the foundation of our nation and our emerging democracy. In section 127 it was written:

In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives should not be counted.

The message we sent was loud and clear: 'We do not count you as one of us.' It was the manifestation of our shameful history: ignore, dismiss, marginalise, silence.

Yet the parliament's ability to legislate, to act on Indigenous issues, was severely curtailed from the start. Section 51(xxvi) says:

The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:

…   …   …

(xxvi) The people of any race, other than the aboriginal people in any State, for whom it is necessary to make special laws.

For decades, treating Indigenous people separately was not only legal; it was constitutional. It allowed the gaps between us to grow even deeper, in health, education and income—all the benefits of federal legislation that didn't reach those who needed it most. The damage was generational, and it will take generations to fix. It's why every government since has started on the back foot when it comes to Indigenous issues. But after over 60 years, the Australian people were able to remove these sections from our Constitution. The 1967 referendum was a historic moment in time—a moment that is being compared to the moment that we live in now. And I hope we have the same outcome.

As it said in the Uluru Statement from the Heart: in 1967 they were counted; now they will be heard. It occurs to me that this moment in time may eventually be in the history books as well—that, even generations from now, there will be students learning about this referendum. They will learn what was said and what was done by all of us, and we must make sure not to disappoint them.

And we must remember why we are undertaking this referendum. Put simply, it's to stop the cycle of Indigenous people offering to us their voices, only to be silenced, because this referendum is not about changing the past; it's about stopping the repeat of past mistakes. Every time there has been some form of Indigenous advisory group with Indigenous members, it has been either slowly diminished and then dismissed, or disbanded by a later government. The National Aboriginal Consultative Committee was created by the Whitlam government in 1972. It was then removed by the Fraser government in 1977. It was replaced by the National Aboriginal Conference, but it was continually stripped of funding until it was finally discontinued in 1985 by the Hawke government. We then had the longest-serving group, in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission—started in 1990 under the Hawke government—until it was abolished in 2005 by the Howard government. At around that time, the then Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Dr William Jonas, wrote that this unfortunate decision sought to ensure that government would only have to deal with Indigenous peoples on its own terms and when it chose to and only on issues on which it wished to engage. He described it as revealing a deep antipathy on the part of the government towards engaging with Indigenous peoples and acknowledging the legitimacy of aspirations and goals expressed by them. He surmised that abolishing the commission would simply silence Indigenous people at the national level, while the deeply entrenched crisis in Indigenous communities would continue unabated. These words ring true today, and, sadly, this trend of silencing voices has continued.

We cannot move on if we're taking one step forward and one step back. It would be ludicrous for this parliament to not be consistently advised on issues like health, education and defence. Why then do we always single out Indigenous people? Their wellbeing should not be dependent on changing government priorities. Quality of life is not a political issue; it is a human right. This is about having a guarantee that there will always be a voice for Indigenous people, regardless of who is in government. This is stability, this is consistency and this is what the country wants—what voters decided in the May 2022 election, when the mandate was handed to the Albanese government.

Under previous systems, Indigenous people would only have as much to say as would be allowed, and even this could be taken away on a whim. This legislation seeks to create a bulwark against the default state of inaction. This government seeks to lead the way for future generations, as it was led by those who came before us.

On this day, we look to our forebears. We look to former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, who once held the seat which I am proud to represent. In the lead-up to the 1972 election, he took this cause to voters. He said 'all of us are diminished' while our Indigenous people are 'denied their rightful place in this nation'. He said that Australians 'ought to be angry with an unrelenting anger' that our Indigenous people have the world's highest infant mortality rate. On 16 August 1975, he returned the traditional lands to the Gurindji people in a ceremony held with Vincent Lingiari, another great leader of their time. Whitlam said, 'I want to promise you that this act of restitution which we perform today will not stand alone.' This legislation will continue that promise.

We look to the Redfern address given by then Prime Minister Paul Keating in the wake of the Mabo decision, another important moment that expunged the false narrative of terra nullius. When you read the Redfern address today, it shows it was as clear then as it is now that recognition and raising our Indigenous peoples' standing is just as much about ourselves and our national identity. Keating said:

This is a fundamental test of our social goals and our national will: our ability to say to ourselves and the rest of the world that Australia is a first rate social democracy, that we are what we should be—truly the land of the fair go and the better chance.

He also said something that could well be said about the Voice to Parliament:

… there is nothing to fear or to lose in the recognition of historical truth, or the extension of social justice, or the deepening of Australian social democracy to include indigenous Australians.

There is everything to gain.

That was as true then as it is now. We improve the lives of those around us, we improve ourselves. We fix the wrongs of the past, we fix ourselves. We reach out with compassion and understanding, we stand to benefit our whole entire society.

We look to the apology delivered by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, a moment that Indigenous people called for, and the government of the day listened and acted on that. On 13 February 2008, an important day, some of the most important words were uttered in this chamber. It was an emotional day. There was sorrow for the pain that had been caused, but there was also pride for the new relationship that might now be forged. It was there in the apology itself:

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

It went on to say:

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

This future is the one that is based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility. This Voice to Parliament is that future that has been long promised, a way to ensure that Indigenous voices are no longer silenced. They will be heard. They will be respected.

I thank all those who have worked so hard for this day and acknowledge the work still to be done. Today is another part of the story of Australia. It's always been enriched by adding more stories to it. Today we ask ourselves: will we remember our story thus far, our history? Will we learn from it? Will we make it better? Will we walk together hand in hand towards a better future for our country? The only answer is yes. I commend the bill to the House.

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