Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023 is a fairly simple and straightforward bill. It is designed to set in motion the process for a national referendum on establishing the Voice. It should not be complicated nor obfuscated by concerns as to how the Voice will operate, because that is a discussion for another time and place. It should not be clouded by spurious predictions of legal challenges to the Voice, most of which have been carefully examined and dismissed by senior legal minds. It should not be rejected by those who claim it is not the ultimate solution to centuries of injustice and disadvantage, because it's only intended as a beginning, and it should be embraced as such.

The point of this bill is to enable the parliament to ask all Australians about whether our Constitution should formally recognise the First Peoples of this nation, in a long-awaited extension of the time we asked all Australians back in 1967 if Aboriginal people should be counted in the national census. We will also ask all Australians whether our First Nations people should have an enshrined body to speak to government for better practical outcomes. It is about nothing more and nothing less than this. This referendum we wish to put before the Australian people arises from a long and extensive conversation and consultation.

There are many in this chamber who have and will present wise and passionate arguments in favour of this bill; there are many who will disagree. Perhaps I can offer a point of difference by providing the perspective of a migrant Australian. I still remember several decades ago when multiculturalism was considered a radical new policy. Once, so-called new Australians, of which I was one, arriving here 60 years ago this year, were expected to bury their birth languages and cultures to suppress their identities and assimilate into 'the Australian'—in that context, meaning the white Anglo-Celtic way of life. This in itself is quite an irony since a truly Australian way of life might be better equated with a number of our Indigenous cultures. After years of political struggle and campaigning, it is now widely recognised that Australia is a more just, richer, better-resourced and better-adapted society for its cultural and linguistic diversity through the embracing of multiculturalism.

I trust that we as a nation also have the maturity now to embrace a formal acknowledgement of a voice for first Australians who, for so long, have been marginalised and discriminated against. The Constitution is the document that sets out who we are, what we aspire to and what our intentions as a nation are. It's right that it should also name and acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the lands, water and sky. The argument in favour of establishing the Voice beyond the main one, which is what multiple representative forums of Indigenous Australians have asked for, also requires a historical understanding.

In the past, we have had various bodies and advisory councils to provide advice on important policy matters that particularly affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities. But they have always existed and operated at the behest of the government of the day. For decades there have been calls for an enduring representative body, not one that can be abolished or starved of funding by a minister or department. A constitutionally enshrined voice can establish the enduring vehicle by which Indigenous Australians can speak directly to parliament and government about the real-life issues facing their communities and how best to deal with them.

We know that outcomes for First Nations communities in areas of longstanding and structural disadvantage are always better when government, policymakers and service delivery organisations work in partnership with these communities. We know how so many programs and interventions, some well-intentioned, others not so well thought out, have failed. They have failed to address the gaps in health, longevity, justice and flourishing caused by decades of dispossession, dislocation and discrimination. We've learnt the importance of working with community, not imposing upon community, if we hope to achieve real change and empowerment.

This bill is simple, but it is also profound. It is deeply symbolic, but it is also about real and lasting change. It is about facing our past with honesty and embracing our future with hope and inclusion. It is about our integrity as a nation. It is about heart. It is about common sense. It is about honouring our First Nations people, as they have asked us to. So let's now give our fellow Australians the chance to answer this call.

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