Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question as to the Minister for Indigenous Australians. In March the Prime Minister stated that the Voice is not about defence policy and it's not about foreign affairs policy. Yet a member of the Prime Minister's Referendum Working Group, Sally Scales, said the Voice should be consulted on AUKUS, Australia's most important defence and foreign policy since the Second World War. Will the Voice be consulted on the location of AUKUS submarine bases and nuclear waste facilities?

Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Defence is not my portfolio, I'll point out, and the Minister for Defence might like to take the question. But before he does that, can I say to you that the imagination you have is commendable! The Voice is about two things. It is about listening, and it is about changing practical outcomes for First Nations people. If the Minister for Defence wants to add to that, I invite him to.

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Voice is not about defence. The Voice is not about parking tickets. The Voice is not about any of the issues that we've been hearing those opposite talk about. They have been doing everything to talk about what the Voice is not, rather than what the Voice is.

In July I had the enormous privilege to attend the Yule River Bush Meeting, where there was a call to action around the issues that affect First Nations people is in the Pilbara. They were talking about housing. They were talking about education. They were talking about community safety. These are the issues that go to the persistent and stubborn gap that exists between non-indigenous and Indigenous Australians when it comes to social disadvantage. That is what the Voice is going to be focused on.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Fairfax will leave the chamber under 94(a).

The member for Fairfax then left the chamber.

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And the difference between the politics that we see played here, in the questions that are being asked by those opposite—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll hear from the Manager of Opposition Business.

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On relevance, the question was about statements made by Sally Scales about the breadth of what the Voice will cover. Can the defence minister clarify: is he going to tell be Voice what it will cover?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister is answering the question with respect to the issues around AUKUS nuclear waste and defence bases in his capacity as defence minister, and—

Opposition members interjecting—

Order! And I can barely hear what he's saying. One member has already been removed. If that level of interjection continues, people—

Honourable members interjecting—

While I am speaking, it's not helpful for people to interject. Order—on both sides!

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The difference between the politics being played by those opposite in here and the issues that were being raised by the Yule River Bush Meeting could not be more stark and more manifest. In all the issues that they raised, I can tell you, defence bases did not come up once, nor did the issue of parking tickets.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, we've had one—

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Point of order, Mr Speaker: why is the Deputy Prime Minister mansplaining to Sally?

Government members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Members on my right, I'm going to deal with this issue.

The member for Groom! The deputy leader has abused the standing orders in a pretty serious way and she'll leave the chamber under 94(a).

The member for Farrer then left the chamber.

The defence minister is going to be heard in silence.

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

An ethos which underpins every political party in this chamber is that our country is about having a fair go for all, yet right now, by virtue of one group of Australians' birth, they live shorter lives, they get access to less education, they are less healthy and they are more poor. That is what the Voice is going to be focused on. So long as that gap persists, it is an offence to the idea of the Australian idea of a fair go for all, and we need to deal with that, and that is what a Voice is about.