Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The need for constitutional recognition of First Nations people is, in my mind, unquestionable. The invitation from the Uluru statement was to the people of Australia—all of the people of Australia. It says:

We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.

It is a generous and heartfelt call to put aside the hurt and the harm caused by the violent colonisation of this country—not to forget but to make good; to remember and to celebrate the 60,000 years of stewardship of this country; and to acknowledge the 200 years of deep and unconscionable injustice. I am proud to stand here and say yes—yes, I will walk beside you.

Through this referendum, as a nation, we all have a choice. But, in making that choice, one of the biggest challenges that we are facing is a flood of misinformation and divisive, nasty campaign tactics. We should be better than that. A yes vote is a profound step towards reconciliation with First Nations people. A yes vote is a statement that we are committed to acknowledging and addressing the injustices of the past and creating a more equal and inclusive future. A yes vote will give us a body enshrined in the Constitution to enable First Nations people to have their voices truly heard and their perspectives truly considered in the decisions that affect their lives. If the referendum is successful, we will be a better country.

Why shouldn't First Nations people secure a formal structure through which it provides advice to the parliament and the government on matters which affect them? There's nothing threatening here. The sky won't fall in. As we have seen in South Australia, this process that has been put in place is going very well. It is a chance to heal, a chance to be better. This Voice is a vehicle to provide that advice to the parliament and the government. Importantly, it will be accountable and transparent and will work alongside existing organisations and traditional structures. Parliament will be unencumbered in its law-making functions. There is nothing to fear here. By protecting the Voice, in our founding document, we ensure its enduring ability.

There is no doubt government policies have failed First Nations people. They have entrenched poverty, incarceration and child removals. The Closing the Gap data released this week shows us, alarmingly, that only four out of the 19 measures are actually on track. That is a statistic that we should all be deeply alarmed by. The structures that we have have not succeeded in addressing this unconscionable gap. I've worked in those structures, often with some really good people with some really good intent, but never with that true engagement and value of First Nations people. It's a very simple, simple structure. It's a very simple concept. The evidence tells us overwhelmingly that those structures have not worked. So we have to do something new. A successful referendum will signal a newer era, a unifying era, and a path to genuine reconciliation. We can do better as a country. We can do better as a parliament. We can do better as individuals, and we must do better. A permanent voice with a singular focus on such matters will help achieve better outcomes.

The past two decades have seen consultations, reviews, inquiries and processes to develop models for recognition. There have been reports, so much work and so much effort to find a structure and a model that both is acceptable to First Nations Australia and works within the framework of Australia's public law and governance. I believe we've found it. In 2017, this process culminated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and I would urge anyone who hasn't read it to read it. It was a constitutional convention bringing together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders at the foot of Uluru in Central Australia to provide a generous invitation and a pathway forward. We cannot let it fall on deaf ears. During this convention, the majority resolved to call for the establishment of a First Nations voice in the Constitution. The Uluru statement is a catalyst in a long-running movement for Indigenous constitutional recognition. We must now honour the resolution of this convention and enshrine a voice into our Constitution.

While today we're focused on implementing the Voice, tomorrow we must implement the other deeply important elements of the Uluru statement: treaty and truth. The Uluru Statement from the Heart also seeks a makarrata commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations to facilitate truth-talking about First Nations history. In the October budget, the Albanese Labor government set aside funding for the establishment of that commission to advance treaty and truth. While it is important to enshrine a First Nations voice to the parliament now, we will not forget the other elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

As explained in the explanatory memorandum, the constitutional alteration bill that we are debating here tonight has four key elements—not a range of the other things that are being bandied around but four: (1) to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of Australia; (2) to provide for the establishment of a new constitutional entity called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice; (3) to set the core representation-making function of the Voice; and (4) to confer upon the parliament legislative power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.

Last month we saw the Joint Select Committee on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice Referendum hand down their report on the bill. They received more than 3,000 contributions from across Australia, and a significant majority of those submissions were supportive. They were supportive of the proposal for a voice enshrined in our Constitution. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders passionately expressed the importance of being recognised as the first Australians in the Constitution and expressed their hope that the Voice would fundamentally alter and improve the lives of current and future generations. Witnesses told the committee that they were concerned that the lives of their children, their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren would not improve without change. The evidence would tell us that they've got a solid point there.

We have to make change. We have to do better. We have to do different. Those people said that what they would like to be able to do is see that, when they're adults, or when their great-grandchildren are going through school, they are not sitting there having the same conversations that we have been having for decades. Let's make this happen. Let's respect the deep culture and knowledge and let us finally deliver on recognition and reconciliation. I am proud to stand here and say yes, and I urge you to stand with me.

I want to thank and pay my respects to all the people who for decades have fought for First Nations recognition and justice. In particular I want to send a shout-out to Senator Dodson, who cannot be with us today, for his unswerving dedication to this critical issue and to thank him for his inspiration. I pay tribute to his tireless work and the tireless work of my other colleagues, particularly Senator McCarthy, and various other people in this building who have worked so hard to get a respectful conversation and a decent pathway through to do the work that we need to do for true reconciliation, for true recognition, to truly hear the voices of First Nations people and to do better.