Senate debates

Thursday, 25 June 2015

Committees

Constitutional Recognition of ATSIP; Report

3:43 pm

Photo of Nova PerisNova Peris (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I present the final report on the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples together with the Hansard record of proceedings and documents presented to the committee.

Ordered that the report be printed.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I rise to present the final report of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. This report builds on the work of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition, led by Professor Patrick Dodson and Mr Mark Leibler, which reported to government in January 2012. This report is unanimous and has multipartisan support from Labor, Liberal, National and the Greens members of the joint select committee. Importantly, there is no dissenting report. I congratulate my committee colleagues because this is a testament to their commitment and support for change. I believe that the joint select committee has done an incredible job in achieving unity in a heavily-laden political landscape, so I would like to thank my fellow committee members for their vision.

The committee held 15 public hearings, consulted with constitutional law experts and held community forums. We received 139 submissions. The work of the expert panel was extensive. It conducted 250 consultations in 84 locations across Australia. So, between us, we have done a great body of work on this very important issue. The committee makes 10 recommendations and strongly endorses the position of the expert panel for real and substantive change to the Constitution. We recommend that a referendum be held on the matter of recognising Aboriginal and Tones Strait Islander peoples and that it be held at a time when it has the highest chance of success. The report notes the committee's concerns about a referendum happening at the optimum time given Australia's general reluctance to pass referenda. Only eight out of 44 have been successful. So we have a big and serious job ahead of us all to overcome our anxiety and fear on constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

To successfully change our Constitution, this referendum must be championed by our nation's leaders, otherwise it will fail. Our national leaders must show courage and leadership and get out there and talk it up—give the nation pride; give the nation some backbone; inspire us. But, equally, every one of us must also show leadership on this issue. It is up to every one of us. To change our Constitution, Aboriginal and Tones Strait Islander peoples must be major players in this endeavour. They, too, are critical to its success. The committee recommends a series of conventions be held, consisting of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates as well as delegates from the broader Australian community. Changing our Constitution can only be a good thing because there are provisions in it that are just plain wrong. It has racist provisions that reflect an Australia that no longer exists, and this must change.

We recommend that section 25 be repealed. We recommend that section 51(26) be repealed and be replaced with the retention of a person's power so that the Commonwealth government may legislate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as per the 1967 referendum result. The year of 1967 was a high water mark in recognition of the first owners of the land we now know as Australia. Our aim must be to achieve further changes to crown that success of half a century ago. The committee recommends a new section 116A—the prohibition of racial discrimination—that the Commonwealth, a state or a territory shall not discriminate on the grounds of race, colour or ethnic or national origin. Let me be clear on this: this is not about a single issue for a bill of rights. The High Court has found implied rights of freedom and of political communication. While we do not have a bill of rights in this country, as this report sets out, we certainly have rights protected expressly by the Constitution of this country: protection of property, freedom of trade and movement, trial by jury, freedom of religion, and the prohibition against discrimination on the basis of state residence. But we would all be lesser Australians if we did not right this wrong and make our Constitution stronger with such a provision.

I do not want to see another Northern Territory intervention, where in 2007 the Australian government suspended the Racial Discrimination Act so that it could enact the Northern Territory Emergency Response Act. Overnight, it ripped away the rights of Aboriginal people and demonised them. These rights have not been restored to Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, who are continually treated with contempt. This must change.

The committee heard from multicultural groups who have said, 'What about us? We want to be recognised too.' Changing the Constitution will do this. Section 116A will do this. It will reflect a modern society inclusive of our multicultural country, where discrimination should not be, at any time, accepted or tolerated. This time we must get it right, not just for us right now but for the sake of our future generations. For many of us, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give our future generations a strong and proud country—a country that is inclusive of all its citizens.

One of the highlights of my hearings was in the Torres Strait when I asked an elder about the prohibition of racial discrimination. He said to me:

How beautiful is it that we can take the recognition of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and take Australian citizens to a referendum where a vote would be put to the people to eliminate discrimination for all people on the grounds of race, colour or ethnic or national origin.

To build a successful campaign for change, we must continue to engage at the grassroots level. We must engage with the mums and dads and with schools and sporting clubs. We must talk at the social clubs and pubs and at the local church or mosque. We must talk with all Australians, regardless of where they come from: England, China, India, Iraq, Syria, Vietnam, Ireland, New Zealand, Yuendumu, Galiwinku, Kalkarindji, Redfern and Fitzroy.

I have had people say to me, 'Why should I? Convince me. Why change the Constitution?' I say to all of you: convince me that this is not the right thing to do; convince me that this will be bad for our great country; convince me that it is okay to have racist provisions in our Constitution which we all uphold as the birth certificate of our nation; convince me that it is okay for Australia's birth certificate to enable successive governments to make oppressive laws that affect only Aboriginal and Tones Strait Islander peoples; convince me that it is okay to steal our children and to lock them away from their mothers, their fathers, their clan and their country; convince me that it is okay to be a bigot.

Our Constitution must change, but let's not get caught up in some arbitrary timeline for when the referendum should be held, as this will certainly spell doom for what the joint select committee is recommending and it would lead to failure. Let's make the time to educate and inform all Australians so that they will know that there is nothing to fear from recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, from acknowledging our continuing relationship with our traditional lands and waters and from respecting our continuing cultures, languages and heritage in the Constitution.

The recent survey by Celeste Liddle in The Guardian newspaper's IndigenousX column suggests that there are deep misgivings about the process and content of any proposals. All of these will be exploited by the naysayers of this world, but we must not let them continue to drag our nation down, and that is all that they will do. Prior to the birth of our nation, there were already global citizens who occupied this land we call Australia for thousands of years. Australia has a black history and it is time for us to stand up and say, 'Yes we have, and we should all be proud of it.'

I stand here as a proud Aboriginal woman and I say to everyone: I am not invisible; I am real. Our language, our cultural practices and our beliefs are all real and deserves to be in the Constitution. We need to celebrate and recognise Australia's real and entire history. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people deserve recognition. Like others who have endured and survived extreme racism and oppression in all other parts of the world, we deserve our place in the sun.

As Australia's first peoples, our culture and our heritage has been devalued for 227 years. We have a rightful place in Australia's history. And it is one, as I have already said many times, that all Australians should embrace. This constitutional change will not undo the wrongs of the past but allow Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be respected and valued as citizens in this country—equally. What this change will look like is up to us—you, me, our friends, our family, everyone. But let not the tides of history wash away any real and meaningful change for our people. So, again, I urge you to all inform yourselves and educate yourselves about these issues. Consider them and ask yourself not what you have got to lose; instead, focus on what this country stands to gain—and that is 40,000 years of rich, sustainable, resilient cultures and traditional practices of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters. It is time to modernise Australia.

I am proud of what the joint select committee has achieved. I encourage all Australians to read our report, discuss it and debate it, but do not dismiss it. Read the Australian Constitution, and then let us move our country forward together. Once again, I congratulate my colleagues on the joint select committee, in particular our chair, Mr Ken Wyatt, the member for Hasluck. It was an honour and a privilege to be the deputy chair of the committee. I would like to thank the committee's secretariat for all their hard work. I would like to thank all those hardworking people who made submissions to this inquiry and gave us the opportunity to learn more from our fellow Australians. I commend the report to the Senate.

3:54 pm

Photo of Rachel SiewertRachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

As a member of this committee, I would like to make a contribution in taking note of this report by the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Firstly, I would like to express both my thanks and my congratulations to Ken Wyatt and Nova Peris, who both, as chair and co-chair of this committee, did a wonderful job. It is such a pleasure to stand here and talk to a report that did receive consensus support from the members of our committee. Each member of our committee worked really hard to participate in this process to bring their passion and their commitment, and an open mind to listening to the evidence. We all went out into the community and spoke to a wide range of community members. As Senator Peris just said, we spoke to constitutional experts. We understand what a con-con is now—having a wide range of legal expertise but never getting the same piece of legal advice from more than one lawyer! They all differ.

One thing that we are now committed to is an understanding of the need for constitutional recognition. It was really clear from all the evidence we received that recognition has to be substantive recognition—it has to be. The message was really clear to us. We outlined this in our report at paragraph 5.22, where we say:

During its inquiry, the committee heard the strong view that if constitutional recognition were to be pursued, substantive reform should be achieved. Many witnesses rejected the idea of mere recognition, considering it to be 'tokenistic'. The committee heard that for it to be supported, recognition had to be combined with a provision preventing discrimination on the basis of race.

I am absolutely convinced that the only way we can progress with constitutional reform is to acknowledge that recognition is essential. But recognition, as we just said, has to go hand in hand with provisions preventing discrimination. We heard that over and over again. I would find it very hard to look into the eyes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and try to convince them that constitutional recognition without addressing issues of discrimination is worthy of support. This is why the committee has made a series of recommendations.

In terms of the wording for the recommendations, there are three options. Each of those options address not only recognition and largely the words of the expert panel but, in some form, the issue around discrimination. As a member of the expert panel, I am really proud that this committee also thought that the recognition words were largely worthy of support without much amendment, as did the community. That is reflected in the community voice. It is absolutely imperative that any words for constitutional recognition and reform have to have the support of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. That is why it is so important that the recommendation around the conventions is also taken up and that we make sure that the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are heard.

It is quite clear from the consultation that people do support constitutional recognition. There are some who have some concerns, and that is acknowledged in the report. It is also quite clear that it is not the end of how we need to make sure that we are a reconciled nation. But it is very clear to me that it will substantially help us along the journey of reconciliation in this country.

While I am talking about the journey, I would also like to acknowledge the work that Recognise has done over the last couple of years in raising awareness around constitutional recognition. They have set off on a journey of recognition. On that journey, 20,256 people have participated. I was part of the first kilometre—and, in fact, a bit more—of that journey. I am really pleased to see that so many people have participated in that. They have been on the road for 262 days. They have visited 211 communities, walked 32,490 kilometres and participated in 271 events. That is a lot of engagement. We need, though, to keep that work going. We need to redouble our efforts to make sure that we are talking to Australia around constitutional recognition.

I, for one, and I know am representing the voice of all Australian Greens here, believe that our Constitution is not finished until we make sure we recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution. I know a lot of people want to speak, so I am going to cut my comments short. Please hear Senator Peris's call for people to read and understand this report and engage in this discussion. And be ready for a referendum. Talk to people about these recommendations. The recommendation in this report on timing is very important. We need to go ahead with a referendum when the nation is ready. Please help us enable the nation to be ready for a referendum.

4:01 pm

Photo of Bridget McKenzieBridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I, too, rise to speak very briefly, because I am conscious that there are other senators who want to speak to other reports being tabled today. On the tabling today of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples final report, we have had an interim report and this has been a long debate and discussion in this country that was begun during the term of the last government. There has been extensive consultation through the work of the expert panel.

I have come to this debate from a certain perspective, not being as ingrained in the issues around Indigenous recognition as many of the other senators and members I had the privilege to work on this committee. I would also like to thank the chair, Mr Ken Wyatt, and Senator Nova Peris, for their leadership throughout this inquiry, and from the way they constructed our hearings and the type of consultation we conducted. It was not just about our typical Senate procedure, where, you know, we end up with the usual suspects in front of the senators as they asked questions. We actually took an approach that meant we were going right out to communities to hear what Indigenous Australia had to say about this issue and what the states had to say about this issue. We met with Attorneys from across our great federation, and indeed premiers, and we received a lot of advice on their perspectives from where they sit with this particular question. We know that for any referendum it is not only the majority of voting Australians who need to approve it but also a majority of the states. This is the key to a discussion and a debate like this.

Both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have been very clear about their commitment to taking a referendum to the Australian people that will recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within our Constitution. I think some of the most compelling evidence we heard throughout the hearings was to do with the parameters of the question that was going to be put to the Australian people, and how we frame that question is going to have a big impact on its eventual success. I think it was George Williams who actually outlined to the committee steps that make a good referendum question and up the chances of success, and how we can frame the questions we take to the people to make it more likely it will go down. There is still a bit of work to do. The recommendations we have put forward as a committee highlight the fact that this is an ongoing conversation and we do not want to rush this process. We do not want to put before the Australian people a question that will not succeed.

We have addressed the issues of timing in this report—about when we think it will have the most chance of success. We have also committed to repealing section 25 of the Constitution. We have set out three options that would retain the persons power and leave that to others to ensure we get a form of words that will succeed.

One thing that I absolutely love about our Constitution is the fact that the Australian people are sovereign. I think we have held true to that value in the recommendations our committee has made, by committing to constitutional conventions being held in the wider public. But before the wider public of Australia comes together and debates this issue, we need to get a very clear and consistent message from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia. We are looking forward to some conventions and public consultations being held with those communities. I know there are more senators to speak, so, I seek leave to continue my remarks on this report at a later stage.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.