Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 14 October I will be voting yes in the referendum to enshrine a First Nations Voice in our Constitution. I'll be doing that because not only do I think it's the right thing to do but I think it's the decent thing to do—the thoroughly decent thing to do. History is calling all of us, every single Australian, to take up this opportunity—the generous invitation from our First Nations people in the Uluru Statement from the Heart—to walk the path of reconciliation. This Voice is an important step in that.

I would have thought that some things would be above politics. Reconciliation with our First Nations people should be above politics. But, unfortunately, not only has it not been above politics but, in all my time in this place, I have never seen such a naked, shameless attempt to weaponise something this important for political advantage—this do-anything, say-anything approach, no matter the cost, straight out of the conservative playbook. We've seen what happened in the era in the US—Trump's time and in the recent government—being adopted by the LNP. The misinformation campaigns are disgraceful, appealing to our worst emotions—to fear, to division—purely so that the LNP, led by Peter Dutton, can see the Albanese government suffer a defeat, to help their electoral prospects.

I would like to say here tonight that you can always find a reason to oppose things in politics. And yes, we are in Parliament House, and we are politicians. We can always find reasons to oppose things. But that doesn't mean we should, or that it's the right thing to do. And I'll acknowledge some of the confusion, the things that have been raised with me, as a Tasmanian senator, by my electorate and indeed my friends all around the country. There is some truth in some of the criticisms that have been put out there about the Voice—for example, that it's not going to solve all the problems of Aboriginal people in this country. Well, that's true; nobody's ever said it would. But it's a very important step in giving our First Nations communities a voice to advise parliament on the things that matter to them. How can it hurt? How can it possibility do harm to give our First Nations people something as simple as a Voice to Parliament?

Another criticism: Aboriginal people don't support the Voice to Parliament. It's been raised with me directly in recent weeks by Tasmanians. Well, recent polls—two separate polls—have shown that nearly 80 per cent of Aboriginal communities who were surveyed support the Voice to Parliament. So, it is true that some Aboriginal people don't support the Voice, and I respect that. It's also worth pointing out that even if you look at representation issues in those surveys, statistical experts still say, based on their surveys, that the big majority of Aboriginal people support this Voice. I think it's important to note that some Aboriginal people, including in my home state, don't support the Voice, because they don't think it goes far enough. They see it as potentially being tokenistic. They want treaty and they want a sovereign chamber in parliament and a number of other important things. The Greens support that, too. But this is the pathway towards getting that, and that is what we've been campaigning on.

Another criticism is that it's divisive. Well, it's meant to unify us as a country. That was the whole purpose and intent around the Uluru Statement from the Heart, something that took decades and many thousands of Aboriginal people to bring to largely white Australia. The only thing that's been divisive in this debate is the Liberal Party—deliberately so. So, to come out and say that you think supporting the Voice is supporting division—it's actually supporting unity. It's about bringing us together as a nation and walking those steps towards reconciliation, after hundreds of years of colonisation and all the pain and suffering of our First Nations communities.

Another criticism that I have heard raised is that we don't need to have a Voice in the Constitution, because we can do it in legislation. But that's missing the point. It is deeply symbolic for us to put our First Nations communities into the Constitution, a whitefella constitution that dates back nearly a century. This is about acknowledging the wrongs of the past and trying to right them, and it's a very simple and easy concept to understand.

I also want to raise this issue around the Constitution. If it doesn't need to be in the Constitution, why has the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Peter Dutton, come out this week and said he wants his own Voice to parliament written into the Constitution—without consulting with Aboriginal people. It doesn't make sense. This is a proposal, this referendum, from the Uluru Statement from the Heart that has taken decades to get to us, and we should accept it.

I know how I will feel on the morning of 15 October if this is not successful, and it is something we need to take seriously, given recent polling. I can't begin to imagine how many Aboriginal people around this country will feel if this referendum fails. It will fail because people weren't able to get themselves informed. Perhaps they were gullible and listened to some of the arguments. Perhaps it's because they are simply racist and they don't want to give Aboriginal people this. It could fail for a number of reasons. It's incumbent on all of us to do everything we can in the weeks to come to convince Australians to do their homework, seek information, talk to their friends and get educated on what the Voice is. We've all got a lot of work to do in the weeks to come.

Where do we go to next if this fails? I can't see any future government bringing back another proposal that would need to go to a referendum—certainly not in my time in politics, and potentially not even in the next generation—if this fails, given the cost and the heartache it is going to put our First Nations communities through, and the division that it has caused in our country. This is our opportunity and we have to grab it.

People can change. I know I've changed. Looking back over my life, as I have walked my journey, I have changed and I believe this country can change. There has never been a more important historic opportunity, if you care about First Nations justice, than 14 October. So please vote yes. Do the right thing and do the decent thing. Let's walk this pathway towards reconciliation and do whatever we can to heal the wounds of history.