A Chance to Be Heard

Later this year each of us will be able to vote in a referendum - the first since 1999. This referendum is about two things: recognition and consultation. Recognition, of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of Australia. Consultation, on the issues that affect their lives. I know many of you are thinking hard about this issue, but perhaps some haven’t yet had the time to really consider the detail. I wanted to help set out why I support the Voice.

This is the first referendum since social media, so there’s been a lot of misinformation going around. But the proposed change to our Constitution is simple. It will put four new sentences into our Constitution, and you don’t need a law degree to understand them.

The first sentence is recognition: “In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia.”

When our Constitution was written, Aboriginal people were deliberately excluded. This change recognises the fact that they were here and corrects that historical error.

The second sentence gives a guarantee that in future our government will listen: “There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.”

The Voice will be a committee of Indigenous Australians, chosen by Indigenous Australians to represent them. It won’t be part of Parliament or have the power to make or veto laws or policy.

The third sentence explains why: “The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

Indigenous Australians are the most disadvantaged people in Australia. For years governments have been making laws about them. Many are well intentioned, but the end result is a huge gap between Indigenous Australians and the rest.

We need to close that gap by making laws and policies with advice from First Australians. As a Member of Parliament, I want to hear the advice of an official representative body that can bring information from communities across Australia to policy makers.

The fourth and final sentence is about the detail: “The Parliament shall, subject to this Con- stitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”

This sentence makes it crystal clear that the detail is left up to the Parliament, because that’s how our Constitution works. There’s no detail in the Constitution about how to run the Navy or the Air Force (there were no planes) or the Treasury or the ABC or the Department of Environment.

If the detail was written in, our government would be frozen in time and couldn’t function.

The detail is up to Parliament. Australia’s Parliament, elected by all Australians, will decide the form of the Voice and decide when to accept its representations and when to ignore them.

The important thing is that the Voice will recognise our First Nations and promise them the chance to be heard.

And the first step is to listen to Indigenous Australians and support the Voice at this referendum.

The Voice has the support of over 80 per cent of Indigenous Australians and many people in Wentworth.

Others still want to know more, and that’s why I convened Wentworth for the Voice, a network of individuals, community groups and businesses dedicated to informing people in our area about the referendum. We’ve already had thousands of conversations with Wentworth residents - and we’re just getting started.

If you’d like to get involved, join our volunteer force of over 500 people to doorknock our communities, hand out flyers at train stations and bus stops, and answer questions about the referendum, please visit wentworthforthevoice.com.au/ volunteer.