Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to acknowledge the sentiments expressed by all previous speakers, because their contributions to this debate are important and they reflect their thinking across the breadth of issues that Australia has to consider. I am pleased to speak on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition (Sunset Extension) Bill 2015. This bill will extend the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Act for three years until 28 March 2018.

Extending this bill was a recommendation of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples The committee's progress report, tabled in both houses in October 2014, recommended that the bill be extended to align the proposed timing of a referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian Constitution, which is an important element of the work that we have to do in this House.

The former minister for indigenous affairs the Hon. Jenny Macklin MP first introduced this bill in 2012, describing it as an interim step towards recognition and a measure to assist in raising awareness and building a national consensus for constitutional change. Section 3 of the act reads:

(1) The Parliament, on behalf of the people of Australia, recognises that the continent and the islands now known as Australia were first occupied by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples—

It acknowledges that as a fact—

(2) The Parliament, on behalf of the people of Australia, acknowledges the continuing relationship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with their traditional lands and waters.

(3) The Parliament, on behalf of the people of Australia, acknowledges and respects the continuing cultures, languages and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

A piece of legislation cannot itself walk us down the road to all Australians recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as peers. Above all, this is a people's movement that has growing public support and ownership, and it is critical in the success of the proposition. Extending the life of this bill is a demonstration of the support that the public call for recognition has in both chambers.

I would concur with the former speaker that on this particular occasion the debate needs to occur in both chambers of the parliament if we are serious about the role that we play in representing our constituents and the work that we do in representing the sectional components of our electorates. Every one of us has Indigenous populations within our electorates.

As we represent constituents, equally we should debate those things that are extremely important in the landmark life of this nation as it moves to a formal position of shared peership, shared recognition and an acknowledgement that we have a shared history in this nation and that the continuity of Indigenous people's relationship with this land is 40,000 years plus. Whether or not the length of time is debated does not matter. What is important is that, at the time of the writing of the Constitution, consideration was not given to the traditional owners of this continent. They were excluded from the processes that charted the way for the development of the Australian birth certificate, our Constitution.

The coalition, the Greens, the Labor Party and the members of the crossbenches that the committee has spoken to have committed to their privileged role in showing active national leadership on this issue. I am also committed, as chair of the joint select committee which is tasked with reporting to government on how the actual recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples takes form. Among the recommendations made by the committee so far is that sections 25 and 51(xxvi) be removed, to remove references to race from the Constitution. The committee has heard that these recommendations have overwhelming community support. It is the committee's strong view that any proposal must both preserve the existing Commonwealth laws relying on section 51(xxvi) and the Commonwealth's powers to make laws with respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and, equally, contain a powerful statement of recognition, not a statement of symbolism.

I think there are some landmarks, and Mr Stephen Jones referred earlier to the Redfern speech. I was there when that speech was delivered, and it had a powerful impact on the people who were in attendance because for the first time what they heard was a recognition of the historical place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this continent and in this country that we all love.

The apology is another. Whilst some thought that it was a cynical process, it was a moment of healing. It brought together memories, and painful memories, of the past. It acknowledged that we had a history that was unsavoury in many senses. Although there are people who were in institutions who found that it saved them, what occurred to individuals was problematic. When Prime Minister Rudd delivered that apology, you could see the impact that that had on the thinking of not only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people but many Australians who sat with us on that day. The influence that it had on their thinking was that we have a joint past, that we have a joint future. The process of acknowledging a wrong had righted that unrecognised and often unspoken element that was in existence around not acknowledging that impact. The sorry statement will remain as a landmark comment.

I went to a breakfast recently, and I found it interesting that a senior Aboriginal woman, when former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd spoke at the breakfast, leant towards me and said, 'He's my hero. He recognised my pain, he helped me to acknowledge the past but he opened the opportunity for me to think of the future and to let go of the hurt and the bitterness that I had within me.' That was a powerful residual impact of an apology that happened some time ago. She, in that quiet moment, uttered those words, and there are many others who feel that. The step towards recognition within the Constitution will be of a similar ilk. Australians and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will say, 'This is us, collectively acknowledging that we are equal as peers, that we stand together and that we forge a future for the children who come after us.' But we recognise the history and the tradition, and what was once a proud continent that has changed. I echo Noel Pearson's comments about having three parts to Australia: we have the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; we have the post-1788 period during which we developed a British heritage; and, post the world wars, we developed a heritage enriched by those who came from across the seas, who contributed to this country and society and form the communities today that are a reflection of so many nations.

The committee is conducting final hearings across the nation and will present a final report to parliament in the coming months. I congratulate and thank the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Greens for the constructive and multipartisan dialogue that they have been having on this very important issue. I acknowledge the deputy chair of the committee, Senator Nova Peris, and Greens spokesperson for Indigenous affairs, Senator Rachel Siewert. I acknowledge the commitment of committee members including the opposition spokesperson for Indigenous affairs, Shayne Neumann MP, and our own Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Senator Nigel Scullion. I take this opportunity to thank Hon. Christian Porter MP for his considerable legal contributions to the committee's progress report before his appointment as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister this year. Mr Porter was replaced on the committee by Sarah Henderson, the member for Corangamite, and I look forward to benefiting from her considerable experience in the law and in public life, including in the media.

Beyond the select committee, I urge all senators and members to learn about the proposals contained in the committee's progress report and to seek the views of their constituents about constitutional recognition. Contained within the committee's progress report is the recommendation that each house of parliament set aside a full day to debate the committee's recommendations, but I reflect on the comments made by Mr Jones about the time it would take in order for all members to speak—and I believe that all members should take this historic opportunity and moment to speak, because all of them should reflect the views of their constituents. They should reflect the views of all who live within their electorates, particularly the views that come from Indigenous people that live within their electorates.

It would also be symbolic of the commitment of each and every member of both chambers to have a stand in respect to recognition—and I will respect the views of those who oppose it—but it is important that we all speak about the reasons why recognition is important and why we as a nation should ensure that the birth certificate of this nation includes the names of the two living groups that have had a continuity of existence on this continent. If we have unanimous support within the parliament, then we as political leaders will influence those that live within our electorates. I remain of the view that setting aside parliamentary time for debate would be a powerful, democratic mechanism towards recognition, held alongside nationwide conventions to seek the views of all Australians, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

From a personal perspective, I enjoy being equal with my peers in this parliament. It does not matter what our heritage is; what is important is the way in which we have respect for each other and have integrity about the things that we believe in and what our heritage is in the way that we contribute—because it is through that relationship that we build a common recognition and a common respect.

The completion of the Constitution will be an important point since the birth of this nation for the next stage of maturity and it will place us well not only within our own psyche as a nation of peoples but also within the global community. I think that, through their work, the expert panel that commenced this process and of which I was a member saw the richness of achieving recognition.

But I would also hope that those things that cannot be recorded on and etched into the birth certificate can be etched into a bill of recognition or an act of recognition that will encapsulate all of those things that are extremely important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, that will remain within the constructs of this parliament and that will remain as a legislative instrument or act that should not be changed or amended. Equally, with the issue of prohibition of discrimination, I would hope that the Racial Discrimination Act is never set aside—it has only ever been set aside for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people—but maybe in that act we should insert an amendment that requires an absolute majority of both chambers before any setting aside or amendment can occur, so that we protect the inherent rights of all Australians who face the prospect of determination.

I am looking forward to the time that I finish my term in this House and I can sit back and, with this proposal being recognised by all Australians, say, like Mr Jones, that I served with an incredible group of people and that incredible group took us to a point at which we convinced the majority of states and the majority of Australians to accept formal recognition within the Constitution. We can then relish the fact that we were here in a period that opened the opportunity for the completion of our birth certificate and the enjoining of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as peers with all of those who live within this great nation. I commend the bill

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