Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Higgins for her question and congratulate her on her wonderful speech earlier today. This weekend at the Garma Festival, on Yolngu country, the Prime Minister delivered the most important speech on Indigenous affairs by a prime minister since the apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008. The Prime Minister recommended a simple question to be put to the Australian people in a referendum: do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice? It is a simple proposition, a question from the heart.

As I went around the festival, the sense of excitement was quite overwhelming—traditional owners from right across Australia looking forward with a sense of hope about the future, because they understand that a Voice to the parliament is about both symbolism and practical outcomes, like education, health and housing and around family violence. A Voice to the parliament will mean that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders will be consulted and heard on policies that affect them. These are practical outcomes that will make a real difference to people's lives: fairness, respect. That's what the Voice is all about.

I'm encouraged by the opposition keeping an open mind on supporting the referendum, and I want to sincerely thank the member for Berowra for attending Garma with myself and the Prime Minister. I also want to acknowledge the former minister and my dear friend Ken Wyatt for the important foundations he put in place on this. We have been talking about recognising First Nations people in our country's founding document for a long time. It is time to get this done together.

I want to conclude by quoting a former prime minister:

The Australian people want to move. They want to move towards a new settlement of this issue.

I will put to the Australian people within 18 months a referendum to formally recognise Indigenous Australians in our Constitution.

Everyone, that prime minister was John Howard, in 2007—15 years ago. If not now, when? Let's get this done together.

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