Andrew Gee (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Bill 2022. This bill symbolises the start of the process of holding a referendum to enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament in our Constitution. It's the vitally important first step. This is an historic moment for our country, and I would urge all Australians, whatever their political persuasion, to embrace it. Over the past few years, reconciliation in this country has come a long way, but the cold, hard truth is that it's far from complete. The upcoming referendum is a chance for all Australians to move reconciliation forward. This is our moment, our country's moment, and we need to seize it.

Only three weeks ago, I attended the 15th anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations breakfast here at Parliament House. It was an event that marked just how far we've come, but also how much further we need to go. I thought about Aunty Mary Hooker, my friend and constituent. She was a proud Bundjalung woman. Sadly, Auntie Mary passed away in 2019. She was here for the National Apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008, and she returned in 2018 for the National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse. After being forcibly removed from her family as a child, she suffered horrific abuse at the Parramatta Girls Training School and also Ormond Training School in Thornleigh in Sydney. She wanted her story to be told, which I have done in this parliament on a previous occasion so that it's recorded in Hansard. Yet, despite all she endured in her life, Aunty Mary refused to be consumed by hatred. She wanted justice, but she never carried that hatred in her heart. She was passionately committed to reconciliation and to bringing Australians together. She knew that we all have to continue walking down that road. The work that so many like Aunty Mary started needs to be completed. I spoke to her husband, Rodney Hooker, about this just this afternoon.

I hope it is complete in my lifetime, although it may not be. However, the responsibility to move reconciliation forward currently rests with us, and a new generation is rising to lead. In our area it is young people such as Alicia Agland and Kishaya Delaney of the Uluru Youth Dialogue who are driving and guiding the Voice campaign. A couple of weeks ago, the Minister for Indigenous Australians visited our electorate of Calare and spoke to many young Australians who were keen to learn more about the Voice and what it would mean for our area. We went to Lake Canobolas and visited Ngurang-gu Yalbilinya, a partnership between the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council and Canobolas Rural Technology High School. It's an innovative, community driven program that connects to culture and makes a real difference to the lives of the young men who learn there.

We went to Canobolas high school, Wellington High School and Nanima Preschool, just outside of Wellington. There we saw the future of Australia, which was appropriate, because the Voice is very much about the future of this nation. It will deliver long-overdue recognition in Australia's founding document. It should already be there. It's hard to believe that it's not. The Voice is also about tangible, practical results in communities around Australia. It's an acknowledgement that policies and approaches of the past have not worked and that change is needed. The Voice won't be delivering programs. It won't be a third chamber of parliament. It won't have a veto. It's an advisory body. It will consult with Indigenous Australians on policies affecting them. And, because it will be in the Constitution, it will be an enduring voice.

The Indigenous groups that I have spoken to in our electorate are not looking to divide Australians. Through this Voice, they are seeking better outcomes in fields like education, health and housing. They are not seeking division. They want this to be a moment of unity, and that's the spirit in which we need to be having this national conversation.

This referendum won't be decided by members of parliament; it will be decided by Australians in all corners of our nation, and I would ask the people of Calare and Australians everywhere to approach the referendum with an open heart and an open mind—a generosity of spirit. In the days, weeks and months ahead, there will be many opportunities to find out more about the voice and have questions answered—to have those conversations. It doesn't matter how old you are, where you live or from what walk of life you come. We want everyone to engage in this pivotal moment in our history.

This bill is set to modernise the legislation that will govern how the referendum will be conducted. As I have said, for this historic referendum, it's the starting point. I urge all Australians to support giving our First Australians this long overdue recognition and voice. Together, we can do it. I commend this bill to the House.

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