Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last week 90-plus people came out to Belair National Park to hear about the Voice to Parliament. We were welcomed to country by emerging Kaurna elder Tamaru, who conducted a smoking ceremony, and South Australian Attorney-General Kyam Maher spoke about the South Australian government's legislation, currently before that parliament, to legislate a South Australian Voice. Then I spoke about the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the Voice to Parliament.

In public health there is a well-known saying: 'Nothing about me without me'. This basic principle can be applied to a wide range of situations. For me, this is the principle behind the Voice. The Closing the Gap campaign, set up in 2007, aims to address the significant disparity in health and social outcomes experienced by First Nations people in this country. Sixteen years later, only four of the 18 targets are on track, and some are going backwards. First Nations Australians still have a life expectancy almost a decade less than that of other Australians. This is not to say that there has been no effort and resources put towards closing the gap; however, it's clear that we aren't making a difference. Maybe it's time to ask First Nations people what will work, and that's what the Voice is about. At Belair we had a number of people asking questions, many identifying themselves as undecided. This was a great opportunity to ask those questions and understand more about the proposal and the process in a relaxed setting. Many thanks to those who came out. (Time expired)

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