Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member very much for his question and his commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which invites all Australians to walk together towards reconciliation and a better future. The provisions that we released today will enshrine two fundamental principles: recognition and consultation. It will do it in a way that absolutely minimises any risk of any non-considered issues.

This is something we released in July, in a speech I gave at the Garma Festival. Since then, we've consulted with the Referendum Working Group, and I thank them for their work. Since then, we've also had a legal group advising the Referendum Working Group. Why do we need this to happen? It's because we urgently need better outcomes. We have a 10-year-gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The suicide rate for Indigenous Australians is twice as high as that of non-Indigenous Australians. We have tragic levels of child mortality and disease. We have a massive over-representation in incarceration rates—per capita, the highest rate of any segment of the population that you can look at in the world. We need to do better. It's not because of a shortage of good intentions on both sides of this chamber. Today Ken Wyatt was proudly standing there next to me in the Blue Room for this announcement. He was, of course, Australia's first Indigenous person to hold the high office that he did.

Governments have tried to impose solutions from Canberra. What this is about is doing things with Indigenous Australians, not to them or for them. That's why the Referendum Working Group process was so important. This presents every Australian with a historic democratic opportunity. We will give them that opportunity between October and December. If this is successful, this will be an inspiring and unifying Australian moment. It will be important in giving respect to First Nations people, but it will also be important to the way that we as non-Indigenous Australians see ourselves and see our nation as well, as we recognise the great privilege that we have of sharing this great island continent with the oldest continuous culture on earth. That should be recognised in our nation's 'birth certificate'. What Indigenous Australians are asking is that that that be done in a way which gives them a voice and which allows them to be consulted on matters that affect them. It's as simple as that: recognition and consultation.

I urge Australians to examine the words that have been put forward, to look at the Uluru Statement from the Heart and vote yes for a better future for this country.

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