Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I rise today to speak against the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023, I want to remind the House how successful our Constitution and democracy have been since the Constitution came into effect in 1901. Our Constitution has given us laws, liberties, protections and privileges that give us the Australian way of life and that are the envy of the world. I and the other 150 members of the parliament represent 151 electorates across Australia. Each member has approximately 110,000 constituents. We also have 76 elected senators, 12 representing each state and territory. We are chosen by people through a democratic vote as the persons who best represent all of our electorates. As we all know, our constituency across Australia comes from many different walks of life, whether that be with regard to race, career, religion, culture or gender, and our job is to represent all of our constituents without fear or favour.

Later this year, Prime Minister Albanese, wanting to make his moment in history, will be asking the Australian people to make a choice through a referendum—to vote on the government's proposed changes to the Australian Constitution. This is a major change and should not be taken lightly. In Australia, since 1901, there have been 44 referendums and only eight have been successful. In the past, part of the process prior to the referendum has been a convention, where bodies come together to nut out the proposal and examine the pros and cons. For this referendum there has been no constitutional convention. Instead, there was a 4½-day committee process. The Nationals have expressed concerns about this committee process in examining and considering this bill. The limited time afforded to consideration of this bill has been inadequate and is extremely disappointing.

Thankfully, it is the Australian people who get the final say as to whether we change or preserve our constitution. But it worries me that, when I have asked the views of my electorate, the hard reality is most people don't know what voting yes will mean for Australians. This is because the Prime Minister wants us to vote yes on a vibe, without detail or explanation. The Prime Minister is treating Australians like mushrooms. You wouldn't apply for a job without knowing what that job entails. You wouldn't marry your lifelong partner without speaking to them, getting to know them or understanding who they are. You wouldn't buy a house without knowing the price or carrying out an inspection first. So why are we being asked to make a decision on a question that comes with no information, no detail and little understanding?

After 12 months in government, we've seen the Albanese Labor government's inability to plan. We've seen more broken promises than you can poke a stick at. We've seen rushed and poorly thought through policy changes. We've seen a disregard for what industry and small business need. We have seen a real disdain towards the regions and rural Australia. This Labor government seems to miss the mark when it comes to knowing what people really need. Labor have created a cost-of-living crisis, and now they are trying to divide the nation on the basis of race.

When the 47th Parliament of Australia first came together on 26 July 2022, Prime Minister Albanese promised, under his reign, an inclusive term, a united term and a transparent term. But this is one of many broken promises we've seen over the past 12 months. We're now seeing it again with this proposed amendment to enshrine the Canberra voice in our Constitution. Where is the inclusivity? This Voice is already causing divide, and we are only just starting to talk about it. Where is the transparency? The detail? What is the Prime Minister trying to hide?

Adding another layer of Canberra bureaucracy is not going to fix the issues that our First Nations Indigenous communities are facing. Throwing money and more Canberra public servants at an issue will fix nothing. History has proven this. The 1973 Aboriginal Consultative Committee was the first advisory body for First Nations people, and the delegates were voted in by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Even then the body was dissolved after it attempted to gain powers it was not originally afforded. Then, in 1985, the National Aboriginal Conference was disbanded by the Labor Hawke government after it became obsessed with factional fighting rather than supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. After that was the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, which was dissolved after a report concluded it had not connected with First Nations people, being too Canberra focused. Its successor, the Indigenous Council, was disbanded for very similar reasons.

And now, established in 2019, we have the National Indigenous Australians Agency, the NIAA, who receive $4.3 billion per year of taxpayers' money to lead and coordinate Commonwealth policy development, program design and implementation and service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The NIAA also provides advice to the Prime Minister and the Minister for Indigenous Australians on whole-of-government priorities to lead and coordinate the development and implementation of Australia's Closing the Gap targets in partnership with Indigenous Australians, and to lead Commonwealth activities to promote reconciliation.

After all this, all of these pre-existing groups and bodies, here we are yet again, faced with making a decision which, ultimately, is just another layer of thick red tape and won't close the gap for Indigenous Australians. As history has shown, another taxpayer funded Canberra bureaucracy will do nothing to help practically improve the welfare of Indigenous communities, especially for women and children in regional, rural and remote areas. In simple terms, our nation needs a better bureaucracy, not a new one.

The Nationals are a party solely dedicated to rural, remote and regional Australia.

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