David Smith (Bean, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to begin by acknowledging that this debate is occurring on the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples—First Peoples that have had a connection with this land from a time well before this parliament was conceived or the Constitution was drafted. I extend my respects to their elders past and present and I acknowledge any First Peoples with us here today.

I'm privileged to represent the seat of Bean, an electorate with boundaries that begin within 10 kilometres of Parliament House but an electorate whose history extends back thousands of years. It includes many important sites for our First Peoples, including the Yankee Hat rock paintings in Namadgi National Park, and Birrigai Rock Shelter, which is the oldest known place within the ACT where First Peoples lived.

The electorate of Bean is home to more than 3,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. They include Professor Tom Calma, the co-author of the Indigenous Voice co-design process. Professor Calma is also the 2023 Senior Australian of the Year and Chancellor of the University of Canberra. His contribution to our nation's story has been monumental. Professor Calma has made it clear: the purpose of the Voice is not to be vindictive; it's about understanding who we are as a nation. His research with Dr Marcia Langton received a consistently clear message from First Peoples: where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a say in the matters that affect their communities, they get better outcomes.

I also reflect on some of the words that local Ngunnawal elder Aunty Violet Sheridan has shared on the topic of the Voice. Aunty Violet has often reminded us that we, as a nation, need to take a look at ourselves and make change for the future. As we gather to celebrate the next chapter in the success story of our great and diverse society, let us all recognise the unique privilege we have to share this continent with the world's oldest continuous culture. It's a reminder that we will always share this land. In Aunty Violet's view, a voice to the Australian parliament and government would complement and amplify existing structures and would not replace the role for these structures to continue to work with government within their mandates.

For 122 years our nation's founding document has failed to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their thousands of years of continuous connection to this vast land. At its core, constitutional recognition through a voice is about two things: recognition and consultation. It's recognition of the 65,000 years of shared history and continuous connection to this land by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; and consultation through voice, because listening to communities leads to better policies and better outcomes. This idea, the Voice to Parliament, came from the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a petition which was produced by the 2017 First Nations National Constitutional Convention, a meeting of 250 delegates from across Australia informed by more than 1,000 consultations. This built on existing decades of work. These are simple and practical yet powerful propositions, and an invitation that seeks reconciliation. They are translated easily into this bill.

Every day this parliament commences sitting with an acknowledgement of country, a recognition of First Peoples and their connection to this country. And it commences with the Lord's prayer, a prayer that is essentially about forgiveness and reconciliation. History, identity, connection, forgiveness. They are both, in their different ways, wisdom texts. Every year we commence the parliamentary year with an ecumenical service. At this year's ecumenical service at St Paul's, the Reverend Doctor Sarah Bachelard talked about the opportunities before us with the referendum. Our nation has received the great gift of the Statement from the Heart from the First Peoples of this land. This is a wisdom text born of heartbreak and long and continuing suffering, yet marked by an extraordinary generosity of spirit, and open to the possibility that the wounds of our history might be reconciled for the good of all. The Statement from the Heart can only truly be heard and enacted when those to whom it's addressed make contact with, and listen from, their own heart. This is its gift and challenge to us all.

The call for a First Nations voice to be enshrined in the Constitution is not just another policy proposal to be debated at the level of strategy and argument. As well as a condition of lasting justice for Australia's First Peoples, it's an invitation for our nation as a whole to grow in wisdom's way. At a time when petty factionalism is tearing at the fabric of national and international communities and the crises of our age escalate, the necessity for wisdom in government and among the peoples of the world is urgent. May this parliament and this nation, all of us, grow in wisdom that we may share with justice the resources of the earth and work together in trust. This is the generational opportunity we have before us to grow in wisdom that we may share with justice the resources of the earth and work together in trust.

There are some who see this opportunity for national healing as an opportunity to obfuscate, divide and sow discord. They will be judged for their words. We shouldn't be distracted from our journey. I look forward to working with the community in Bean to have a successful 'yes' vote.

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