Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

CATHERINE KING (—) (): I think that was a terrific contribution by the member for Maribyrnong, and very heartfelt. I, too, like many of the speakers in this debate, want to begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples, the traditional custodians of the land on which this House meets. I also acknowledge the traditional owners of the land surrounding my home town of Ballarat, the Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung people, and I pay respects to elders past and present, and the many, many elders who are emerging. I thank those traditional owners for the generous work that they do across our local community every single day.

When you think about Ballarat, you think about history: you think of gold, the Eureka flag and our Victorian-era streetscapes. That history is real, and we are really proud of it. But it is incomplete. European men and women first arrived on the lands of the Kulin nation in the 1830s. Gold was discovered in 1851. That history doesn't even go back 200 years. It's history so fresh, frankly, that there are photographs of it.

We've been here for the blink of an eye in the history of this incredibly ancient land, and the traditional owners, through the Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung, have lived on these lands for tens of thousands of years. Their stories are written across our landscapes. From time immemorial, they have lived on country, protected country and cared for country. They are the longest-living culture on this planet. And it is such an incredible gift that we are the custodians of that culture, here in Australia. And, of course, in only a few short years, they were dispossessed. It is a wrong that our nation has spent many years attempting to reckon with.

This year we can help right that historic wrong and take the next step on our long journey to reconciliation. Passing this bill will be a small step on that journey. The bill we are debating this evening, Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023, must be passed to hold a referendum to amend the Australian Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia in the Constitution by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

The referendum will be about two things: recognising and listening—recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia, with 65,000 years of history and continuous connection to this land. People often ask me: 'Why are they not recognised in the Constitution now?' If you think back to the time when the Constitution was developed, First Nations people were seen as a dying race, who were not going to be around, so why would you recognise them—particularly in our Constitution? They were being basically driven out; they weren't going to be around. And so, when you hear First Nations people say: 'We are still here, despite all of that history,' that is why it is so deep and meaningful for them to be recognised in the first of our nation's documents, because it is a message of survival. Despite all of that history, despite all that has happened to them, they are still here, and we see them in all of their beauty. And that is what the recognition is about.

The second part is listening to the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people when it comes to laws and policies that affect them. That is what Australians will be asked to vote for—recognising and listening to them. That journey has led us to this referendum. It has been long, and the points of debate have been well tested. There has been the expert panel on the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution established in 2010, the 2015 report of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, the First Nations constitutional dialogues; the Uluru convention, the referendum council and many more processes. All have led us to this point and have ensured the appropriateness of this question and this amendment we have before us.

This Voice will work alongside existing structures. It will not have a veto power. It will not deliver programs or hold money. It will be chosen by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It will represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and it will empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to make sure their voices are heard by those of us in the executive and those of us here across this parliament who are making such big decisions. Appearing before the committee inquiry into this bill, Gerald Power, the deputy mayor of the Orange City Council, spoke about what this referendum will mean. He said, 'At the age of 61, I never thought we would even come to this. I thought I would be dead. I thought my son would have to pick it up. My mother died and my ancestors died without having a voice in the Constitution and that lack of a voice was simply because we were never identified as humans.' Why is it so important to have it in the Constitution? It is because it needs to be there. It needs to at least acknowledge that there were humans here and that these are the oldest human cultures on the face of the planet, continuous and ongoing. Let's not wait any longer to recognise. Let's not wait any longer to listen. The connection between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and this land has never been broken, not in the community I represent and not anywhere in this country.

This referendum is the best chance we have to address the injustices of the past and to create change that will deliver a better future. This year our nation can recognise the truth of our history and provide a voice to those who have been ignored for too long. The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a generous, generous offer. I will be voting yes. I commend the bill to the House and I encourage all Australians to accept the Uluru Statement from the Heart, to vote yes on the referendum as it is coming up, to accept it with the spirit with which it was made and with which it was offered to the Australian people.

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