Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges the sustained and dedicated effort by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to increase the enrolment of all Australians, with a particular focus on the two cohorts of Australians who have long been under-represented on the electoral roll, being First Nations Australians and young people aged between 18 and 24 years;

(2) recognises that as a result of the Government ensuring the AEC had the appropriate resources to improve enrolment:

(a) for the first time since records have existed, enrolment of Australians aged between 18 and 24 year is now over 90 per cent; and

(b) estimated First Nations enrolment has increased in every state and territory to the highest it has ever been so that:

(i) nationwide it is now at 94.1 per cent, up from 84.5 per cent just six months ago; and

(ii) in the Northern Territory it is now at 87.0 per cent, up from 76.7 per cent six months ago; and

(3) condemns the former Government, for failing to appropriately resource the AEC to take action to improve enrolment of First Nations Australians, including by cutting AEC personnel in the Northern Territory who were addressing these matters.

This is a proud moment for the Australian people and for the Australian government, because finally we are making huge strides in Indigenous enrolment. When we came to government, Indigenous enrolment was at 84 per cent. In just one year, we have raised this to 94 per cent. In one year we have enrolled 10 per cent of the Indigenous population. I want to thank the Australian Electoral Commission for its work. I know there are many hardworking AEC staff out there working with people on the ground to get them signed up to vote.

Voting is important for our mob, particularly in the Northern Territory. For so long policy has been made around and for Aboriginal people, and for a long time Aboriginal people in large parts of Australia didn't have the right to vote. This was structural and intentionally provided for in the same Constitution which some opponents of the Voice have been trying to say shouldn't have race introduced into it. Let's just remember how things were planned out by the framers of that Constitution. Section 24 said the numbers of House of Representatives members for each state would depend on the state population. Section 25 said, and still says:

… if by the law of any State all persons of any race are disqualified from voting at elections … persons of that race resident in that State shall not be counted.

In other words, the framers of the Constitution were expecting that, in at least some states, people would be excluded from voting on racial grounds, and that's what happened to Aboriginal people in Western Australia, in Queensland and, from 1922, in the Northern Territory. They were prohibited from voting, and the way it worked was that you were prohibited from voting in your state or territory jurisdiction if you couldn't vote in a Commonwealth election.

That wasn't fixed for Commonwealth elections until 1962. I was born in 1960. At that time the parliament I now stand in didn't accept me as having an equal say as a non-Aboriginal person in this country. That is not ancient history; this is one generation. Section 25 of our Constitution still contemplates and accepts racial discrimination in relation to voting at the state level of government in our country. People ask, 'Why do we need a Voice in the Constitution?' Part of the answer to that question is that, without a Voice, the Constitution remains a document marked and scarred by our recent history.

It took us 12 months to increase the Indigenous enrolment rate by over 10 per cent. In the Northern Territory this could have been achieved years ago, but instead what we saw under the Morrison Liberal-National government was a huge withdrawal of AEC resources. Those opposite should hang their heads in shame. Don't go talking about what's good for Indigenous people now. You clearly didn't have an interest when you were in government.

This government cares. Come the 2023 referendum, more Indigenous people will have a say than ever before. In the Northern Territory there has been significant headway. For our remote communities this is huge. In 2022 the Indigenous enrolment rate was 76.7 per cent. It now sits at 89 per cent. This is a huge feat, and one we should all be proud of.

I want to thank the Special Minister of State, Don Farrell, for his support and the resourcing of the AEC. Senator Farrell certainly has had many a letter from me saying that we need to do more on Indigenous enrolment. I thank the senator for his dedication and his commitment. Once again I reinforce and thank all the staff of the Australian Electoral Commission, who have done a fantastic job going around the Northern Territory and into our remote communities and enrolling a lot of our people who have been isolated or disengaged from the voting system.

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