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

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. He is aware that, for many years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have advocated for constitutional recognition. For many years they came together, as a result of the system established under the coalition government, at Uluru to determine that they want that recognition through a voice. Commonwealth, state and territory governments have all committed to it, business leaders are supporting it, legal experts have endorsed it. We don't hear about the Solicitor-General's advice anymore. Remember that? Faith groups and sporting codes are supporting it, and there is an army of volunteers campaigning for it.

On 14 October the Australian people can vote for it. They can vote yes for recognition, yes to listening and yes in order to get better results. That is the position that we have put forward after consultation and after the gracious request from First Nations people. They're not voting for a party or a person; they're voting for an idea—an idea to promote reconciliation, an idea to bring this country together, an idea in recognition that what we've done with the best of intentions over 122 years is not working, and that if you do the same thing in the same way you should expect the same outcomes.

At the moment we have an eight-year life expectancy gap. We have gaps when it comes to an Indigenous young male, who is more likely to go to jail than to go to university. An Indigenous young woman is more likely to die in childbirth than a non-Indigenous woman. We have, right throughout the targets, only four of them on track to being met. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice will be a committee of Indigenous Australians chosen by Indigenous Australians, giving advice to government so we can get better results for Indigenous Australians.

The Leader of the Opposition wants to defeat this referendum for political reasons, and then he says he will have another referendum. He wants two referendums. He wants to talk about this for year after year after year after year. We want outcomes.

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