Andrew Leigh (Fenner, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday morning I had the privilege of welcoming in to Canberra Michael Long, as part of his second long walk from Melbourne to Canberra. We met at Mulligans Flat, in Forde, where traditional owners told us some of the local Ngunnawal stories. We were joined by the member for Solomon; the Chief Minister of the ACT, Andrew Barr; and Sally McManus, Secretary of the ACTU.

Australians know Michael Long through his 190 games for Essendon, his two premierships, his Norm Smith Medal. But I want to remind the House about what an extraordinary man Michael Long is. In his biography of Michael Long, The Short Long Book, Martin Flanagan tells the story of Michael's dad, Jack Long, who once fought off a crocodile. He tells the story of Michael Long's mother, Agnes, who was taken away from her mother as an infant and who had never seen the sea. She was put on a boat and shipped from Darwin to the Catholic mission on Melville Island. Agnes Long was given the name Agnes Brock because she was taken from her mother beside Brock Creek.

As Martin Flanagan writes of Michael Long: 'Longie had a jiggling, bounding run like he'd briefly tapped into some special energy source. All his parts were loose and there was no way of knowing what each limb was going to do next.' He helped to shape the AFL's code of conduct on race in 1995. And then, having gone to one too many Aboriginal funerals, he decided, on 21 November 2004, to start walking from Melbourne to Canberra. Somewhere around Albury, then Prime Minister John Howard agreed to meet him. That's how the first walk happened. Today Michael Long walked with the Prime Minister the final steps to Parliament House on his second Long Walk.

Michael Long is an extraordinary Indigenous Australian, one of many Indigenous Australians who have helped to shape Australia's reconciliation journey—a journey that goes back to the Indigenous cricket team that toured England in 1868 up to Cathy Freeman's extraordinary 400-metre run in the Sydney Olympics, Johnathan Thurston captaining the Cowboys to their first NRL premiership and Ash Barty winning Wimbledon. Evonne Goolagong Cawley swelled Australians hearts. And Adam Goodes showing his extraordinary sense of grace. In that moment when a spectator called him an ape, he said he had never been more hurt. But then when the 13-year-old girl who had racially abused him phoned to apologise, he was gracious. These words still make me choke. He said:

"She's 13 years old, still so innocent, I don't put any blame on her … Unfortunately it's what she hears and the environment that she's grown up in has made her think that it's OK to call people names."

Adam Goodes showed us how lucky we are to share this nation with a peoples whose history goes back 65,000 years, to a period well before ancient Greece and ancient Rome.

For my own part, sportspeople like Charlie Maher have inspired me to run as a supporter of the Indigenous Marathon Foundation in dozens of marathons, ultramarathons and triathlons. Every time I put on that singlet I feel how fortunate I am to be a supporter of First Nations people.

The Leader of the Opposition referred disparagingly to the Minister for Indigenous Australians. It is important that the House realises what an extraordinary person the Minister for Indigenous Australians is. She doesn't much tell her own story, but it's a remarkable one. She was born in 1957 and raised not by her birth parents, but by her great aunt and uncle—a spinster brother and sister who were born in the 1890s. I don't think there's anyone else in the House raised by people born before Federation. She lived in a house with people who had experienced the Depression, in which they made their own soap and milked a cow.

She is somebody who has suffered a great deal through her life. The Minister for Indigenous Australians suffered domestic violence at the hands of her first partner, the father of her children. In 2006 she lost Rick Farley, who she described as the love of her life. Rick Farley was an extraordinary Australian, the head of the National Farmers Federation, who brought farmers along with him through the passage of the native title legislation. The Minister for Indigenous Australians has said, 'He was a complex, wonderful man that I miss every single day.' In 2017, she lost her son. She has every reason to be angry, but instead she epitomises grace. Instead, she epitomises courage. She epitomises the philosophy that all of us on this side of the House carry when we advocate a 'yes' vote.

The Minister for Indigenous Australians was the first Indigenous graduate of Mitchell CAE, the first Indigenous person to serve in the New South Wales parliament and the first Indigenous woman in the House of Representatives. She helped to spearhead the reconciliation walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000. She deserves the respect of every Australian, including the Leader of the Opposition.

Other extraordinary Indigenous leaders have argued for a First Nations Voice to Parliament. Noel Pearson has made the case that the work of recognition involves the recognition of first languages, and he has emphasised the need for schools teaching First Australians to incorporate language into what they do. In my own case, I've benefited from speaking with Ngunnawal man Tyronne Bell, who's shown me the Indigenous stories in the Canberra bush and given me the honour of teaching me to speak an Indigenous acknowledgement of country.

We often refer to the 65,000 years of Indigenous history in Australia, but it's important to recognise how many souls that represents. According to demographer Len Smith, there are around a billion First Nations people who have walked on these soils, compared to 40 million non-Indigenous Australians. While non-Indigenous Australians outnumber First Nations people by 33 to 1 right now, if we look at the broad sweep of history, if we look at all those who've ever walked on these lands, 25 out of 26 are First Nations people. GK Chesterton once said, 'Tradition means giving a vote to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead.' Traditionalists should understand that recognition of First Nations people is recognition of the billion First Nations people who have walked on these lands.

It is not only a matter of recognition; it is also a matter of consultation. Consultation has a practical benefit. It produces better policies. Good governments consult. Right now, Treasury is consulting with economists and businesses on a legislated definition of superannuation, unfair trading practices, the Consumer Data Right and the Franchising Code of Conduct. The Department of Health and Aged Care is consulting on trans fats in processed food and pandemic preparedness. The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet is consulting on gender equity in the workplace, and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources is consulting on expanding the RNA sector. By listening, we produce better policies. It's extraordinary to me that those opposite aren't arguing we should stop consulting with business. They aren't arguing that we should stop consultation on workplace relations, clean energy or business support. They seem to think consultation is a good thing everywhere except if it's enshrined in the Constitution that we will consult with First Nations people.

Aunty Violet Sheridan was also with us to meet Michael Long. She's somebody who walked across the Harbour Bridge in 2000. She said:

And I started to cry because it made me so happy that black and white were coming together and walking into the future for reconciliation.

This campaign is a campaign for yes which will meet hate and disinformation with love and confidence. It will meet attempts to blur with clarity, hope and a passion for a better future, epitomised by Michael Long, Charlie Maher and Linda Burney.

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