Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

The government respects and accepts the decision of the Australian people that was made on the weekend in the referendum. This referendum was an idea that came from First Nations Australians. A voice to parliament was an idea that came from First Nations Australians, and the referendum was always about keeping faith with those First Nations Australians and the Australian people and delivering on the commitment that the government made, prior to the last election, to hold a referendum of the Australian people on the issue of a voice to parliament. We maintained that commitment on the weekend.

Now, the issue of constitutional recognition of First Nations Australians is something that was established by the previous coalition government. It was a process that was started by the Abbott government. There were literally thousands of consultations that took place across the country by First Nations Australians, culminating in a constitutional convention at Uluru in 2017. The Uluru constitutional convention was very clear with the Statement from the Heart and a request of government to hold a referendum of the Australian people to enshrine a voice in the Constitution. This government delivered on that commitment. We delivered on that commitment on the weekend, and the one thing that you can say about the Prime Minister out on the weekend is that the Prime Minister is a man of his word. He did what he said he would do in the lead-up to the last election.

Contrast that with the leader of the opposition.

Opposition member s interjecting—

See this speech in context