Andrew Wilkie (Denison, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, to our shame, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remain one of the most incarcerated people in the world. Again this year, the Closing the gap strategy report showed no improvement in the disadvantage experienced by First Australians. For over 200 years, non-Indigenous people have been writing policy and legislation, destroying the lives and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and taking away their right to self-determination, health, land rights, justice and sovereignty. We need to stop doing this now. Prime Minister, when will the government pursue substantial policy and legislative changes beyond constitutional recognition? When will you legislate a voice to parliament as outlined in the Statement from the Heart?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for his question. As he knows, the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition Relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples delivered their report, a bipartisan report, and I want to thank the chairs of that committee, the member for Berowra and Senator Dodson, for the work they have done, and other members who have taken a passionate and enthusiastic interest in the work of that committee. It was established in response to the Statement from the Heart and the Referendum Council report, and the main item the committee considered was the idea of a voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and a way for them to be consulted and engaged about the policies and laws that affect them at the local, regional and national level. After eight months of consultations, there were four major recommendations.

Firstly, in order to design a voice that best meets the needs and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the committee recommended a process of co-design between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and government be initiated in communities across Australia to design a voice that could help deliver practical outcomes. Secondly, the committee recommended that, following a successful co-design process, the parliament should consider the legislative, executive and constitutional options to establish such a voice. Thirdly, the committee heard that Australians have a desire to have a fuller understanding of the history of Australia, and the history, traditions and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the history of contact between black and white Australians. And, fourthly, the committee recommends the establishment in Canberra of a national resting place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander remains which could be a place of commemoration, healing and reflection.

It's clear from this report that much more work needs to be done along the lines of what they've recommended regarding the voice proposal. We have always supported giving Indigenous people more of a say at a local level. We support the process of co-design of the voice because, if we are going to change the lives of Indigenous Australians on the ground, we need their buy-in on the matters and policies that affect them—and that includes the targets in things, like Closing the gap, that they should have a very strong say and a partnership in defining, and then having a participation role in having met them. So we support constitutional recognition but maintain our reservations about a voice. We prefer to establish local bodies in the first instance and then build on a successful model to inform a regional, and then a national, governance model. So this is a ground-up process.

We thank the committee for their report and the bipartisan nature of the way they worked together, and the sincerity with which they've put forward their recommendations. We look forward to advancing those in the months ahead.