Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Sunday I was honoured to be present at a historic event. Despite the rain, approximately 5,000 people gathered on the steps of South Australian Parliament House to witness history being made. We watched as first the lower house, then the Legislative Council, passed a bill to legislate a First Nations Voice to the South Australian Parliament. The bill was then placed in a coolamon, and the President of the Legislative Council and the Commissioner for First Nations Voice presented it to Her Excellency the Hon. Frances Adamson AC, Governor of South Australia. We then witnessed the Executive Council meeting on the steps of Parliament House to give royal assent and sign the legislation into law. The Executive Council was witnessed by First Nations leaders from across South Australia.

South Australia was the first place in Australia and the fourth place in the world where women were able to vote, in 1894. It also gave women the first right to stand for parliament, meaning women had equal electoral rights to men. And now South Australia is the first Australian jurisdiction to establish a First Nations Voice to parliament. Particular recognition should go to the Attorney-General, Aboriginal man Kyam Maher, and the Commissioner for First Nations Voice, Dale Agius. When the laws were proclaimed, there were tears through the rain, cheers and a standing ovation.