Barnaby Joyce (New England, National Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A bill for a constitutional alteration has now been brought into the parliament. It is a bill for a section of Australian society and gives a racial preference to that section. It is something that, by reason of that, I find to be wrong. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states quite clearly, 'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.' This bill shows a differentiation in rights, and people are not equal.

In the bill, in proposed chapter IX, section 129, it says:

(ii) the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament …

What is the Voice? These are details we need before the referendum, not after the referendum. Of course, any legislation that goes through the parliament will go through on the numbers, and the numbers are currently controlled by the Labor Party in the House of Representatives and by the Labor Party, the Greens and the teals in the Senate. In section 129, it also says:

(iii) the Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws …

'Subject to this Constitution' means that the Constitution has a primacy in what it can do. It may make subsection (iii) completely irrelevant because it's subject to the Constitution, and the Constitution has been changed, and the preceding subsection (ii) has given the power for the Voice.

In his second reading speech, the Attorney-General says:

It is a form of constitutional recognition that is practical and substantive …

It certainly is substantive. It's substantive in his own words. He also says:

It creates an independent institution that speaks to the parliament and the executive government, but does not replace, direct or impede the actions of either.

At this point in time, that is an interpretation of the High Court as to what it does. We need to see the Solicitor-General's advice as to what they believe. The government tabled the Solicitor-General's advice with regard to the ministries of the previous Prime Minister. They made it a warrant of their virtue. But they won't give us the Solicitor-General's advice on this. The Attorney-General also says:

We know outcomes are better when we partner with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The evidence is there:

That is an endorsement that we actually can do things that work. We do it through a legislative process. Those things were brought in without a constitutional change. People cannot get their vote back after this referendum. It is a major change to our Constitution. Because it creates a difference on the premise of race, I think it is a very noxious concept, and I urge Australians to vote no.