Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Indigenous Australians. During Reconciliation Week, what can Australians do to promote reconciliation?

Linda Burney (Barton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Lingiari. I'm sure that like all of us here she saw the beautiful First Nations art projections on the front of Parliament House last night and the Avenue of Flags, with those three flags flying. 'Be a Voice for Generations': that's the theme for this year's Reconciliation Week. It's a call for all of us to be a voice for reconciliation—in intangible ways in our everyday lives—because the defining moments of our history have been when ordinary Australians have put their shoulder to the wheel of history and pushed it forward, and in doing so made Australia a better place: the 1938 Day of Mourning, the '67 referendum, Wave Hill, Mabo, the Apology to the Stolen Generations, the 1997 Reconciliation Convention, the walks over bridges, the Redfern speech and, of course, the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Everyone can make an act of reconciliation—and sometimes it's actually the humble moments that make the biggest difference—by telling the truth of our past, by finally recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution and by giving a voice to Indigenous Australians, because the truth of our history is that Indigenous Australians have been left behind. We all know the indicators: the nine-year gap in life expectancy; the widening gap in infant mortality; the lower rates of high school completion; and our young people robbed of their potential, languishing behind bars in a justice system that has let them down. It isn't good enough. Something has to change, and change for the better.

In the coming months there will be important conversations around dinner tables, in the pub and on coffee breaks, because this year there will be a referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in our Constitution through a voice. We have everything to gain and nothing to lose by voting yes at the referendum later this year. Australians know in their hearts that the time is now. We want a more united Australia, a more reconciled Australia, and there is no better time than National Reconciliation Week to start having those conversations and for all of us to be a voice for the generations. Now is the time for all Australians to put their shoulder to the wheel.