Zoe Daniel (Goldstein, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Across the road from my electorate office in Goldstein is St Finbar's Primary School, founded 175 years ago on Boonwurrung country. St Finbar's school values channel an ethos that is thoughtful, compassionate, kind and respectful. When I visited St Finbar's back in March this is exactly what I was met with. In that vein, a group of St Finbar's students recently penned some powerful letters to the editor of Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper advocating for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Evie, Nicholas, Rose and Walter each shared their letters with me, and in turn I would like to share them with this house.

Walter Skehill rightly argues:

Norway, the US, New Zealand, Canada, Finland, Japan, Greenland and Sweden have all already recognised their first nations people in their constitutions.

Walter asks: 'Why shouldn't we?'

Rose is in grade five at St Finbar's and she shares this outlook. Rose asks why we in Australia do not protect our Indigenous populations, their land and their sacred places, like other countries do. Rose sums up the need for the Voice. She sees the immense value that has come from having First Nations people serve as members of parliament and wants to see more. I agree, and as a member of parliament I want my work to be informed by the oldest continuing living culture in the world. Rose asks:

We had our first Indigenous MP in 1971, why didn't we get a voice then?

This is an important viewpoint. There is a difference between having representation and being fully represented.

Evie, aged 11, argues:

We should be welcoming the smart and strong voice of the young and old Indigenous people into parliament … to make their home and our home in Australia a better place.

Evie and Walter both write that the Voice is important to allow a body of Indigenous leaders to give suggestions to parliament, for our parliament to have far-reaching influence and impact.

Nicholas agrees. He questions why it's taken this long for Australia's Indigenous voices to be fully recognised. To Nicholas, I say that it may have taken us a long while to get here, but we are here now and this is the opportunity before us, because if not now, when?

Walter said it best when he wrote:

I strongly urge everyone to vote YES in the referendum to allow an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, to include Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian Constitution, to right the wrongs of the past, and to give these deserving people a much brighter and fairer future.