Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The authorised, official history of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, written by co-chairs Megan Davis and Pat Anderson, was published six days ago. The almost 200-page hardcover book states: 'The statement was drafted and overwhelmingly—

Government Members:

Government members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The members on my right know the procedures of this place. It is highly disorderly to interject, particularly when questions are being asked. Members on my right are now formally warned. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will start her question again.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The authorised, official history of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, written by co-chairs Megan Davis and Pat Anderson, was published six days ago. The almost 200-page hardcover book states: 'The statement was drafted and overwhelmingly endorsed by the convention's delegates. It is 15 pages long.' Does the Prime Minister still maintain that the Uluru statement is just one page and that any suggestions otherwise are conspiracy theory and nonsense?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

r ALBANESE (—) (): Wait until they reveal the secret verses of 'You're the Voice' by John Farnham! Wait until they find them! They are out there somewhere! There's a 10-minute bagpipe solo in there; it goes on and on and on. We had in that question that it's 200 pages. Then we had it as 20 pages. Yesterday on the front page of the paper it was 15 pages.

What happened? If you have a look at what it says, the record of meetings and views in different locations are published—very helpfully—today in News Corp tabloids, and they says things like, for example:

Delegates at the First Nations regional dialogue stated that the reform must be substantive, meaning that minimal or symbolic reform is not enough.

Dialogues emphasising that reform needed to be substantive and structural include: Hobart, Broome, Darwin, Perth, Sydney, Ross River, Adelaide, Brisbane, Torres Strait and Canberra.

The document quotes the reports from individual dialogue meetings. For example, they cite the reflections of the participants in the Perth dialogue:

We have learnt through the leaders of the Pilbara Strike, we have learnt from the stories of our big sisters, our mothers, how to be proud of who we are.

In the lead-up to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, there were hundreds of meetings involving thousands of Indigenous people. This process was set up under the former government, meeting at Uluru in 2017 to agree to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which I table—the one-page document. I know full well that Megan Davis has made it very clear that the Uluru statement is one page. What we have here is a whole range of meeting minutes, effectively, of the hundreds of meetings that took place in the lead-up to Uluru, because it was well thought through. And they came up with a gracious 440 word statement. Just like the words that are in the question before the Australian people—they are very clear and succinct as well. But those opposite don't want to talk about them; they want to talk about everything but. They say that people are confused, but that they try to add to every bit of confusion with 'what ifs?' and utter untruths that they know are totally untrue. That is why Ken Wyatt, the person who was minister in the Morrison government, has walked away from you. (Time expired)

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition on a point of order?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to table various newspaper articles and the book to which I refer, which, knowing the Prime Minister's form, he probably hasn't read.

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The deputy leader is seeking to table a book and documents.

Honourable members interjecting—

Order, members on my right! She's entitled to table a book.

The member for Dawson will leave the chamber under 94(a). Just to be clear, I'm trying to deal with points of order from your side. You'll leave the chamber and not interject on the way out either.

The member for Dawson then left the chamber.

The Leader of the House.

Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is not granted.