Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want all Australians to achieve their full potential, and that includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. It's wonderful to hear the member for Parkes talk about his Aboriginal community and how they're achieving amazing things. It is wonderful to hear. The truth is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have walked on this land for 65,000 years, and I think that's an amazing thing. They knew about the connection between the moon and the tides well before Galileo. They knew about controlled burning.

We want everyone to achieve their full potential. If you haven't read the Closing the gap report, I recommend that you do because the thing that we need to do as a government is look at the data. We need to look at the data. If you're not looking at the data then you haven't seen that only four metrics out of the 17 are on track, and that is not good enough. And if we're not looking at it, it means that the people in Canberra have their heads in the sand.

The Voice is actually a generous offer from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. It is incorrect to call it a 'Canberra voice'. It is a generous and humble request. It was a deliberative process that started in 2011. It was something that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders from all across Australia came together for. The Uluru Statement from the Heart basically asked for a Voice to Parliament. This is about having the opportunity to have a say in the policies that directly affect them, and that's a really reasonable request. I think it's quite reasonable.

The truth is, I'm an engineer by trade and I like to think that I know what all the solutions are. But the thing that I have seen, that sometimes happens from time to time, is that when communities aren't consulted then the solutions that are built are not fit for purpose. I have seen this happen time and time again. What we want to see is better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and the way we want to see this is by seeing the dial actually move. I believe in an Australia where everyone can achieve their full potential, and the truth is I think that's what all Australians want to see.

Australians are the kinds of people who step up in a crisis, and that's easy when we see crises like bushfires and floods. But it's a little bit more challenging when we have crises that are slow moving, such as climate change action. But I'd also say that what we've seen with the disparity between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders has been a crisis that's been happening for quite some time. We, as Australians, will have an opportunity to basically say, 'Can we help up another brother or another sister by doing something as simple as writing "yes" on referendum day,' which will be on 14 October. I am really proud of my community of Swan. It has a grassroots movement where people have come to say, 'Yes, this is something that I care about because I want to see everyone able to have access to the same health, education, and job opportunities as I do.'

I feel really grateful that out of all the countries in the world my mum and dad chose to come to Australia. When my dad first came to Australia—actually when my dad first said he wanted to come to Australia, he was told that he had the right skills, but he was the wrong colour. That's because we had a structural bias in our system in Australia, which was the White Australia Policy. The Labor government dismantled the last parts of the White Australia Policy, and my mum and dad came here. The truth is my dad did not get to finish high school, but now he has a daughter who finished engineering and broke a 101-year record by being the first person of colour and the first female member for Swan. I'm really grateful for what I've achieved, as the child of migrants, but I want this to be an opportunity for all Australians, especially our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who have had the opportunity to be a part of this amazing continent.

It is such a rich culture, and it's something that should be a source of pride for all Australians. I believe that Australians will be so optimistic and hopeful in saying that the status quo is not acceptable and that we want to see Australians achieve their full potential. I'm so proud that the Albanese Labor government is supporting this referendum.