Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The last two weeks in parliament have been really disturbing. The ugly, divisive tone the opposition leader has deliberately chosen to take on the referendum is a disgrace. It's no accident; it's part of the deliberate strategy—it's been there for months; we've seen it week after week when parliament sits—to create a partisan frame around this, to somehow perpetuate the lie, the fiction, the untruth that this is Labor's referendum. It's not; it's been talked about in our country for 25 years under every prime minister since John Howard. It's what the Indigenous people, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, of this country came up with and asked for six years ago, after a decade of discussion. This division, fear and negativity is a deliberate strategy.

Of course Australians can have their say. Everyone has the absolute democratic right to vote yes or no, absolutely. People are entitled to their own opinions in this country, absolutely. But political leaders and every one of us are not entitled to our own facts. It is a sad day for the country when the Leader of the Opposition, the leader of the alternative government—the alternative Prime Minister, so he likes to claim—turns into some kind of disinformation troll, literally. If you look at his Facebook page or his Instagram, there is stuff up there today which is blatantly untrue—but on he goes.

In my electorate, the most multicultural part of Australia, there are people from 154 different countries. I've got more than 10,000 people living in my electorate who were born in Afghanistan. They fled that country, fighting, dying, sacrificing their families and working with the Australian defence forces for 20 years to fight for the simple right to choose their government and choose their own constitution. We're donating billions of dollars of military equipment to Ukraine, to the Ukrainian people, to fight for that same right—to vote and choose their constitution and choose their government. The least the Leader of the Opposition could do would be to show some respect for our democratic system and show some honesty, and distance himself from what are obviously blatant tactics that have been revealed through the media to spread lies—that is, the 'no' campaign's lie. It doesn't mean that everyone who votes 'no' is lying; that's fine, that's their view. But at least base the debate on facts and honesty.

It's a big moment for our country. It's the first time in 26 years we've had a referendum. People get to have their say on what the Constitution of our country should be. As I said, it's a big lie that it's Labor's referendum. It's not; it has come from the Indigenous people of this country. Everyone knows this was always going to be hard. Every referendum is hard. Eight out of 44 referenda in Australia's history have succeeded. But this is not about feeling guilty or ashamed; it should be about feeling proud of our country, proud of the fact that people can come together and vote to do two big things. One is to right a historic wrong. This is in part about symbolism. When you open our nation's birth certificate, the core law of the land, in the Constitution, it simply recognises the fact that there were people here before European settlement, before our system of government. Our legal system has been founded for 200 years on a fundamental lie, terra nullius, that there was no-one here before us. Surely it's time we simply fix that. That's a good thing; we should be proud of that.

It's also about making a practical difference. I'm proud of our country, but no Australian can be proud of Indigenous disadvantage in this country; it's a disgrace. They are the most incarcerated people on the planet. They will die, on average, 10 years before any other Australian. On employment statistics, education and health: frankly, we have tried everything else for over 100 years. We've spent tens of billions of dollars, and it doesn't seem to have worked. This is what they've asked for, and no-one loses from this proposal; that's the thing. The parliament retains full control over the Voice in perpetuity. We should give it a go. I shudder to think how Indigenous Australians will feel if Australians say 'no'—and what would our neighbours think? How would we look to the world?

Above all else, over the next four weeks let's cherish the fact we get this right to vote 'yes' or 'no'. I think 'yes' will bring the country together and do good things. But if 'no' wins, it won't be the government that loses; Australia will lose and Indigenous Australia will lose. The Leader of the Opposition is already a diminished man. He's worse than Scott Morrison; I didn't think that was possible! I encourage Australians: look at the facts, look into your hearts and make up your own minds.