Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Bill 2022. It is, in fact, the first time in this country's history that the federal government has moved closer towards enshrining our rights as First Nations people into our domestic law. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples—or UNDRIP, as it's commonly known—was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 13 September 2007. In my opinion, it is the best mechanism by which we can enact our sovereign rights as First Peoples of this country, which, in fact, have been denied since 1788.

In 2007, as Senator Dodson also remarked, 144 countries voted in favour of UNDRIP. If you want to know what shame looks like, it looks like Australia being one of those four countries that voted against the UNDRIP.

The Rudd government finally endorsed the UNDRIP in 2009. But that announcement was, in fact, quite meaningless. It was meaningless because it has not actually translated into the implementation of the UNDRIP into our laws, until now. During the final sitting week of the 46th Parliament, it was in fact the Australian Greens who established an inquiry into the application of the UNDRIP in this country, and, through a motion co-signed by Senator Thorpe and me, we also introduced Senator Thorpe's private senator's bill to compel this government—the new government; the one we knew we were going to get—to implement the UNDRIP. And I acknowledge the work that Senator Dodson has done on UNDRIP in his previous life.

There are two wings that are the first steps to implementing UNDRIP into our laws, into our policies and—this is what the opposition and coalition talk about—in our practice. It includes a full audit of our existing laws, our policies and our practises to ensure that we are, in fact, compliant with UNDRIP. This is a foundational piece of future work. The UNDRIP provides a road map for the future—a future that is built on the international principles that were designed by sovereign people and sovereign nations for First Peoples globally—not by governments. I reiterate: not by governments. It upholds First Nations peoples' right to care for country and for community, which encompasses language, kinship and all of those things that are important as part of culture, and which benefit everyone in this country, especially in the context of a climate crisis, which is what we're in.

We all know that the climate crisis will disproportionately impact First Peoples of this country, and it is time for us to act. First Peoples have 60,000-plus years of knowledge that have helped preserve the environment in this country and globally, particularly with biodiversity. It is up to us. We all have a responsibility, which Senator Thorpe articulated already, and we rely on our lands, our waters and our skies, to survive. Likewise, our lands, our waters and our skies rely on us to survive.

UNDRIP is about First Nations people having the final say on First Nations affairs. The Albanese Labor government agree wholeheartedly that our cultural heritage laws are too weak, and they want to work with First Nations people. They bandy around the word 'co-design', so let's get to the crux of that. What does that actually mean? It's about our free, prior and informed consent, one of the critical elements of UNDRIP. That, in fact, is what Senator Scarr was referring to when he talked about Juukan. It is protecting our country, our cultural heritage and our people, and it is referenced in article 2 of UNDRIP, which says:

Indigenous peoples and individuals are free and equal to all other peoples and individuals and have the right to be free from any kind of discrimination—

Fortunately, that doesn't happen in this place!

in the exercise of their rights, in particular that based on their indigenous origin or identity.

The UNDRIP is about bringing people together to build communities that are free from discrimination. As my colleague Senator Thorpe also noted earlier, UNDRIP will enshrine that key principle of free, prior and informed consent, also known as FPIC, and put it at the heart of decision-making. It emphasises that First Nations people have the right to full and effective participation at any and every stage of action that affects or indirectly affects our lives. The requirement to seek genuine free, prior and informed consent will completely change the way governments and proponents seek approval for projects that affect our land, our skies and our waters, and will put an end to the coercion and manipulation that we currently see, time and time again, across all levels of government and across all levels of industry.

When it comes to development proposals on our land, we will put an end to the half-baked consultation that is approving the destruction of our cultural heritage. Unfortunately, they give that promise of jobs. What jobs? Those jobs are still unfulfilled promises, particularly on my country. We've seen it at Juukan, and right now we're seeing it in real-time with the Perdaman urea fertiliser plant up in Karratha.

I'd like to take some time to share some of the views made in submission to the inquiry on this bill by the Australian Greens First Nations Network which outlines the potential impacts that UNDRIP could have:

The Australian Greens major policy for First Nations peoples has as its foundation the UN DRIP … We believe that enacting the DRIP into domestic legislation will protect the human, civil and social, political, and economic, cultural rights of First Nations peoples in Australia and is urgently needed given the oppressive policies of generations of governments since 1788 which has not recognised our sovereign rights, nor treated us equally under Australian Law since then.

It is now time. It is time for governments to step up in this place and to take the next steps to implement UNDRIP. This is in fact a very powerful tool. It will fight for the rights of Indigenous people. It will make sure that they are enshrined in domestic law across all of those elements which are important in the human rights framework. I look forward to working with my colleagues in this place.

Debate interrupted.