Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

WONG (—) (): I thank Senator Stewart for, I think, her first question—is that right?—and congratulate her again and welcome her to the Senate.

Over the weekend, the Prime Minister gave the most significant speech on Indigenous affairs by an Australian Prime Minister since the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. He outlined the government's plan to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full, and, specifically, he laid out plans to enshrine a voice to parliament in the Constitution, proposing a referendum question for consultation:

Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?

It's a straightforward proposition; it's a simple principle; it's a question from the heart. Our starting point is a recommendation to add three sentences to the Constitution in recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of this country:

We are seeking momentous change, together. But it is also a very simple one, because, at its heart, it's about consulting our First Nations brothers and sisters, our First Nations peoples. It's about consulting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the decisions that affect them. It is nothing more and nothing less. And, as the Prime Minister said, it is simple courtesy and common decency.