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

I rise to speak to the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023. It's with great pride that I rise to speak on this proposed alteration as one of the 11 First Nations representatives in this parliament. Every time we speak in this place, we are speaking on the unceded lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. I want to acknowledge their elders past and present and recognise all First Nations people across this country, who have fought and continue to fight for the rights of our people, to access our lands, to protect our culture, to practice our law and also for recognition and for our voices to be heard. I acknowledge that I would not be standing here today without those who have come before me, and I thank them all for their hard-fought battles and their achievements.

I had the honour of attending the Barunga Festival this weekend, as the only non-government parliamentarian to make the trek to regional Northern Territory, 83 kilometres outside of Katherine. There I was able to put my feet in the red dirt with representatives of over 100 of the most remote Aboriginal communities in the north of Australia. It was with much joy, celebration and respectful discussion that the four land councils of the Northern Territory signed the Barunga Voice Declaration and presented this to Minister Burney on behalf of the Albanese government. It's been 35 years since the Barunga Statement was presented to the then Prime Minister, Bob Hawke. This Barunga Statement was also supported by the Cape York Land Council and Kimberley Land Council.

The Barunga Festival began in 1985 as a celebration of cultural survival, drawing together people from across the north of Australia to paint, to sing, to dance and to play sport. I'm grateful to have experienced some of those activities last weekend. The Barunga Festival, like many other festivals like it, is an important moment of celebration, discussion where we share cultural practices and bring communities together to yarn about social and political issues.

At the first Barunga Festival, the leader of the Bagala clan of the Jawoyn people, Bangardi Robert Lee, said:

The main aim of the festival is to bring people together, sharing and understanding each other's problems. This way we can get to know one another properly.

I believe this sentiment is true, especially this year with conversations about a voice to parliament, inviting the non-Indigenous people of Australia to get to know us properly. And that is my ask of all Australians before they vote on this referendum. It is my ask that, before we vote in this referendum, we get to know each other. As First Peoples of this continent, we want you to know what our cultural and strong beliefs are, to know our love of the land and sea country, to know us as members of your local community and, most importantly, to know and understand the discrimination that we face and how this continues to hold us back.

We are the oldest living culture in the world. We have cared for this land, preserved the waters and ecosystems, and navigated by the stars in the sky for tens of thousands of years. We are hundreds of nations across this country with different stories, languages, cultures, arts and dances, and, as I was reminded at Barunga this weekend, we can live under one banner. Australia is diverse and rich with culture, yet so few non-Indigenous Australians experience this as part of their own country.

The Barunga Statement of 1988 called on the Commonwealth parliament to negotiate a treaty recognising First Nations people's prior ownership and continued occupation and sovereignty. Bob Hawke committed the Australian government to deliver a treaty for our nation, but politics got in the way of that. The Barunga Statement also requested that the Australian government pass laws to establish a nationally elected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation to oversee Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. In fact, this is what the Voice to Parliament is. The Voice, treaty-making and truth-telling are the three pillars of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. They are tangible goals that can bring the Barunga Statement to life.

Our people have been providing to Australian governments beautiful, deliberate and considered words in the form of statements, declarations and agreements for many generations. What we now need is action, and that is the responsibility of all of us—Indigenous and non-Indigenous and from remote communities all the way to the executive government of this place.

First Nations people have the answers to the challenges that impact on our lives, and the Voice to Parliament will allow these to be heard. Securing a 'yes' vote at the referendum will recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of this continent by establishing a body that has a say on the matters that will affect them, just as the Barunga Statement requested. The Barunga Statement asked that the body be elected, and this is an important feature that I support. The Voice to Parliament must be connected to and responsible for the voices of regional and remote communities to ensure that all of our mob are heard at all levels of government, especially here, in the nation's parliament, where all the important decisions are made. There are more of us sitting in parliament than ever before, but we are still only 11 of 227 members of this parliament. We all have different views. We come from different parties and different parts of this beautiful country, and our 11 voices are not enough to tackle the challenges that our people face, no matter how hard we work. This is why we need a voice to parliament.

Securing a 'yes' vote in the referendum is our next step. It's only the beginning of what is needed to restore First Nations rights. I am, and the Greens are, very committed to seeing action on truth-telling and treaty-making in this country, and we don't have to wait for that; we can also start this work and the crucial processes that are needed right now at the same time as achieving a 'yes' at the referendum. It is promising to see some of the states and territories progressing truth and treaty, and now we need the federal government to follow suit.

The Voice is a structural change, one determined by the Australian people, hearing our voices and understanding the context and diversity of our issues. For non-Indigenous people to be moved into action, we also need truth-telling. We need a treaty. We were robbed of a treaty 230 years ago when white settlers arrived here, and we were robbed of a treaty 35 years ago when white men unfortunately played politics in this place. Our call for treaty across this country still continues. We are sovereign people and sovereign nations, and the Commonwealth government must treat us as such. Our sovereignty has never been ceded. My sovereignty is my birthright—to care for this country, to protect its wildlife and ecosystems, to be a knowledge holder and to pass that traditional knowledge on to the next generation. Not until we see the effective implementation of all three elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart will we see progress on closing the gap, ending racial discrimination and achieving true self-determination.

In the 200 years since colonisation, we've been fighting to survive. The frontier wars saw our people chained and massacred and our land systematically stolen. Government policy ripped our children from their families and punished them for speaking our languages and practising our law and our cultural traditions. Today, we fight the governments and the fossil fuel billionaires who are destroying our sacred places, meeting places for ceremony and cultural business, ancestral songlines and trade routes that existed—the social and spiritual fabric of our culture. First Nations children are more likely to go to prison than they are to university in this country. We have lower life expectancy and higher rates of preventable illnesses, and our children are still being taken.

Despite governments' best efforts, my mother's family survived five generations of the stolen generation. I am one of the first generation of my family to have been raised by their parents in their household in five generations. This has deep and personal impacts for my family that we in fact grapple with every day. Institutionalised racism creates intergenerational trauma. First Nations people have lost so much since colonisation, yet we carry on fighting for our rights and, in particular, for our recognition. We carry this burden every day, and let me tell you how heavy the load is and how it takes a significant toll on our people.

For too long our laws and policies have been made for us without free, prior and informed consent. When we say 'nothing about us without us'—the Voice has the ability and is the chance for our people across the country to have a say in matters that affect them. The Voice is a mechanism for those issues; it's not an individual platform. Our community leaders have the answers. We know what works best for us, and it's time our voices were heard and acted upon. This referendum is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to advance reconciliation, justice and healing in this country. It is about recognising and respecting First Nations people of this country and their unique needs and culture, the oldest living culture in the world. This is about stopping the revolving door of the handpicked who have been benefiting from their access to politicians. It is about using the First Nations value of reciprocity to create a space to listen and to hear, whilst providing an opportunity for direct access into those processes to achieve free, prior and informed consent. It could be a significant and unifying moment for our country, and a successful referendum could start a decade of change for First Nations people, advancing truth telling, treaty making and, in fact, the true essence of self-determination.

The referendum is only months away, and it will be after a long and exhausting fight for First Nations people. I want to tell mob who are watching out there to take care of yourselves and take care of your communities. This will be a tough time, but we are strong and we are resilient. To non-First-Nations people, we need you for this to be successful, because we also need you to shoulder some of this burden. We cannot carry this by ourselves. We need as many people as we can to come on this journey with us towards truth, treaty and a voice. We all have a role to play, and I want every Australian to embrace this and think about what this could actually mean for the next generation of First Nations people—my children, your children, our grandchildren. What type of country do you want to live in? One where the traditional custodians are listened to and genuinely involved in matters that involve them, or more of the same that has not been working—the legacy of public policy failures that have impacted on generations of First Nations people?

First Nations people have been here in this country for 65,000 years, and I'm proud to have that culture, the oldest living culture, running through my veins. I'm proud to be part of the first party to endorse the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full and I am proud to be the first Aboriginal woman here, in the nation's parliament, representing Western Australia. I am proud to speak in support of this bill for constitutional recognition for First Nations people and to create a voice to the nation's parliament. In my great-grandmother's traditional language, I want finish with this phrase: Nganhu garrimanah malga brily marlbayiminah—we stand strong together and we will rise. Woolah! Thank you.