Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to be able to continue my remarks from earlier on this very, very important piece of legislation which is, as I said before, a once-in-a-generation choice that Australians are going to be making.

Before I was interrupted I was commenting on what it is about this debate that concerns me most and how things have been happening in the media, in the public domain and, indeed, even in this chamber. The concern I hold is the reaction to those who seek further information, who question what it is we are now contemplating, who seek to understand to some level of depth what this proposal is all about. For example, people who express a concern about what might happen or who offer a different opinion, be it legal or otherwise, are labelled as racist, as irrelevant and, most recently, as peddlers of disinformation or misinformation. Even in this debate I've heard one colleague describe the Leader of the Opposition—who has, as I've already outlined in this contribution, been more than reasonable about how best to conduct this in a unifying and bipartisan way—as shameful. To me, it is a really dangerous step in a debate when we are labelling our opponents as something other than what they actually are and imputing motive to their comments.

Similarly, we've heard colleagues—proponents of this idea of Voice and the associated constitutional enshrinement of that Voice—say inclusivity and reconciliation should not be seen as a threat. If we look at those words and consider what exactly has been proposed here, I'm not sure who is seeing those things as a threat. To suggest that is what senators in this place or members of the public believe to be a threat or a concern serves to conflate issues. It doesn't actually go to the heart of the issues that are being raised as concerns by members of this place, the other place or, indeed, the Australian public.

Is what we are debating here, the referendum question that Australians will be contemplating this year, going to deliver those things—reconciliation and inclusivity? To my mind the answer is no, it will not be addressing those issues. It will not be providing those elements that have been referred to as the outcomes of a voice being enshrined in the Constitution by proponents of it. It will not deliver those things. We all know that reconciliation as a concept has two key parts to it: one, on the part of one party, is repentance and a desire for forgiveness; the other, on the part of the other party, is a willingness to forgive and move on. I fear that in this debate we will not be seeing at least one of those elements appear, no matter what we do at this referendum. Will it change things? I suspect not.

Respect is a very important trait when it comes to Australian society. In discourse on issues, whatever they might be—and this should be no exception—having respect for multiple views and, of course, the reasons and the lived experiences underpinning those views is incredibly important. We know in this debate that there are a range of views on this issue, on the best way forward and on the proposal before us. As I've already mentioned, as a member of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition Relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples 2018, which did its work some five years ago, I know there are a great many views out there that are divergent in nature. Receiving 18 different proposals for constitutional recognition from submitters as part of the work of that committee indicates just how varied the views are about how best we get to where we want to go.

What Australians do at this referendum is going to be critically important. The reason for that, of course, is that what we decide upon, particularly if the answer is 'yes', is going to be permanent. Once this is enshrined in the Constitution, it cannot be undone. The effect of this body is unspecified and unknown, and whatever that outcome is—whatever shape it takes—will be part of our future. That can't be undone. As Senator Scarr said in his contribution last night, there's no detail to inform Australians of exactly what it is, ultimately, that we will be putting in place.