Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks, Senator McCarthy, for helping us to understand some of that context. Senator Cash, there is no duty on the parliament or the executive to notify the Voice or to seek advice from it on matters that relate to Aboriginal people. However, it is this government's very clear view, based on advice from the Uluru dialogues and many other sources that I've gone through already, that we get better outcomes when we listen to people. There are so many other parts of government where that happens: stakeholders are consulted about issues, they're listened to—they're not always agreed to by government, but they're listened to—and very often that drives better outcomes. We think the same principle should apply in relation to our First Peoples.

The advice that the Solicitor-General provided that was attached to the Attorney-General's submission to the joint select committee that inquired into this bill confirmed that the proposed amendment does not impose any enforceable obligation upon the parliament and the executive government to consult or follow the Voice's representations. So, if a parliament or an executive government wants to go ahead and make a decision that directly impacts on Indigenous people without consulting them, then the parliament and the executive government can do that. But this government's view is that that would be likely to lead to a poorer outcome than if we did consult and if we did listen. This is the mechanism that we're establishing to do so.

The Solicitor-General also advised that the Voice's function of making representations will not fetter or impede the exercise of the existing powers of the parliament or the executive government. It can't be any clearer than that.