Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Chair. So here we are, early in the morning, asking detailed questions. It's a farce. They don't care about the details. The Liberal and National parties don't care about the detail. They opposed the Voice before this detail was even released. They'd made up their mind. I think we need to keep coming back to this the whole time. You can say whatever you like and you can ask whatever questions you want, but at the end of the day you've never supported the Voice.

I just want to say that of course this is not going to be perfect, and there are a lot of things that need to be ironed out, and the answers we've had from the minister tonight are that that will occur through a parliamentary process. I think that's a reasonable thing to ascertain. This is about taking steps along the pathway to reconciliation. That's what the generous invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart was. It was an invitation for our country to take steps along the path to reconciliation. Of course, the Voice, truth and treaty are a lot more than that too, but that is the nub of it. The question for the Liberal and National parties—you can smile all you like, Senator Cash—is: are you prepared to be generous enough to listen to Aboriginal people, the people involved in the Uluru statement—

I just said: the people involved in the Uluru statement, the many people around the country in Aboriginal communities and white communities who support the Uluru statement—

That's fair. Not all Aboriginal people do. It's pretty clear in this chamber that that is the case. But are you generous enough in your own heart to listen to what Aboriginal people have to say? Are you generous enough to take up the invitation from those in the Aboriginal community in this country who support walking the path of reconciliation?