David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the opportunity to just briefly correct the record on a few things. In the early hours of Saturday morning we heard much about the need to have a respectful conversation and for it to be grounded in fact. There are just a few things that have been said this morning that I think are already bordering on misinformation, if not well into that territory. Senator Cash asserted that Australians have an equal say in this referendum. I would like to point out that Australians who live in the territories only account for half. We only count for the total national vote. You don't actually look at the territories' votes. The other assertion was that this is adding race to the Constitution. Race is already in the Constitution. This is about ensuring that First Nations people, Australians First Peoples, have a say on issues that affect them. After 10 years in which we've seen things not improve, it makes no sense to hear arguments to say, 'Well, we shouldn't change anything.' Yes, if it isn't broken, don't fix it, but, if it's broken, it requires fixing, and this is an opportunity to fix it.

Senator Nampijinpa Price referred to this as 'Labor's voice' and the 'Canberra voice'. That is blatantly untrue. This is the result of one of the most consultative processes in Australia's history. The Uluru Statement from the Heart was presented to the former government in 2017. It is a generous offer of a way for us to truly move forward to address the entrenched disadvantage that we talk about so much here in the Senate chamber. I would like to acknowledge Aunty Pat Anderson, Professor Megan Davis and the many others here who have been working for decades to get to this moment—working for decades to get Australia to the point where we are willing to make meaningful, structural change to the way that we do things when it comes to First Nations people. We have an incredible opportunity as a nation, and my hope is that, as senators, we will all keep things grounded in fact when it comes to campaigning, regardless of our differing views on this.

An incident having occurred in the gallery—