Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

I would just like to reflect a little on the remarks of Senator Stewart and to emphasise that this country could have its 1967 referendum moment in 2023 if the proposition before them was run about constitutional recognition of Indigenous people. We could have the 1967 moment in 2023. Unfortunately, what Australians are being asked to do later this year, perhaps October the seventh or October the 14th, is to agree to something different—that is, the constitutional enshrinement of a body of which they know nothing about.

The government could have proposed a very different pathway. The government could have said: 'We are going to bring to the parliament legislation and we are going to have a debate and we are going to create a voice and we are going to allow that voice to function and we are going to see how that voice functions, and, when it builds, maintains and strengthens and has the confidence of the Australian people, we're going to put it in the Constitution.' I think that is a better, more sensible way to proceed.