Karen Grogan (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to acknowledge a historic moment in this nation's history: the establishment of the inaugural First Nations voice to parliament in my home state of South Australia. Yesterday, during a special sitting of both houses of the South Australian parliament—on a Sunday—the Malinauskas Labour government made history and became the first jurisdiction in this country to pass a bill to enshrine a voice for First Nations people into a parliament—the state parliament of South Australia.

The body has been set up to advise the parliament on issues directly affecting them, so those First Nations people can speak directly to decision-makers about the issues that are going to impact them. It was a very, very emotional day, and after the bill had passed both houses, it was carried out onto the steps of the parliament, where it was signed into law. There were a number of people there who were very overcome with the emotion of the event. I was overcome by the unity of the event. There were so many people coming together to celebrate a deeply historical moment. There were tears, there was laughter, there were hugs and there was singing. There were people of all ages there, from tiny babies to very old elders of our community. I was so proud to stand there, to see all of the work of various elements of the community in South Australia coming together to celebrate something they've spent so long looking for and so long fighting for.

It has been the result of hard, hard work over many years by the First Nations community in South Australia and those of us non-Indigenous people who choose to walk alongside them. I would like to pay my respects to the South Australian First Nations communities for all that they have done. I'm particularly proud of my good friend Kyam Maher, the South Australian Attorney-General and the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, who has thrown his life and energy into this for so many years now.

The adoption of a First Nations voice to parliament in South Australia represents a major step forward in acknowledging and recognising the significant and unique position of First Nations people in our society. In the words of the South Australian Premier, South Australia has a proud history of welcoming people from other cultures, but the people who provided the great care and custodianship of the land for the past 65,000 years have been left behind. As Kyam Maher went on to say in his address:

In decades and centuries gone by, the laws of our state and the colony that preceded it have done so much to deliberately disenfranchise, disempower and disadvantage Aboriginal people. Today we use those laws to do exactly the opposite.

South Australia now leads the nation by legislating for a First-Nations Voice …

There really wasn't much of a dry eye in the house after the speeches and the symbolism. It was just such a moving situation to stand there, to be part of that celebration and to see what I think is a resolution that will make a fundamental difference.

We have seen government after government setting policies that don't gel and that don't achieve the outcomes that they are set up to achieve. This way we get First Nations people, whom the policies are going to affect, providing their feedback, their input and their concerns directly to those people who are developing those policies and who are drafting various legislation. I think this is going to make a fundamental difference. So, obviously later this year we'll get a chance to engage in a referendum on whether we wish to have a First Nations' Voice to Parliament federally, and I would urge everyone to get behind it. This is such an important moment for our nation. (Time expired)