Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Wong. Constitutional recognition through a Voice to Parliament started with Indigenous Australians. More than 1,200 First Nations representatives took part in nationwide consultations that led to the Uluru Statement from the Heart. It will allow First Nations people to finally have a say on policies and laws that affect our communities. The Prime Minister declared his commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart at almost every speech and rally during the election campaign, and Australians voted for change. What progress has been made in implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart and a Voice?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is an honour to take that question from Senator Stewart, and it is an honour and a privilege to serve in a caucus with our wonderful First Nations caucus members who are represented in the chamber today and were ably spoken for by the wonderful Senator Malarndirri McCarthy on the third reading.

This is a big day. It's a day of great significance. It's a milestone which we will remember, and that is the passage of the Constitution alteration bill. It is worth remembering, as Senator Stewart has in her question, the history of how the Uluru Statement from the Heart came to be before this parliament in its first iteration of the request for a voice to the parliament. In 2017, after more than 10 years of consultation and conversation, hundreds of elders and leaders gathered at Uluru and, together, they wrote the Uluru Statement from the Heart. It says:

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country.

Today, we are one step closer to delivering that long, Indigenous-community-led process.

Constitutional recognition through the Voice is about two things: recognition and listening. I want to quote what the Prime Minister said today. He talked about the request, and he said this:

… what shines so brightly at the very core of its gracious request is the desire to bring us all closer together as a people reconciled.

He said this is:

… a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lift our great nation even higher—

(Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Stewart, a first supplementary?

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Uluru dialogue centred around listening to and respect for local communities. Building on that, the Voice is about two things: recognition and listening. Can the minister explain to the Senate how that will happen in practice?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The senator is right: constitutional recognition through a Voice is about recognition and it is about listening. Recognition will make us as a nation stronger and more united by finally recognising our First Peoples, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, in our Constitution. It is also about listening, making sure we are listening, through the Voice, to our First Nations people on the issues that affect their lives. As Senator McCarthy said today, the Voice has the support of the vast majority of Indigenous people: around eight in 10 support a voice to the parliament. And the Voice referendum is an opportunity to take our nation forward. The Voice's advisory power means that people in Canberra can listen to and learn from our First Nations people before they make the decisions that impact them.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Stewart, second supplementary?

Jana Stewart (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, the Closing the Gap data shamefully showed that the gap is not closing. This highlights the need for structural change to improve outcomes for Indigenous Australians. How will listening to Indigenous communities through a Voice to Parliament help close that gap?

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Stewart, not just for these questions but for the work you've done in your community. I think there's a pretty basic principle here: that if you work with people, if you work with rather than do to, you usually get better outcomes. As Senator Stewart said, we have four out of 19 Closing the Gap targets on track. Well, if we need any evidence that more of the same isn't good enough, I would have thought that would be it: life expectancy not on track, Indigenous babies born with a healthy birth weight not on track, and Indigenous people finishing year 12 not on track. We have to do things better, and that means working together, with the benefit of the wisdom and insights of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians across this country, our fellow Australians. This is about ensuring we can make lasting change together that can help us close this gap.