Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As you might notice, Acting Deputy President Fawcett, I'm not dressed in my usual business attire for the chamber! I am indeed spending this evening with my esteemed colleagues from across the parliament at the Mid-Winter Ball, which is hosted by those hardworking journalists in the press gallery.

It's a privilege to step out of that event and to speak in tonight's adjournment debate for the purpose, once again in this chamber, of speaking about the momentous passage of the Constitution alteration bill, which passed this Senate this week. I'm particularly mindful on the evening of an event like the Mid-Winter Ball, at which Australians have access to the parliamentarians and policymakers whose decisions affect the course of their lives meaningfully and tangibly, that the very premise on which the call for a Voice to parliament is based is an undeniably true and fundamentally tragic fact that for more than two centuries Australia's Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been systematically and institutionally marginalised, and largely excluded from discussions and decisions regarding the laws, policies and regulations which impact their lives.

In speaking once again on the upcoming referendum and the Voice to parliament, in particular I wish to speak about the rural and regional parts of our country, which, like all Australians, will participate in the dialogue and indeed in the vote on the matter of the First Nations Voice to parliament. I am privileged to be the duty senator for a large portion of rural and regional New South Wales: specifically, Calare, Hume, Lyne, Riverina, Farrer and Parkes. These regions have proportionately larger Indigenous communities than any other electorates across the country, and it is deeply disheartening that the National Party, in particular—although there are some Liberal members—who purport to represent the regional and rural parts of our country, have made the decision to oppose this historic referendum.

It has been well established that the vast majority of Indigenous Australians support the Voice. It is therefore not just sad but actively outrageous that almost all of the MPs for the duty electorates which I represent are leveraging and amplifying alarmist concerns about the 'no' campaign to incite fear and misinformation about the purpose and structure of the Voice. Everyone deserves to feel properly represented by their federal MP, and it's sad that specifically in areas where there are many larger Indigenous communities a full range of MPs are doing nothing more than walking the party line and not listening to their constituents.

One exception is the member for Calare, who left the National Party in December 2022 due to their particular stance on the voice. He is now proudly campaigning for the 'yes' vote in his electorate, which includes the regional hubs of Lithgow, Orange, Bathurst and Mudgee, as well as many other smaller towns and communities. In the 2021 census, the Indigenous population of Calare was 7.8 per cent, whilst the percentage in the Australian population was just 3.2 per cent. In stepping down, Andrew Gee is not only standing up for his own values and properly representing his constituents but he is standing up against a party which puts derision and fear above understanding and acceptance.

The referendum on the Voice represents a crucial and momentous opportunity for Australians to come together and to right a wrong that has stood for far too long. In many of Australia's rural and regional communities in particular, Aboriginal land councils have played a substantial role in providing a voice for their communities within the cultural and political life of the region. Those who are seeking to stoke fear about the potential overreach of the Voice to parliament and about the scope of issues with which such a body might seek to engage could only be described as acting with willing ignorance of the way in which Indigenous advocacy groups, such as the many Aboriginal land councils which I have had the privilege to work with, are able to discern very aptly which issues necessitate their active input and consideration.

In my opinion, the notion that the Voice might act irresponsibly and insert itself without consideration into issues which may not merit its involvement is a description that is offensive and which demonstrates a frightening lack of faith in the work of Indigenous leaders and a derision for the integrity that is held by many people who not only support the Voice but who will be advantaged by the Voice being established. Indigenous Australians have fought for decades for recognition and for the capacity to have their voices not just listened to but truly and deeply heard in this place. The vote which I cast to pass the Constitution alteration bill will stand out in my political career as one of my proudest votes.