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

I'd like to remind the chamber of how we and Australians all over this country start the day: we begin with an acknowledgement of country, an acknowledgement of the Indigenous peoples of the land on which we commune and an extension of that respect to the Indigenous people who are with us on the day. It's an acknowledgement that's not divisive. It's not antidemocratic. It's just common respect.

Later this year, Australians are going to be asked to do exactly that—just to show respect for First Nations people—in a slightly different way. Australians are going to be asked later this year to acknowledge in a 122-year-old document, the Constitution of Australia, what this land has known for 65,000 years: that we were not the first people on this land, that those people are still here today and that they represent the oldest continuous culture in the world.

Australians are going to be asked to let these peoples continue what they managed to do very well before we arrived, and that is to be responsible for themselves—to have a voice to speak for themselves to the government of the country. They're asking for enablement to return to more self-determination and to advise the government of the day, whatever colour stripes it might have, on how best to solve the issues of which they have intimate lived experience and knowledge.

Later this year, Australians are going to be asked to tick a box that says 'yes' on a small piece of paper. That's it—with a simple flick of the wrist. That's what will be required. Tick 'yes'. In doing so, we will continue in the same vein in which Australians voted in 1967. When you say yes, you'll be echoing the very significant and positive Mabo decision from 1992, and we'll be delivering something tangible on Kevin Rudd's 'Sorry' in 2008. I can remember that when we did those things fearmongers and cynics proffered tales of doom and gloom, like the old poem—'"We'll all be rooned," said Hanrahan'—but we weren't ruined. We were enabled. We were enhanced as a nation.

Fast-forward to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, heard from elders and leaders and from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who poured their hopes and aspirations, their effort and goodwill, into a document to articulate a noble goal for a better future. They spoke about their children and the love of their children. These are words that open the ears of Australians, and I'm confident that many Australians are waiting to hear that message. I don't know many Australians whose hearts won't be open to the plea of a better life for children.

The Albanese government absolutely supports the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its call for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in our Constitution, which is what the coming referendum is about. It's not about more of the same. We're being asked to do something different—something that's been asked of us.

The referendum is about an eight-year gap in the life expectancy. The referendum is about Indigenous men being more likely to go to prison than to university. The referendum is about communities twice as likely to be shattered by suicide. I encourage all my colleagues to get out of this red room and spend some more time on the red dirt and see the state in which some of the elder citizens live. If they did, they would see people who are living in standards that are equivalent to those in the poorest nations on earth. I've been to many pubs across this great country, in regional and rural Australia and in cities as well, on a Friday night when there's a meat raffle or chicken raffle, with Australians fundraising to help kids in their local environment, their local community. When they have a little bit of paper in front of them later this year and they have the chance to tick the 'yes' box, it will be even less effort than just looking after your local community and having a chook raffle. All you've got to do is go in and do something really simple. Give the kids in Australia a better chance. Tick 'yes'. Support the campaign.

Senate adjourned at 20:10