Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Senator Wong) to a question without notice I asked today relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

I cannot believe that the government is actually still saying there's only one page in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which, as document 14 states is 'one page, up to 26 pages'. But I just want to read this from the one page that they acknowledge:

It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

So I thought: let's go to the Oxford dictionary and work out the word 'self-determination'. It is 'the process by which a country determines its own statehood and forms its own government'. 'Statehood' means 'the status of being a recognised independent nation'. That's on the first page, and the Prime Minister said that he accepts every word and agrees with it. That's a concern.

People should be very concerned about the word 'self-determination'. But, in the document itself, it does say:

It was considered as a way by which the right to self-determination could be achieved.

… Any Voice to Parliament should be designed so that it could support and promote a treaty-making process.

That is something which they all deny. You see, this is the document that they don't want the people to understand before they go to vote. This is why it's hidden, and they won't acknowledge it. But Megan Davis, who is the co-designer of writing the Uluru Statement, does. Who's wrong? They don't back her. Who's wrong, then?

Then you go to:

A number of Dialogues considered ways that political representation could be achieved other than through the proposed constitutional Voice. These included through the designation of seats in Parliament for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples …

So we haven't been told the truth. That's why they will not accept this full document. You wouldn't even allow it to be tabled. You don't want the people to know what's going on. Be upfront and honest with the people of this nation before you change our Constitution, which will have such an impact on their lives.

Question agreed to.