David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to talk about FISH Myalup Karla Waangkiny, a proposal for First Nations people in south-west WA to deliver justice and healing. The proposal is for a site in Myalup, which was a meeting place where the Bindjareb and Widandi people would come together. What has been proposed for the site is quite extraordinary. It meets the strong, unmet demand for places for healing and wraparound support for First Nations people who have been in contact or may come in contact with the justice system. This is a visionary First Nations prototype for a national program to really do justice and create intentional spaces by co-design that meets community needs. It's an opportunity to listen to First Nations people right now. The proposal includes direct programs for mentoring and healing for First Nations people at risk of entering or in the justice system, in accommodation in grounded, culturally safe places with earthen roof and walls—literally nestling in the earth. There is also a plan for the site to use the power of social enterprise which would deliver education and employment access, including in agri-innovation, aquaponics, horticulture, and traditional food and medicine, as well as research, manufacturing sustainable housing panels, and hospitality, retail and tourism.

FISH have worked with many industry stakeholders already, including the CSIRO, in developing these programs. This is the kind of thinking we need now. More prisons are more police haven't done anything except ensure more people and, tragically, far too many First Nations people are incarcerated. FISH already have funding to deliver this program from state government, and are now asking the federal government to step up and provide support. The ask isn't big—it's $20 million over three years. That's $9 million in the next financial year. Given the enormous waste of money and life that is already in the justice system from business as usual, this small investment in justice reinvestment and doing things differently is a compelling project. It is First-Nations-inspired and First-Nations-designed. It's more proof, if we need it, that when we listen to First Nations voices we hear solutions. Now we need to build it.

In my home state of New South Wales, communities across Western Sydney in particular are calling for a resounding 'yes' vote to the Voice to Parliament. Over the last few weeks, I've had the privilege to be part of a series of events with a diverse array of community representatives, including First Nations leaders and elders, who have shared their firsthand experiences and shed a light on what a Voice to Parliament would mean for them and their communities. Just this weekend, I joined the AUSPAK Women Association in Auburn for a discussion on voice. Children from the Pakistani diaspora heard the history of the First Nations flag and struggle. They produced beautiful artworks responding to what they heard and learned.

Aunty Ann Flood joined our discussion and was generous enough to share stories from her own family history to explain why she's supporting the Voice, and I'd like to thank her for attending. Aunty Ann, a Wiradjuri Ngiyampaa woman who has lived on Dharug country for around 50 years, showed the gathering a photocopy of her father's certificate of exemption, a certificate the New South Wales government issued to First Nations peoples on their own land to allow them to work and travel on their own land. That's part of Aunty Ann's lived history. She's been an educator in this country for over 40 years, but she was three years old when her father needed that certificate of exemption to have even the most basic rights in this country.

The dehumanising failures of this government towards First Nations peoples are part of our living history, and a truth our country cannot and must not escape from. It's a truth that resonates with the Pakistani diaspora too. Many attendees at this event related their own fight and their family's fight against colonialism and for recognition and self-determination in Kashmir. They recognised that they shared experiences with what Aunty Ann shared. The struggle for rights of freedom and self-determination unite people in Western Sydney and First Nations people who live amongst us, and they unite people across the planet. I'd like to thank the AUSPAK Women Association for organising the event last weekend, and for their ongoing support for justice and their support for voting 'yes' in this upcoming referendum.

First Nations elders in this country should not be forced to relive the trauma of the violence that's been issued against them over centuries and the violence that continues to this date. First Nations peoples, in the face of the history, still have the courage to step up and share their experience with us. It's an extraordinary moment of courage when you hear First Nations elders tell their story, their family's story and their community's story about the violence issued against them by our country and our government. Just a few short weeks ago, I was proud to be with four First Nations elders who were invited by the Sikh community from Blacktown and Parramatta to explain why they would be supporting the Voice to Parliament. Auntie Marlene Corbitt, a proud Boorooberongal woman; Auntie Jenny Ebsworth, a proud Ngempa Muruwari woman from Brewarrina; Auntie Daisy Barker, a proud Yorta Yorta woman from down there on the New South Wales and Victoria border; and Aunty Elaine Gordon, a proud Barkindji woman from Dareton came together to speak with the Sikh community about their experiences. They are four First Nations women with experiences of a lifetime who spoke to that meeting in Western Sydney about the importance of voting yes in the referendum. Truths were exchanged. Hearts were opened up.

The Sikh community joined together to support the aunties in their call for a strong 'yes' vote. As many of the Sikh community leaders made clear, the Sikh community has a proud history of backing social justice and backing the struggle for rights. That's partly from their own history and their own struggle for self-determination and for acknowledgement. Watching that exchange between these proud First Nations elders and this open, justice filled Sikh community in Western Sydney, I've got to say, was inspiring. I'd like to thank them all for coming together for that event. I'd also like to thank Sukhjinder Singh, Kulwinder Singh and the many other members and leaders of the Sikh community for their support for a 'yes' vote in this referendum.

Migrant and diaspora communities understand on a deeply personal level, and sometimes on a painful level, how interlinked their struggles for freedom and self-determination are. I'm honoured that people are sharing their stories and struggles with me, with other MPs and with other community members in this ongoing referendum. It's an honour to be there and watch the exchange, especially between diaspora communities and First Nations representatives, and to see them bind together in their support for a 'yes' vote in this referendum. I've heard their stories and I feel a responsibility, not just as their elected representative but as someone who is genuinely inspired by their strength, to recount their stories today, and to remind this chamber of the power of a voice. I don't pretend that this Voice to parliament will guarantee transformative justice for First Nations people in the country overnight—no-one does. But for too long First Nations people have been ignored when governments have made policies that directly affect their land, their families and their communities. That approach is failing people. This Voice is about making sure that First Nations people are listened to when the government creates policies that directly affect them.

A successful 'yes' referendum is not where the fight for justice for First Nations people ends. The Greens were the first party in this place to fully endorse the Uluru Statement from the Heart. It means Voice, it means truth and it means treaty, and we won't stop fighting for these crucial elements until they're recognised and implemented. A strong 'yes' result will tell this place that it can no longer ignore calls from First Nations peoples for justice. A strong yes will tell this place that transformative justice includes truth-telling and treaty; protecting country; justice; and stopping deaths in custody. Diaspora communities across our country are listening. They're mobilising in support of a 'yes' vote. This coming weekend I'll be joining the Bangladeshi community in Lakemba for another event discussing the importance of the Voice in their community.

This fight does not start or end with a successful referendum. We cannot let this referendum fail because, if nothing changes, then nothing changes! This is a moment for change. We all need to come together, demand better and vote yes on 14 October.