Such leaders want practical action to close the gap,not empty symbolic gestures. The vast majority of Indigenous Australians agree. That is why they want a Voice,not a tokenistic preamble.
Five years ago,Indigenous peoples from all over Australia gathered to produce a consensus statement on how they wish to be constitutionally recognised. The Uluru Statement from the Heart acknowledged that Indigenous people “are the most incarcerated people on the planet”,their “children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates” and their “youth languish in detention in obscene numbers”.
They proffered a practical solution – a constitutionally guaranteed First Nations Voice. While initially scuttled by misrepresentations of it amounting to a third chamber of the parliament,five years on,political support has been achieved. In 2018,a bipartisan joint select committee headed by Julian Leeser and Patrick Dodson acknowledged that a Voice is the only way forward in the Indigenous recognition debate.
Since then,a co-design process is now completed. It is encouraging that the Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney has said she will build on the work of the former minister,Ken Wyatt,and pursue bipartisanship. Dutton’s comments give cause for further optimism.
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Vote Compass data suggests 73 per cent of Australians agree,not only with the creation of a Voice,but that it should be guaranteed by constitutional change. There is clear appetite for a Voice referendum.
The Uluru Statement called for “the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution”. If the intention of a Voice is to genuinely back Indigenous people to tackle the real problems they face,then the constitutional enshrinement they call for,which is supported by broad public opinion,should be respected.