Wednesday, 30 August 2023

Voice to Parliament

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (18:14): (445) My adjournment is to the Minister for Treaty and First Peoples, and the action I seek is an update on the progress made in Victoria on a treaty with our First Peoples and advice on the role that a First Peoples voice plays in that process. Victoria is the first Australian jurisdiction to commit to and action all elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart: voice, treaty and truth. We are currently working through that treaty process at a state level. The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, now in its second term, serves as the independent voice to represent traditional owners of country and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Victoria. The Assembly is laying the groundwork to negotiate treaties with the Victorian government. Victoria is showing the nation how the process of voice, treaty and truth can be done and the steps we all need to take together. One of those steps for our nation is going to be on 14 October, when Australians will have the opportunity to vote yes to the Voice to federal Parliament.

The Voice will ensure that Indigenous Australians are listened to when the federal Parliament discusses policies that impact their communities. For the past 250 years we have not properly listened to the people who have been here for more than 60,000, and it is time that we did. For decades we have spent billions on programs that have not delivered meaningful improvements for Indigenous communities, and the outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people just are not good enough – we must do better. Any step forward which gives First Nations people a bigger say in the decisions that affect their lives is a positive step and worth taking. It is a commonsense policy reform. It is common sense that policy reform works better when government listens to and works with communities to create change. As we are seeing in Victoria, the Voice will do exactly that. Importantly, by being put into the constitution, the Voice will have the security and independence that it needs to provide meaningful and honest advice.

For too many years First Nations people have been on the receiving end of misguided government programs and policies. It is time to right this wrong. I am voting yes because it is the right thing to do. There have been some who have teamed up to try and stop me from telling my constituents how I am going to vote in this referendum, but that is not going to work. I am proud to be voting yes and supporting a Voice to the federal Parliament. I am voting yes for a better future for First Nations people. With the Uluru Statement from the Heart Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians made a simple request: a voice in decisions that affect them. This year, on 14 October, we have the chance to take this next step on the path to reconciliation. Let us make it happen.