The Uluru Dialogue has launched a new campaign, History is Calling, calling for a referendum on the Uluru Statement From the Heart. Australia is the only Commonwealth country that does not have a treaty with its Indigenous peoples. The Uluru Statement asks the government to give First Nations people constitutional recognition by establishing a Voice to Parliament. For the past 15 years, each Prime Minister and government has agreed to address the issue… and now, the final proposal is almost ready. In Australia, changes to the Constitution can only be made by referendum – so History is Calling has proposed two dates: 27 May 2023 or 27 January 2024.
This is essentially putting the power for calling the referendum in the hands of the government that we will be electing on 21st May. If this is an important issue for your vote, here is where the main parties stand on enshrining a First Nations Voice to Parliament.
UPDATE 30 July 2022: Anthony Albanese has proposed a draft question for the eventual referendum: “Do you support an alteration to the constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?
- There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to parliament and the executive government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
- The parliament shall, subject to this constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.”
Liberal Party
The Coalition has not really mentioned the Uluru Statement, and in the past nine years of governing has not set a referendum date. In 2021, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said a voice to parliament lacks “mainstream support”.
However, his own Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said the government remained “committed to getting it right” and it would go to a referendum “once a consensus is reached”. Wyatt has been working on his own model for the Voice – the Liberals are not interested in implementing what Uluru Dialogue is working on.
ALP
Labor has pledged to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full. The party has promised to hold a referendum on the Voice to Parliament in its first term of government – the Guardian says this is likely to be in 2024.
The party also said it would establish a Makarrata Commission to work with the Voice to Parliament on a national process for treaty and truth-telling. The timeline and specific details of that are unclear at this time.
Australian Greens
A few weeks ago at the National Press Club, Adam Bandt said: “We support the [Uluru] Statement from the Heart” – a great start – but then explained that the Greens policy deviates from the plan laid out in the actual Statement. The Statement calls for specific things to happen in a specific order: first the establishment of the Voice enshrined in the constitution; then, the representative body establishment of a Makarrata commission to oversee the treaty process and truth-telling between governments and First Nations.
The Greens want to put the Voice last and instead prioritise the establishment of a treaty first. Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe has previously written about why she wants to establish treaties first.
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