Page 3722 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 23 November 2022
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Minister Burney met with more than 60 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at Parliament House to start to consider the process towards enshrining the voice in the Constitution. These people make up the Referendum Working Group and Referendum Engagement Group. They represent a broad range of communities, cultures and expertise.
This working group discussed a set of key design principles for the voice, drawn from the work already done. The principles identify the voice as a body that provides independent advice to the parliament and government; is chosen by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, based on the wishes of local communities; is representative of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; is empowering, community led, inclusive, respectful, culturally informed and gender balanced, and includes youth; is accountable and transparent; works alongside existing organisations and traditional structures; does not have a program delivery function; and does not have a veto power.
One of the core topics of the engagement group’s first meeting was that more needs to be done to ensure that all Australians understand the voice and how best to build support in communities. In her personal capacity, Paula McGrady, Deputy Chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body in the ACT, highlighted:
We have to start somewhere, and the Uluru Statement from the Heart speaks truth with good intentions. I believe this will evolve into something much stronger with our future generations at the helm. We are giving them a step up now to show that we are working on creating a place for them at the table, that is rightly there for them and us, that hopes to improve on all outcomes of disadvantage.
Our future depends on decisions being made now. It’s so important that we educate the wider Australia and try to share the vulnerability we are all giving up, in support of understanding more about each other.
In 2006 I moved to a remote Aboriginal community in Arnhem Land called Maningrida. Moving out there was the first time I had ever been to a community. Leaving the multicultural hub of Darwin, out past the mango farms, along the Arnhem Highway, the last stop was Jabiru, before crossing the croc-infested Cahills Crossing into Arnhem Land, Aboriginal land, which, at that time, you needed a permit to enter.
Many hours were spent travelling along heavily corrugated dirt roads—roads that do not even appear on Google maps—to a township on the very north coast of Australia. The heat, the red dust, the dogs, the burnt-out cars and the wildness were all striking and eye-opening to a Balanda, a whitefella, like me from down south. But most striking was that this is Aboriginal land, Aboriginal-controlled community corporations and health co-ops and art centres. I was the visitor.
I was still living in Maningrida when the Northern Territory emergency intervention was implemented. I spoke about this experience in my inaugural speech, about the impact the intervention had on me and my understanding of the impact of policy and political decisions. The Northern Territory emergency intervention should never have happened. Like most policy in Australian Indigenous affairs, it should never have
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