Page 3739 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 23 November 2022
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enrolment rates are significantly less compared to non-Indigenous children. Life expectancy for Indigenous Australians is roughly eight years less. Indigenous incarceration rates here in the ACT are too high. Measure after measure, as outlined by many members today, is not good enough.
A voice and a Makarrata commission will not solve these problems. These issues are systemic and deeply ingrained, but this is unquestionably a step in the right direction. We must recognise that reconciliation is an ongoing process. It does not stop or start with a new government policy or a bit of extra funding funnelled somewhere. Reconciliation is a permanent, ongoing process.
As mentioned in Dr Paterson’s motion, there are already various councils and local governments around Australia that have passed motions supporting the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the referendum. I believe it is time that the ACT Legislative Assembly does the same.
Earlier this year the Australia Institute conducted a nationwide poll which showed that nearly two in three Australians would vote yes to enshrine a voice to parliament for First Nations people in the Constitution. The Guardian recently conducted a similar poll with similar findings. However, the Guardian poll also found that 65 per cent of respondents had heard hardly anything about the concept. Only five per cent of respondents characterised themselves as knowing a lot about the proposal.
I believe that there is a gap here that state and territory governments have a responsibility to fill. I would like to see the ACT government taking proactive steps to educate the public on the proposal and continue to actively contribute towards the reconciliation process here in the ACT. Although I suspect that an overwhelming majority of Canberrans will vote yes in the referendum, I still believe that it is important for the ACT government to play a role.
I would like to mention briefly the work of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body here in the ACT, to showcase that this is not a controversial issue. This body, established in 2008, allows Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in the ACT to have a strong, democratically elected voice. Our federal parliament would be well served by it, too, having a democratically elected voice.
In closing, I would like to thank Dr Paterson for bringing forward this important motion, and I encourage all Canberrans to get on board and support the voice when it comes to a referendum.
DR PATERSON (Murrumbidgee) (5.13): I would like to say that I am incredibly disappointed by the amendment offered by the Canberra Liberals today. They have not engaged once, as I said, with the Uluru Statement from the Heart. This is a very disappointing day for our Assembly. I feel very disappointed that the Canberra Liberals could not even engage on aspects of my motion.
As Mr Braddock pointed out, there are two parts to the “calls on” in my motion. One is to call on members of the Legislative Assembly. I was asking every member here to acknowledge the notion of voice, treaty and truth, as outlined in the statement. The Canberra Liberals seek to remove that. They cannot even acknowledge the Uluru
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