BACKGROUND
The Uluru Statement From the Heart and The Voice to Parliament
The suggestion that the proposed Voice to Parliament is a “Canberra Voice” for inner-city elites is totally false. This proposal is the product of the most widespread, grassroots consultations ever undertaken with First Nations peoples in Australia, as the following background demonstrates.
The Referendum Council is established in 2015
Following decades of negotiations about Indigenous recognition, a 15-member Referendum Council was established in December 2015 to consult nationally on constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and report back to the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition.
Referendum Council, 2017. Source: referendumcouncil.org.au
First Nations Regional Dialogue in Cairns, 2017. Source: referendumcouncil.org.au
The Regional Dialogues are held in 2016-2017
From December 2016 to May 2017 Professor Megan Davis and Pat Anderson AO, members of the Referendum Council, consulted with First Nations people by conducting 12 three-day Regional Dialogues with them in Hobart, Broome, Dubbo, Darwin, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, Ross River, Adelaide, Brisbane and Thursday Island.
The Dialogues were designed following extensive consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditional owners, leaders, elders and organisations.
The process was Indigenous-led at every stage, with the three-day Dialogues convened by local Aboriginal land councils. About 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders attended each Dialogue:
60% were traditional owners and elders
20% were local First nations community organisations
20% were key First Nations individuals (such as grandmothers, youth and members of the Stolen Generations).
There were 1200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates in all - the largest consultation process ever held with First nations people.
The Regional Dialogues considered five options for recognition, including a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament. Each Dialogue selected the Voice as their number one option.
Each Regional Dialogue produced a Record of Meeting, and selected representatives to attend the First Nations Constitutional Convention at Uluru in May 2017.
The First Nations Constitutional Convention at Uluru in May 2017 adopts the Uluru Statement from the Heart
The First Nations Constitutional Convention was held at Uluru from 23-26 May 2017. Around 250 delegates attended from all over Australia. Its purpose was to share the regional Records of Meeting, collate the reforms and settle on a single reform.
The delegates endorsed the work of the Regional Dialogues and drafted and adopted the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which calls for a sequenced reform process:
“Voice, Treaty, Truth” – in that order.
On 26 May 2017 Professor Megan Davis read out the Uluru Statement.
It is important to note that it is addressed as an invitation to the Australian people, not to the politicians, who had so badly let First Nations people down in the past.
Professor Megan Davis in front of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Source: University of Melbourne.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart.
The Referendum Council endorses the Uluru Statement in June 2017
The Referendum Council in its report to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten endorsed the Uluru Statement from the Heart by putting forward one recommendation only:
“that a referendum be held to provide in the Australian Constitution for a body that gives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples a Voice to the Commonwealth Parliament”
The Voice
The Voice will be a permanent institution. It must be enshrined in the Constitution so that it cannot be removed by subsequent governments (as, for example, ATSIC was in 2005).
It is necessary to hold a referendum to change the Constitution to include a Voice. To win a referendum there must be a “double majority” - a majority of people in a majority of States must vote yes.
The Voice may make representations to Parliament and the Executive on laws and policies relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. It will not have the power to make, reject or amend legislation.
Details as to the functions, powers and processes of the Voice will be worked out between First Nations people and Parliament in legislation after the Referendum, as is normal with any amendment to the Constitution.
Source: Getty
The Referendum Question
"A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?"
The Amendment to the Constitution
The proposed law that Australians are being asked to approve at the Referendum would insert a new section into the Constitution:
“Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, 129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:
There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth 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 matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”
The Voice Design Principles
It is not correct to say that we know nothing about the detail of the proposed Voice. We have a lot of information about it, including the Design Principles.
In summary, these principles are:
The Voice will give independent advice to the Parliament and Government
The Voice will be chosen by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people based on the wishes of local communities
The Voice will be representative of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, gender balanced and include youth
The Voice will be empowering, community-led, inclusive, respectful and culturally informed
The Voice will be accountable and transparent
The Voice will work alongside existing organisations and traditional structures
The Voice will not have a program delivery function
The Voice will not have a veto power.
These principles were developed by the First Nations Referendum Working Group and endorsed by the Australian Government.
If the proposed law is approved at the Referendum, there will be consultation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the Parliament, and the broader public to settle the Voice design.
Legislation to establish the Voice will then go through standard parliamentary processes to ensure adequate scrutiny by elected representatives in both houses of Parliament.
Parliament House, Canberra. Source: lens.monash.edu