Anthony Albanese‘s voice briefly cracked with emotion as he celebrated the passage of the bill which will allow the Australian public to vote on a Voice to Parliament at a referendum this year.
The Prime Minister said Australians will be afforded a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ to improve the lives of First Nations people between October and December.
‘Where’s the downside here?’ he asked. ‘What are people risking here?’
‘From my perspective this is all upside.’
Mr Albanese read out loud portions of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, surrounded by members of the referendum working group, Indigenous Minister Linda Burney and Attorney General Mark Dreyfus.
Moments earlier, the Constitutional Amendment Bill passed in the Senate 52 to 19. Among the ‘No’ votes were Independent Lidia Thorpe and One Nation’s Pauline Hanson – who opposed for very different reasons.
Senator Thorpe said the Voice to Parliament will have no real power to enact change and help Indigenous Australians. She is instead petitioning for a treaty.
Ms Thorpe will vote ‘No’ in protest of the ‘token advisory’ body the Government has proposed, telling the Senate: ‘happy assimilation day everybody.’
Meanwhile, Senator Hanson argued that the advisory body will have too much power.
Mr Albanese said the polar opposite takes on his proposal indicated to him that he’d ‘found the perfect balance’.
He said: ‘If people look at the balance of some people saying this goes too far, others saying it doesn’t go far enough, I would say we’ve got the balance right.
‘It will not have the power of veto, it is just that, an advisory body. Voice is a powerful word because it will give First Nations people a voice.’
Mr Albanese said ‘the truth is for most people watching this it will have no impact of their lives’, but that it ‘might make things better for the most disadvantaged people in Australia’.
The Prime Minister said Australians will be afforded a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ to improve the lives of First Nations people between October and December this year
Senator Hanson argued that the advisory body will have too much power
After years of doing things ‘for’ Aboriginal people, often with the best of intentions, the PM said a Voice to Parliament would allow Indigenous people to take the front seat on matters crucial to them.
There have been many concerns about what exactly this means. Critics of the Voice say there is not enough detail provided on just what matters the advisory body will have input in.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus today tried to clear up that confusion during the press conference.
He listed five key issues which will become the core focus of the advisory group: health, employment, education, housing and justice.
‘No harm can come from this referendum, only good,’ he said. ‘The parliament has done its job and now it’s up to the Australian people.’
Mr Albanese later echoed Mr Dreyfus’s calls, urging the Australian public to seize the opportunity to ‘make history’.
‘Parliaments pass laws but it is people who make history,’ he said. Mr Albanese again reiterated his belief that a Voice to Parliament is a ‘gracious’ request which will bring Australia together.
Both the Yes and No campaigns will now ramp up efforts to connect with voters ahead of the referendum, which will likely take place in October this year.
The Liberal Party, Nationals and One Nation will all oppose the Voice and contribute to official No pamphlets to be delivered to every household.
Labor and the Greens, along with several independents, will collaborate on a Yes pamphlet.
Minister Burney reiterated the advisory body – should it win the referendum vote – will simply provide ‘independent advice to parliament’
Mr Albanese intends to campaign alongside his caucus, and noted that businesses and organisations across Australia have already pledged their support.
‘Every major sporting code, every major faith group, civil organisations… that support has been won by people who have examined it,’ he said.
Minister Burney reiterated the advisory body – should it win the referendum vote – will simply provide ‘independent advice to parliament’.
She said members of the body will be chosen by and for local communities, and will be transparent and accountable.
Indigenous representatives from the Referendum Working Group expressed their own understanding of the strength of the body in the conference.
Uncle Rodney Dillon said: ‘We have been in a war zone for a long time. Having those outcomes and the advice this group will give our country, is going to be so important.
‘All it is is advice – at this stage.’
Aunty Pat Anderson said: ‘This is a milestone. ‘This is fundamental to any democracy. Most of us here, we have spent our lives in the trenches, as our parents before us and generations. This is big for us. We can do better than we’re doing’
And Aunty Pat Anderson said: ‘This is a milestone.
‘This is fundamental to any democracy. Most of us here, we have spent our lives in the trenches, as our parents before us and generations. This is big for us. We can do better than we’re doing.’
She said the Voice to Parliament ‘has to have some power’ and that voting yes will ‘give us the power… a mandate of the Australian people’.
‘Although the word advisory is used it as a very powerful word in this context, that is why we went for and instrument in the Constitution because we have tried everything else.
‘Me and Linda, the Minister we have worked… trying to get that advances, but only through our own activism, nothing has been given to us.
‘That is a falsehood that blackfellas get everything because we do not. There has been advances and achievements but through our advocacy and we are coming to you again.’
