The claim
As federal politicians return to work for the new year, fierce debate has begun about the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
The Nationals' Barnaby Joyce sparked a heated exchange with Labor's Tanya Plibersek on the Seven Network's Sunrise program over the level of detail the government has released about the Voice, set to be voted on in a referendum later this year.
In the program on January 23, host Natalie Barr asked Ms Plibersek, who is minister for the environment and water, why the government was waiting to "release further detail".
Ms Plibersek responded that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had already described both the referendum question and "the sort of change that we want to see in the constitution" months previously at the Garma Festival.
"So there's already quite a lot of detail out there, we're months away from a vote, there'll be more detail between now and then," Ms Plibersek said.
"I think it's wonderful that people are already having this discussion and having this debate in our community and I'm really excited about the conversation that we'll have in months to come."
In response, Mr Joyce stated that Ms Plibersek was "apparently not excited enough that they actually tell us the words that are going to go into our nation's constitution".
"This is a case of the Labor Party saying: 'Look, you just sign the cheque and we'll fill in the numbers later on.'
"And when you say to them 'well, actually, who's filling in the numbers?' they say 'well the Labor Party and the Greens are going to fill in the numbers, we're going to actually tell you the words we're going to put in the constitution after you give us the right to change it'."
So, has Labor failed to release the wording of proposed changes to the constitution?
RMIT ABC Fact Check investigates.
The verdict
Mr Joyce is ill-informed.
In July 2022, Mr Albanese announced proposed wording for changes to the constitution in order to establish an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Mr Albanese noted at the time that the words represented "draft provisions" and may not be the "final form of words".
Since then, the only change publicly proposed has been to add one line.
The Garma address
In 2017, the Uluru Statement from the Heart called for constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders via an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
In order to establish the Voice, the government will ask Australians to vote in a referendum this year to allow amendments to the constitution.
Mr Albanese first described the proposed wording of changes to the constitution at the Garma Festival in July 2022.
He outlined the government's recommendation for a three-sentence addition to the constitution as follows:
- 1.There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
- 2.The 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.
- 3.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.
In his speech, Mr Albanese noted that "these draft provisions can be seen as the next step in the discussion about constitutional change".
"This may not be the final form of words," he said, "but I think it’s how we can get to a final form of words.
"In the same way, alongside these provisions, I would like us to present the Australian people with the clearest possible referendum question.
"We should consider asking our fellow Australians something as simple, but something as clear as this: Do you support an alteration to the constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?"
Since Garma
Mr Albanese made clear in July that the proposed additions to the constitution were "draft provisions".
In December, the Referendum Working Group, which is made up of "a broad cross-section of representatives from First Nations communities across Australia", released a communique saying that it had considered the advice of the Constitutional Expert Group, which had provided its views on the draft constitutional amendment put forward by the government.
"The [Constitutional Expert] Group advised that the draft amendment is constitutionally sound in providing a strong basis on which to conduct further consultation," the communique stated.
The Working Group met again in February, following which it was reported that an introductory sentence would be added to the draft provisions.
According to the ABC the additional line, which would preface the three draft lines announced by Mr Albanese at the Garma Festival, would read: "In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples as the First Peoples of Australia."
The final proposed wording was expected to be published within a month, the ABC said.
What happens next?
Anne Twomey, who is a member of the Constitutional Expert Group advising on the Voice, told Fact Check the normal process for a referendum is that the government will bring a finalised version of its proposed amendment to parliament in a bill.
"Each House will then have an opportunity to vote on amendments to it," she explained.
"I also understand that it is proposed to hold a parliamentary committee hearing into the bill, so that members of the public and organisations can make their own submissions about what the wording should be."
The wording contained in the bill that is finally passed will be the wording put to Australians in the referendum, Professor Twomey said.
Contrary to Mr Joyce's suggestion, Labor and the Greens could not amend the words to be added to the constitution after the referendum had been held.
"The people vote to approve the constitutional change (the words) set out in the bill passed by parliament that triggers the referendum," Professor Twomey explained.
"The politicians cannot change the words later."
Principal researcher: Ellen McCutchan
Sources
- Sunrise, Barnaby Joyce, January 23, 2023
- Uluru Statement from the Heart, ulurustatement.org, May, 2017
- Anthony Albanese, Address to Garma Festival, July 30, 2022
- Australian Government Directory, Constitutional Expert Group, December 20, 2022
- Australian Government Directory, Referendum Working Group, December 20, 2022
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, Communique for the Referendum Working Group, December 13, 2022
- ABC, Indigenous people to be explicitly recognised as 'First Peoples of Australia' in proposed constitutional change, February 2, 2023
