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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Lucy Bladen

Govt accused of not consulting with elected body on Voice motion

Chief Minister Andrew Barr moved a motion about the Voice in the Assembly. Picture by Elesa Kurtz

The Canberra Liberals have accused the ACT government of not consulting with the territory's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body about a motion reaffirming support for a "Yes" vote in the Voice to Parliament referendum.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr rejected this and labelled the opposition as "gutless" saying there had been six years of consultation about the federal Voice to Parliament.

But Mr Barr did face further opposition in the chamber when Ngambri woman Leah House spoke out against his speech.

The Chief Minister moved a motion in the Assembly calling on the government to develop a community awareness campaign for the upcoming referendum.

The motion reaffirmed the government's support for enshrining a Voice to Parliament. It also recognised there must be a commitment to delivering a treaty and truth, which was also sought in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

The motion also recognised sovereignty was never ceded.

The motion was supported by the Greens after their federal counterparts formally threw their support behind the Voice earlier this week.

However, Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee unsuccessfully sought to amend the motion. She agreed the government should develop a community awareness campaign about the vote but not that the territory's parliament reaffirm its support for a Voice to Parliament.

Instead, Ms Lee's amendments noted there was "a diverse range of views on an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament within the ACT's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community".

She called on the government to consult with the elected body.

"It is very concerning that members of the ACT's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community have reached out to us very frustrated that they feel they haven't been listened to by this ACT Labor-Greens government, in fact they didn't even know this motion was coming into the Assembly," Ms Lee said.

The Liberals have not yet revealed a position on the Voice.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body did not directly address whether the government had consulted on this particular motion but said the body would continue to engage with the government to ensure transparency on the Voice to Parliament.

"The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body have regular on-going discussions with the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs [Rachel Stephen-Smith] where the elected body speak about their portfolios and also the Voice," the statement said.

Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee. Picture by Elesa Kurtz

Mr Barr hit out at the amendments from the Canberra Liberals.

"I utterly reject that assertion and there are no facts to back it up and in fact, to the contrary, there has been six years of engagement on this matter," he said.

"I acknowledge it's not unanimous, not every single Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person supports the Voice but the overwhelming majority do.

"So it was a gutless effort today by the Opposition ... it's incredibly disappointing."

Mr Barr said the government would strive for the ACT to have the highest "Yes" vote in the country.

But this was not welcomed by Ngambri woman and vice president of the Black Peoples Union Leah House who was in the Legislative Assembly and was removed from the chamber after speaking out against Mr Barr's speech.

"Andrew Barr spoke about wanting the ACT to have the highest 'Yes' vote in the country which was such a bizarre comment for him to make," she said.

Ms House, who is a member of the elected body but was not speaking in this capacity, does not support the Voice to Parliament.

"I ended up standing up and saying this is wrong. This is a room full of non-Indigenous people making decisions and determining our future political role in this colony," she said.

"I wasn't even yelling in an aggressive tone but I was just trying to get across that just because we are not accepting this doesn't mean we're causing division.

"They keep saying they want our voices but they don't want us there. We were in a position as spectators today and that is a very accurate, I believe, reflection of what the Voice is going to be. It's an advisory body, it's a spectator role.

"How disappointing it is to see this government say they support and are ready to listen to Black voices but when a Black voice does speak they silence and they remove me."

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