The creators of the Uluru Statement from the Heart have declared a voice to parliament an urgent issue for the federal election campaign, saying “history is calling” the next parliament to take action.
The Uluru statement leadership has put forward two dates on which Australians could be called to decide, in a referendum, whether to enshrine a voice to parliament in the constitution: 27 May 2023 or 27 January 2024.
“The time is now right. The stars will soon align. The politicians were not ready for Uluru in 2017. But now the Australian people are,” the group said.
“We call on all sides of politics to support our call. History is calling.”
Labor says it would hold a referendum in its first term should it win government. Guardian Australia understands the party’s preference is for a 2024 date.
The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, on Sunday evening said he would want a referendum in the first term and “would consult with First Nations people about the timing and the detail of that”.
“This was promised by the government. At the beginning of this term, they went to the last election saying they’d advance a voice to parliament, and nothing’s happened. It is so typical of a government that’s all promise and no delivery,” Albanese said.
“I would want as well to reach across the aisle. We know, historically, to get constitutional change you need bipartisan support to do that.
“And I would be hopeful that we will have a mandate, very clearly, from the Australian people if we’re elected.”
Albanese said “all that the voice is asking for is for First Nations people to be consulted about matters that affect them directly”.
“That’s just good manners. It’s a very generous offer, and we should accept that offer,” he said.
“We should be proud of the fact that our history includes the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet, a history of some 65,000 years, and it should be a source of great pride.”
The Coalition would not be drawn on setting a date for a referendum but the minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, on Monday said the government remained “committed to getting it right”.
“The Morrison government has consistently said that we will go to a referendum once a consensus is reached and at a time it has the best chance of success,” Wyatt said on Monday.
“For the Indigenous voice to work, it must have a strong foundation from the ground up. That’s why we’re taking the next step and starting with the Local & Regional Voice – as per the process set out in the final co-design report.
“The Morrison government is committed to recognising Indigenous Australians in the Constitution and has backed this commitment with $160 million reserved for a referendum. We know that progressing change to the Constitution is a challenge – and we’re committed to getting it right.”
A weekend meeting in north Queensland brought together delegates who participated in the creation and signing of the original Uluru statement. In a subsequent joint statement they declared a referendum was “urgent”.
“After years of pushing for our voice to be heard, it feels like we have never been this close,” Prof Megan Davis, one of the key architects of the statement, said.
“The constitutional recognition discussion has been going for well over a decade. The hard work is done. We are ready. The Australian people are ready.
“[This statement] is a reflection of urgency … We need a referendum.”
