A bill that’s the first step towards creating an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament in Australia has been introduced into the lower house.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus moved the legislation to amend the constitution right after Parliament’s Thursday session opened at 9am.
“Constitutional recognition is an opportunity to acknowledge our history and come together for a more reconciled future,” Dreyfus said.
After Dreyfus finished speaking, the government side and most of the crossbench rose to give a standing ovation.
The mostly empty opposition side of the chamber remained seated.
Afterwards, Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney told reporters the referendum was “not about lawyers, it’s about the Australian people having a say”.
“There will always be those who seek to hold us back, those doubters, those wreckers,” Burney said.
“They want to hold Australia back. Well, we want to take Australia forward.”
In his speech to Parliament, Dreyfus said the Albanese government had been elected on a promise to hold a referendum to enshrine the Voice in the constitution.
“With the introduction of this bill, the government is taking the first formal step to honour this commitment, a commitment we’ve made not just to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but to all Australians,” Dreyfus said.
“The constitutional amendment in this bill will rectify over 120 years of explicit exclusion in provisions of Australia’s founding legal document.”
The legislation says the Voice “may make representations to the Parliament and the executive government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”.
It also says: “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”.
Dreyfus, Burney, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, and Senator Patrick Dodson said in a joint statement earlier on Thursday morning that the upcoming referendum on the Voice would be a “historic opportunity” to recognise First Nations peoples.
“The Voice is about two things: recognition and consultation,” the statement said.
