Reconciliation Australia welcomes today’s historic announcement by the Prime Minister that his government will introduce the Constitution Alteration Bill into the Parliament.
The Bill includes the wording of the question that will be put to the Australian people in a referendum this year.
“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
Do you approve this proposed alteration?”
As the Prime Minister commented during his media conference, “This is a simple question, a matter from the heart.”
The Bill and the wording reflect the advice given to the Government by the Referendum Working Group and are based on the work of the thousands of First Nations people who helped draw up the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
We congratulate the Prime Minister and his Cabinet for listening to the Voices of First Nations peoples in introducing this Bill.
We offer our sincere thanks to all those who have worked long and hard to get us to this point today.
We urge Australian politicians to engage in the parliamentary and wider national debate on these matters in an informed and respectful manner.
We urge all Australians to inform and educate themselves, friends and family about this process so we can all be a part of this momentous national decision.
This morning we helped launch a Reconciliation Action Plan from care services organisation Life Without Barriers which will see the transfer of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to First Nations’ community-controlled child protection organisations.
It is a profound reform to the sector, one which enable the Voice of First Nations families to be heard in decisions about their children, and one that exemplifies the sort of real transformative actions that need to accompany the Voice to Parliament.
Recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the original people of this continent and enshrining their Voice in our Constitution is a key plank of achieving reconciliation and justice in Australia.
We urge Australian politicians to engage in the parliamentary and wider national debate on these matters in an informed and respectful manner.
We urge all Australians to inform and educate themselves, friends and family about this process so we can all be a part of this momentous national decision.
See more info on Voice to Parliament.
A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?
Life Without Barriers RAP: Profound reform
On the same day, we helped launch a Reconciliation Action Plan from care services organisation Life Without Barriers which will see the transfer of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to First Nations’ community-controlled child protection organisations.
It is a profound reform to the sector, one which enable the Voice of First Nations families to be heard in decisions about their children, and one that exemplifies the sort of real transformative actions that need to accompany the Voice to Parliament.
Recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the original people of this continent and enshrining their Voice in our Constitution is a key plank of achieving reconciliation and justice in Australia.
