It’s been one year since Australia voted against adding a Voice to Parliament to the Constitution in a referendum.
The Voice was one of three requests from the Uluru Statement from the Heart — a path to recognise First Nations people in the Constitution. It was developed by a group of First Nations leaders known as the Uluru Dialogue.
The Government committed to implementing the Statement “in full”.
However, Uluru Dialogue leaders say the Prime Minister has not engaged with them in the year since the Voice failed.
What is the Voice?
Anwas a proposal to create an official representative body to give First Nations people a say in laws and policies that affect them.
Adding the Voice to Australia’s constitution would have officially recognised First Nations people in the nation’s rulebook.
Constitutional changes can only occur when there is a national vote, known as a referendum.
The question
On 14 October 2023, voters were asked to answer a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question:
“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?”
The Voice referendum was defeated a year ago, with 60% voting ‘no’ and roughly 40% voting ‘yes’.
The majority of every state and territory except the ACT voted no.
Uluru Statement
The Voice was the first of three reforms laid out by the— a message delivered by nearly 250 First Nations leaders in 2017.
The Uluru Statement outlined the path forward for recognising First Nations people in the nation’s Constitution.
When Labor won the 2022 election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese committed to implementing the Uluru Statement “in full”.
The Statement’s first request was to add a Voice to Parliament to Australia’s Constitution.
It then called for treaty and truth-telling processes, to be overseen by a Makarrata Commission.
These stages – Voice, Treaty, Truth – were designed to be implemented in order. However, since the Voice failed last year, the future of the Uluru Statement has been unclear.
Multiple members of the Uluru Dialogue have told TDA Albanese has not directly engaged with the Dialogue in the year since the Voice referendum.
The year since
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Cobble Cobble woman and Uluru Dialogue co-chair Professor Megan Davis called the failed vote a “devastating” and “huge lost opportunity for the nation”.
However, she told TDA the “enthusiasm” from the 6.2 million ‘yes’ votes “really helped our people get through a very, very difficult year”.
Davis also noted that the idea behind a referendum doesn’t disappear when a vote fails.
“Nobody said to the Republican movement, you can’t go again,” she said.
“There has been no change, and so the Voice is still needed. As we regroup and re-gather… We can start having a think about what the future looks like,” Davis said.
Co-chair of the Uluru Youth Dialogue and Wiradjuri and Pasifika Fijian woman, Bridget Cama, told TDA she continues to believe constitutional recognition of First Peoples is possible.
“The mandate of the Uluru Statement still stands and the need for a Voice is just as important as it was on the 14th of October.”
Albanese
Professor Davis and Bridget Cama said Albanese has not contacted the Uluru Dialogue since the referendum.
The Prime Minister committed to implementing the Uluru Statement during his 2022 election victory speech.
Since the referendum failed, Albanese.
In August, he was asked if he would establish the Makarrata Commission for truth-telling and treaty. The PM told the ABC: “That’s not what we have proposed”.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Malandirri McCarthy recently told Parliament that the Government wouldn’t implement the commission without bipartisan support.
Cama called a lack of conversation with the Federal Government over the past year, “really disappointing”.
Albanese did not respond directly to detailed questions put forward by TDA.
A spokesperson for the PM said the Government is “committed to delivering practical change to improve outcomes for First Nations people and to.”
Opposition
Shadow Indigenous Australians Minister, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, said: “We need to leave the divisive Voice behind us and focus on what is going to deliver practical outcomes for some of our most marginalised Australians”.
The Coalition has proposed setting up “breakaway land councils” to “enable traditional owners to better deal with their land in a way that will improve their lives.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has also ruled out a Makratta Commission if he wins the next election.
