RUEBEN BERG, CO-CHAIR, FIRST PEOPLES ASSEMBLY OF VICTORIA: Thanks very much Uncle Ringo for that fabulous welcome. It's amazing to be on the lands of the Wurundjeri peoples. My name is Rueben Berg, I'm one of the Co-Chairs alongside Ngarra Murray, of the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria. Not long to go now until the referendum. And unfortunately, the conversation still gets more complicated than it needs to be. This referendum is a very simple and straightforward referendum. It is about recognition. It is about listening. And the vast majority of First Peoples support the Voice. Because we know that when you listen to First Peoples, you get better outcomes. Here in Victoria, we've already demonstrated the value of having a voice, of having a collective group of First Peoples who are democratically elected, who are representing the diversity of our communities, and who are accountable to our communities. And we know that such a voice is really powerful, and can lead to really powerful things. And we want that same opportunity for all First Peoples across the country. So it's amazing to be able to have these conversations and to have the standing of our First Peoples all behind us. Because we know that having a voice will lead to better outcomes for all First Peoples across the nation. I'm going to hand over now to Ngarra Murray my fellow Co-Chair to say a few words.
NGARRA MURRAY, CO-CHAIR, FIRST PEOPLES ASSEMBLY OF VICTORIA: Thanks to Uncle Ringo for his beautiful Welcome to Country and here we are on Wurundjeri country in the heart of Fitzroy where we first found our voice where we've been on the forefront of the political movement where our activists, our Elders, our leaders, our trailblazers fought for their rights in this country. And here we are today still fighting for a voice, the Assembly has shown that, you know, we are the voice of Victoria. It's enabled us to get to treaties and truth telling, and we're calling on everyone and encouraging everyone to vote yes in the upcoming referendum and today we stand here as a collective, show our collective strength of many nations, many clans, our allies and supporters, and we work towards a better future for our people not just here in Victoria, but across the country. I'll invite our Minister Burney now to speak.
MINISTER LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA: Good morning, everyone and thank you so many of you for making the time to join us here in Gertrude Street. This, of course, is an iconic place. We've got the Assembly, but we've also got the heart of where it was so important for First Peoples of Victoria, to have this place. And of course, the great Archie Roach’s Charcoal Lane, immortalised this part of Melbourne. Can I first of all, thank Uncle Ringo for your Welcome. And thank you for sharing the story that you did about yourself. And also drawing to absolute attention, the disparity amongst Aboriginal people. And the fact that the Voice is not just an idea that will somehow float down. It is a pragmatic, practical change that will see better outcomes for First Peoples in this country. I also want to recognise Ruben and Ngarra, for their leadership. It's wonderful to see young people, you are young to us, to see young people leading such an important endeavour, here in Victoria. I also want to acknowledge the many people that have joined us this morning, who have volunteered over the weeks and months. But also understand, and I want you to understand, that change is not easy. It never comes easily, it is hard. And the people standing behind me know that. Which is why we have worked so diligently towards changing this place forever, not just for the nation, but First Peoples in this country. Can I also say that one of the things that the yes campaign has been very clear about is making sure that we lead a positive, respectful and honest discussion. And we have endeavoured to do that, at every turn. It is 16 days to go 16 days to this country makes a massive decision about the future of our nation. Will it be a future of unity? Will it be a future of true recognition of the truth of this country? Or will it be more of the same mess in Aboriginal Affairs that we have seen, particularly in terms of the success of programs that have gone nowhere? And if I can just be indulged for one minute more or two minutes more. Probably the one example I give you is the remote area school participation program. Or something with a very long name. It was the invention of Tony Abbott. It was designed in Canberra without any consultation with the local community, it was supposed to get Aboriginal children to school in remote Australia. Well, can I tell you that after $270 million of expenditure, the participation rates of Aboriginal children in the 80 odd schools that this was supposed to improve, has actually gone backwards. Why? Because there was no involvement of local people in its design or implementation. Can I just finish up by saying this? It is not often that you get to put your shoulder to the anvil of history and give a change. And the beauty of a referendum is every single person has a role to play and the decision to make. We are asking the Australian people to vote yes for the referendum on the 14th of October, yes to recognition, yes to listening. And yes to better outcomes for First People in this country
JOURNALIST: How can Australians look to the Assembly here in Victoria as an example of some of the benefits of listening to First Nations voices about issues facing Australia?
LINDA BURNEY I am in awe of what's happened here in Victoria. I think it’s about three or four years into the process of truth telling, in fact, one of the architects or two of the architects of the truth telling process are with us this morning, and also the beginnings of a negotiation for a treaty. And what it tells me is a couple of things. There has been a commitment from the Victorian Government, and the First Peoples of Victoria, to bring about this change. The change is happening. There is a representative body of Victoria, who are leading this discussion and these processes. And you know what, the sky hasn't fallen in. And we are seeing justice, we are seeing truth. And I think there is a lot to look towards in Victoria, in terms of where we go nationally as well.
JOURNALIST: Minister there’s been quite a few divisive conversations about the Voice in the past week or so, has the Voice and the referendum been this unifying moment that the government was hoping for?
LINDA BURNEY: I've been asked that question a number of times. And I can only say that the message from the yes campaign is a respectful debate, recognising that some people will agree, some people will disagree. And there are an awful lot of people that have not made up their mind. Our job is to do what's happening here this morning, to show that there is broad community support for this, to show that there are people who are volunteering their time to work towards this. I cannot speak for comments that other people have made. But I can speak for the comments that I make, which are positive and constructive, and will continue to be. The other point that I'd make is yes, there is some issues of poor taste in what people have said over that time, there is an awful lot going on, in terms of the social media, where everyone's being abused. But you know, what? The goal is what we concentrate on. A change in this country is worth whatever happens, and is the change for this country that we are working towards.
JOURNALIST: How confident are you for a yes vote and what will the government be doing if it doesn’t get through?
LINDA BURNEY: I have enormous faith in the Australian people. As I've travelled around the country, the enthusiasm, the decency and as Noel Person spoke, the love that exist is enormous and I will never ever, ever forego that generosity. We are not focusing on a no vote. The focus is absolutely on a successful referendum on the 14th of October. In fact, voting has already started in some parts of the country. I've seen some film clips of it. It looks absolutely fantastic. Our job is the next 16 days to work every minute to win the hearts and minds of people in this country.
JOURNALIST I’ve been talking to a few Indigenous mental health groups and they've been saying they've received an increased number of calls since the referendum started to the government, did the government regardless of the vote, have a logistics plan for that in terms of funding?
LINDA BURNEY: Absolutely. If you look at the last budget, there was $10 million that has gone to NACCHO to support local Aboriginal Health Services in terms of mental health. I have met regularly with places like people like 13YARN, Lifeline, the youth support hotline, and all of those organisations Lifeline that provide that kind of support. We've also been very clear and working closely with the Healing Foundation. And the other thing that we've done, which has been extraordinarily powerful, is work closely with Equality Australia, who saw and experienced similar things in the equal marriage campaign. So there is the enormous there has been an enormous amount of work and anticipation that we would see what we’re seeing.
JOURNALIST: Is there any message you would have to Victoria’s new Premier about how her new government can get behind the yes campaign in these final crucial weeks?
LINDA BURNEY: Well, there is no reason that I think that the government of Victoria would change its position in fact, I'm sure it won’t. And every first minister in Australia, through the Council of First Minister's has endorsed the Uluru Statement and said yes, and this includes Jeremy Rockliff, of course, who is in the Liberal Party in Tasmania. I have absolutely no doubts that there will be no change to that in Victoria.