This is our moment

Later this year, you will all be asked a simple question:

Do you support a change to the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?

Yes or No.

122 years after the Australian Constitution was formed.

More than 80 years since William Cooper's petition.

56 years since the 1967 referendum.

35 years since the Barunga Statement.

30 years since Keating's Redfern speech.

16 years since Howard promised a referendum on recognition.

15 years since the Apology.

13 years since the expert panel on Constitutional Recognition.

6 years since the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

The question must surely be asked?

How much longer do Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have to wait for recognition?

In 2023, we are finally getting the opportunity to truly recognise First Nations people.

In the words of the Prime Minister: "If not now, when?"

If we miss this moment – we may never get it again.

Referendums are rare.

Look at what happened to the campaign for a republic after '99.

24 years have passed – and there has been very little progress.

Friends, this is our moment –

Our moment to move this country forward.

We have to grasp it with both hands.

I want to say a few words about the important role that Tasmania will play in this referendum.

In order to win a referendum – we have to win a majority of the national vote and a majority of the 6 states.

Back in April, I had a bet with Premier Rockliff that Tasmania would record the highest 'Yes' vote of any state in the country.

And I am optimistic about our chances of success in Tassie.

I even wore my Tasmanian tuxedo doorknocking yesterday.

And speaking with locals in town – the support for the Voice was very encouraging.

Importantly, I'd say about one in five people are very much undecided.

And what my quick pitch to them was that we have everything to gain and nothing to lose by supporting recognition.

We have everything to gain and nothing to lose by listening to the experience and wisdom of 65,000 years of culture and tradition.

Why a Voice is needed

Which leads me to the first question I want to answer tonight –

Why is the Voice needed?

There are two main reasons:

It's what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people requested as part of the Uluru Statement in 2017.

And importantly, the gap isn't closing fast enough.

In Tasmania, a young Aboriginal person is -

5 times more likely to end up in out of home care…

6 times more likely to end up jail…

And 20 per cent less likely to have completed a tertiary degree than their non-Indigenous counterparts.

That's unacceptable.

Last month the latest Closing the Gap data showed that just 4 out of 19 targets are "on track".

Just 4 out of 19.

More of the same isn't good enough.

We have to do better.

The Voice won't fix every problem overnight –

But it will make a lasting practical difference over the long-term.

A practical difference that will improve people's lives.

How it will work

This Voice is not an idea that came from politicians.

It is what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves have asked for, not government.

It's the result of the most significant consultation of First Nations peoples this country has ever seen.

More than 1,200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were involved in creating the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

And constitutional recognition through a Voice, its cornerstone.

So let's be clear about what the Voice is:

The Voice will be an independent representative advisory body.

Made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

It will be chosen by local communities, for local communities.

And it will give our communities the power to be heard.

And it is only one example of how amplifying views from Indigenous people in communities leads to better outcomes.

The gap isn't closing fast enough.

Something has to change.

For too long governments have made polices for First Nations people, not with First Nations people.

We need the Voice to change that.

Let me give you an example of how the Voice will work, in a practical way.

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Let's say a local community identifies a problem, like low school attendance.

The community identifies that this is a challenge and wants to explore local solutions.

So the community approaches their representative on the Voice and raises this issue with them.

The Voice then has the power to make representations on how to improve school attendance in that local community to government and the parliament.

It's about linking up that local decision-making and local knowledge with policy-makers in government.

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Priorities of the Voice

From day one – the Voice will have a full in-tray.

I will ask it to consider four main priority areas:

Health

Education

Jobs

And housing.

The Voice will be tasked with taking the long-view.

Unlike government, it won't be distracted by the 3 year election cycles.

It will plan for the next generation, not the next term.

Regardless of your opinion in this room tonight –

We should all be able to agree that we need to do better by First Nations people.

And we can.

We have a 65,000-year history –

A culture that has been, and remains, the longest living culture in the world.

And what are our First Nations people requested?

A Voice.

Wybalenna

In February, I visited Flinders Island with Bridget Archer.

And I went to Wymbalenna – or 'Black Man's House'.

In 1830's it was a place where Aboriginal people from across Tasmania were sent to be 'protected'.

It was a very emotional day.

Wybalena is a peninsula – some of you may have been there –

There is a dramatic hill – with water on each side.

And on a clear day you can see mainland Tasmania.

And the women would climb to the top of the outcrop –

And attach bird feathers to their arms to make wings to fly home.

Of the nearly 200 Aboriginal people that were sent, 141 died on Flinders Island.

It's such a tragic and powerful story.

And it highlights to me, First Nations peoples connection to their country.

And the brutal and heartbreaking reality of dispossession in Tasmania.

There are so many important stories to be told –

So much truth that is still to be told about what happened across Australia.