Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney will urge Australians to resolve “unfinished business” by voting for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, as she outlines the four main policy areas it would advise on.
In a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Burney will reveal major priorities for the Voice if enshrined in the constitution: health, education, jobs and housing.
“From day one, the Voice will have a full in-tray,” Burney will say.
“It’s not going to be a passive advisory body. I want it to be active and engaged. We need new perspectives to old challenges.”
While parliament will legislate the way the Voice will operate after a successful referendum and consultation with Indigenous groups, the government has gradually revealed details surrounding certain principles.
Burney will say Voice won’t be ‘passive’
Burney will say the Voice will focus on improving the future for the next generation and, unlike the government, won’t be distracted by election cycles.
“I will be asking the Voice for their input to solve these most pressing issues,” she will say.
“It’s not going to be a passive advisory body. I want it to be active and engaged.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dismissed the criticism as disingenuous, saying it showed opponents lack a “genuine objection” to the proposal.
Burney, a Wiradjuri woman, will intimate that local community members would raise issues with the body, which would then deliver those concerns to the government and parliament.
Burney will say Indigenous children are 55 times more likely to die from rheumatic heart disease than non-Indigenous people.
Burney to use a personal story to champion Voice’s benefits
On referendum day later this year, Burney will urge voters to consider people like her friend Michael Riley.
Riley grew up in Dubbo in the 1960s and lived on the Talbragar Aboriginal Reserve, one of the many missions or reserves around the country where Aboriginal people were forced to reside in often overcrowded conditions, with little or no access to healthcare or essential services.
Riley became a renowned photographer but died aged 44.
“I visited him every day in hospital,” Burney will say.
“I watched him go blind in one eye. His Aboriginality condemned him to an early death – a preventable death.”
While several recent polls have found support for a ‘Yes’ vote is slipping, Burney will say Australia needs new perspectives to solve old challenges.
“For too long, governments have made policies for Indigenous Australians, not with Indigenous Australians,” she will say.
“We need the Voice to change that because the Voice will be a mechanism for the government and parliament to listen.
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Fix ‘unfinished business’: Burney
Burney will say it’s time for the constitution to recognise Indigenous Australians who have coexisted on this continent for more than 65,000 years.
“When will we finally resolve this unfinished business?” she will question.
“We are so close. Our destination is on the horizon.”
Burney will appeal to Australians to carefully consider how they will vote in the referendum due to be held in the final quarter of this year.
“And I hope more than anything that the answer is ‘yes’,” she will say.