PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you very much for that very generous welcome and you, Aunty Donna, for your welcome to country. I acknowledge that we are on Gadigal land - the lands of the Eora people, and we are here today in a very special place. We pay our respects to their elders past and present and we heard a moment ago from Rebekka and Caleb and from Shirley, from Emerging Elders as well. So thank you all.
I said that we are in a very special place, and it’s a place that is both ancient and modern. I’ll come to modern at the end of my speech but think about those rocks behind us. Think about that sandstone. Nobody has known those stones longer than the First Australians. Nobody has seen so much, endured so much, dreamt such dreams as our First Australians.
All of our First Australians, all of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians here tonight, we honour. We know that they have seen so much and endured so much. Their resilience is extraordinary.
I often reflect with Lucy, we both do, about the timelessness of that resilience. Think of [inaudible]. Just think of that. That community at La Parouse, Aunty Donna, have lived there from time out of mind - on the same land, on the same [inaudible], watching the same tides come up. For 40,000 years, 50,000 years, time out of mind. They have done that and survived - resiliently, proudly - in the middle of the biggest city of Australia. That is the story of our First Australians; strong, proud, resilient. We are so honoured to be here tonight supporting this important, critical, and historical act of recognition.
I want to thank you all, everyone for being here tonight and I want to especially acknowledge, as I said, our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters and of course, Aunty Shirley, forever young, with Rebekka and Caleb.
Thank you all so much.
Now our Constitution begins with an announcement that the people of the several British colonies have agreed to unite. That Constitution is not just the founding document, it is in many respects our nation’s birth certificate. But it failed to recognise the enduring history of our First Australians. The document that should unite our nation, our whole nation, is missing that important recognition.
We heard Stan Grant talk about being a stranger in his own country. He forced us again to confront the consequence of that reality - that exclusion was embedded in the Constitution - that explicitly prevented the Commonwealth from making laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The resounding success of the 1967 referendum addressed and corrected that, but 116 years after Federation, the complex and demanding principle of national unity continues to challenge us.
We know that people have a stronger relationship – amongst us all – when it is based on mutual respect. Between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and the whole wider community. Historically, we have spoken about, written about, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians as “them” not “us” - their culture, their language, their disadvantage, their gap to be closed.
Changing the Constitution to recognise our First Australians provides an opportunity to make our nation’s founding document about “us” - all of us, every single one of us - and “our” shared values.
Before European settlement, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples spoke hundreds of languages, and for tens of thousands of years, cared for this country. Their song lines, - your song lines - crossed the nation. Your languages carried the knowledge of your ancient cultures. Your stories of creation were passed on from generation to generation.
To succeed at a referendum, we must all embrace our shared history and recognise that your languages, your stories, your cultures, are our languages, our stories our cultures.
They are uniquely Australian, and something of which we must all be very proud.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are our neighbours, our doctors, our politicians, our teachers, our engineers, our business men and women, and so much more.
The contribution of our First Australians dates back tens and tens of thousands of years, before ice ages came, to an age that is so ancient it is almost not possible to imagine. We’re talking about the most ancient continuous culture in the world. But that culture – as we’re reminded tonight - is not frozen in time. It is sown into the fabric of our modern society and our modern economy.
Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in our Constitution, has at its heart our yearning for a better, for a truthful, for a recognising relationship.
It’s a relationship that can reflect the best of who we are, when we come together with humility for past wrongs like the policies that led to the Stolen Generations, and present challenges like trying to close the gap on health, education and life expectancy outcomes.
A relationship where we keep working together and listening to each other, even when our work is hard, uncertain and difficult.
It’s a relationship that needs the respect that starts with words and continues through actions, not just from governments but from all Australians. That is embedded in the documents of our nation, and our policies, our practices, but above all embedded in our hearts.
We are hopefully in the final leg of the journey in finding a proposal to put to the people. The Referendum Council which Bill Shorten and I appointed, is about to embark on their regional dialogues, building on the work of the Expert Panel and Parliamentary Select Committee.
The Referendum Council will provide their final report by 30 June at which point the Parliament can progress a proposal for a Referendum.
Now this is complex work. Changing the Constitution, as I know better than most, is not for the faint-hearted. There are diverse views on how to progress change. There are differences in opinion about how far we can and should amend the Constitution.
These views come from right across the board.
As Prime Minister, I’ve seen and I’ve understood, as we all have, that Indigenous Australians are not any more homogenous than the entire Australian community. Our First Australians are as diverse in their experiences and aspirations as the broader Australian community.
So we understand that ideas will be challenged and contested but that is the sign of a healthy, robust democracy and a free society.
We know there is no single solution or single answer to creating equality of opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
Constitutional change affects all of us, 24 million of us, but it must be embraced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders if it is to be proposed at all.
There are more complex discussions ahead. But as long as it remains a respectful debate, we will reach agreement on the way forward and we will succeed at a Referendum.
This is the work of the Referendum Council, and I acknowledge the members of the Council here tonight, and thank them for their work.
We shouldn’t underestimate, either, the power of words to create hope and build an inclusive Australia, where - combined with practical actions - our First Australians will no longer face a disparity that past generations have had to confront.
Speaking later of the effects of the 1967 ‘Yes’ vote, Oodgeroo Noonuccal said: ‘The real victory was the spirit of hope and optimism which affected blacks all over Australia. We had won something. We were visible, hopeful and vocal’.
This renewed confidence had a profound effect on one man in particular, Neville Bonner, who decided to stand for Parliament and made history as the first Indigenous member of the Australian Parliament.
He said: ‘As far as I'm concerned, whatever issue I went into…were issues for the nation, but an indigenous point of view was what I had, and I spoke as an indigenous person. I spoke as an ordinary, average Australian, albeit an Aboriginal Australian’.
The ripple effect of his confidence, the echo of an Indigenous voice in the chambers of the Parliament, means we now have five strong Indigenous voices at the federal level.
Ken Wyatt, the first Indigenous Member of the House of Representatives and Minister in my government has more recently been joined by Senators Patrick Dodson, Malarndirri McCarthy and Jacqui Lambie. I pay tribute to Linda Burney, who has made history as the first Indigenous woman elected to the House of Representatives this year.
Bill and I debate each other relentlessly, but this time of year, not exhaustedly, at least exhaustingly, but we have worked collaboratively and constructively with our Indigenous colleagues on this issue.
The ‘67 Referendum—momentous though it was in redefining our Constitution and our relationship—did not eliminate inequality to the extent we hoped.
There are too many children in out-of-home care. Too many youths in detention. Too many adults in prison, and the scourge of substance abuse and suicide.
This time, as we work on the principles, documents and relationships that will unite us, we focus on the practical social and economic changes also needed to bring us closer together.
For example, we will continue to direct ourselves to the economic autonomy of our First Australians by ensuring Indigenous businesses are numerous and prosperous; and that land can be looked after and used for economic purposes. Nigel Scullion has led a remarkable Indigenous procurement programme with the Federal Government, which is empowering - every day – more and more Indigenous Australian businesses.
It is wonderful to have bipartisan support, and Bill and I are thoroughly united on this issue. But believe me, Constitutional change needs more than bipartisan support, however important that is. It is an important element, but it’s not going to get you over the line.
As Neville Bonner wisely said: ‘Reconciliation has to come from the heart. Governments can't legislate for it. You can't force people into being reconciled with each other. You can't legislate for human feelings and human attitudes. You can only achieve change through education’.
So it is the conversations we have at work, with our neighbours, with our families - as Kim was just saying a moment ago - not just our political opponents or in the Parliament that will ultimately carry a Referendum.
I know many of you here tonight are spreading this message to their employees, their customers, their clients and communities. Your contribution to bringing all Australians together through mutual respect is absolutely vital if we are to succeed at a Referendum. So thank you.
If we are to achieve the same success as the 1967 Referendum, we need to galvanise the support of the Australian people - Indigenous and non-Indigenous. 1967 was a people's movement.
As the late Faith Bandler said: ‘It brought black and white together with more respect for each other and more respect for the country as a whole’.
Thanks to the valuable work of Recognise, and of those gathered here tonight, there is a high level of public support for constitutional recognition.
It gives me great cause for optimism, because this provides a strong basis to progress to a referendum.
A rejection at a referendum will be seen by some as a rejection of reconciliation. We cannot afford to let that referendum vote to fail.
The “Recognise” campaign is critically valuable, what we’re doing here tonight is vital to the success of this campaign, because it encourages Australians to engage in the debate and to understand the issues.
Without this work, we would be walk into a Referendum without the broad public support necessary to carry it. I want to thank Mark Yettica-Paulson and his predecessor Tanya Hosch, and all the team at Recognise, Tim Gartrell and others and the Reconciliation Australia team. We will all benefit from the public awareness you are creating.
You have a great historical precedent for your lobbying. The efforts of men and women like yourselves, many of whom are here today, resulted in the unprecedented 90 per cent affirmative vote in the 1967 referendum.
People understood that the constitutional changes were emblematic of the unity our nation craved, and they fundamentally changed both the legal and the general relationship between the wider community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Reconciliation is incremental, as we know. It’s a journey. But Constitutional Recognition is an opportunity to accelerate it.
We have an opportunity to take this next step as a nation and succeed together.
Now I said that we were in a place, this most ancient place. I spoke about the ancient sandstone behind us, the ancient waters, 40,000 years of history. But we are also in a space that was created to enable one remarkable Australian’s imagination to be built above us. Of course I’m talking about Paul Keating, who imagined the recreation as best he could, of the original headland here at Barangaroo. He had the imagination to dream of recreating the original headland, the original shoreline, what we were presented with, as we all remember, was a large rectangular slab of concrete.
I want to end with some words from Paul Keating’s Redfern speech in 1992, a long time ago. He said there, of the process of reconciliation: ‘It begins with the act of recognition’.
We are not beginning that road of reconciliation, but the act of recognition that we are talking about tonight, the act of recognition that we are directed to tonight, is every bit as important as that which Prime Minister Keating spoke about.
I want to conclude with a note of optimism, again drawn from that speech: ‘We cannot imagine that we will fail’.
With the spirit that is here today I am confident that we won’t. We won’t fail. With your hearts, you passion, with your love, we will succeed.
Thank you very much.
[ENDS]