Can I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which meet and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging, and recommit, as I do now on behalf of the Australian Government, to the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.
Can I express my appreciation for all of you for being here, and for your leadership in this journey. And, as a non-Indigenous Australian, express my appreciation for the generosity of the offer which is embodied and enshrined in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
I would like to think that, were I in the position that you are in, that I would come up with something as generous, as thoughtful, as gracious as the offer that is being presented to Australians for reconciliation. This is an important journey that Australia has the potential of walking with you on.
There was a lot to be made about my acceptance speech on the night of the 21st of May. To be frank, none of that was written down, I didn't prepare an acceptance speech in advance. But I did do a bit of dictating to someone sitting on the floor of my house at Marrickville. But it was just a natural thing to do.
Some people have said to me around the country, particularly before Garma and the speech I gave there: ‘Are you sure about this? It’s a big risk.’ It’s a bit like saying to Penrith or Parramatta players in the lead up to Sunday that they risk losing if they run on the field on Sunday. If they don't, it's called a forfeit. And that's what we're facing here.
If we don't have a referendum, then by definition it won't succeed. And, if not now, when? And if not under this government, which government is going to have the guts to do it? And so I recognise that there's a risk. But the risk has to be balanced up with the certainty of failure if you don't try. And that is what my government has done and what we'll continue to pursue.
One of the things that I want to assure you all is that we're not half in here. We're all in. Every one of us. And this is something that is too important to not succeed.
I know that getting people on the same page can be really difficult in any forum. The Australian Labor Party, from time to time, has those issues. But the common sense of purpose which is here, from the people around this room but everywhere I go in the country, I've got to say there is enormous goodwill, enormous goodwill towards this exercise.
As you know, there's essentially two pretty simple propositions. One is, our nation’s birth certificate should recognise the fact that our history didn't begin in 1788. That should be a source of pride that you have survived, as the songs go, and that that should be something that is absolutely celebrated, not just here as a nation for how First Nations people see themselves, but for how all Australians see ourselves as well. This is an opportunity to lift the whole nation up. But it's also how we're seen in the world as well. This is an opportunity to show that we're a mature nation that proudly is out there saying, ‘Yes, we're very proud of our history’.
We have so much to learn from Indigenous Australians. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the relationship with land and water in a way that has so many lessons for those of us who are struggling with a planet that is in an environmental crisis. That respect and relationship that you have with land and sea is something that's so important.
That's why I asked my friend, young Patrick here, to go to New York for the United Nations, along with Senator Wong, the Foreign Minister, recently to the UN General Assembly. It is so important. And I know that when I have travelled overseas, it is something that was mentioned to me in London. It was mentioned to me, as well, in Japan in meetings I had over recent days.
So that's the first thing, that we recognise Indigenous people in in our nation's birth certificate. And the second thing is what I term good manners. If you're a parliament that is making decisions that has an impact on First Nations peoples, then it’s probably a good idea to ask them. If I'm doing something at my home in Marrickville that's going to impact the next door neighbour's, you knock on the door and you tell them ‘What do you think? What's going on?’ It's just what we should do.
And that's why the argument about practical advancement and Closing the Gap and what some see as symbolism is such a false one. Because you get better practical outcomes when you get buy in, when you get engagement, when you get direct involvement by people who are impacted.
We tried for most of the 121 years since Federation, and indeed beforehand, to decide what was best for people and impose it. The outcomes there for all to see: the gap there in life expectancy, health outcomes, education outcomes, housing. We need to do better.
And that's why this is about practical measures as well. You will get better outcomes because we know that when there is genuine engagement through things like justice reinvestment, through rangers programs and where people have that direct say. The work that Pat has done, the Coalition of Peaks is an example of something that's recognised.
I acknowledge the presence of the former Minister, Minister Wyatt, who is here with us. It's very important that you are participating in this process. I'll conclude with this:
There have been some questions. Before I gave the Garma speech, it was, ‘Righto, well we don't know what the question is’. Well people now know what's on the table with the question. People now know what's on the table of the actual constitutional change that will occur. It’s not final, because we want people to have input and if people have got a little bit of a better idea, then that's fine as well.
The stuff about detail: I know the work that Tom and Marcia have done in terms of detail, there’s an extraordinary amount of detail out there. But I've deliberately tried to create the space to be inclusive, so that people from across the spectrum can come in.
I don't want this to be a government proposal, or my proposal, or for that matter, Linda or Pat or Mark or Malarndirri’s proposal. We want this to be Australia’s proposal, for Australians to have ownership of this process.
Because we are doing this for Australia, Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. This is a historic opportunity for our country to move forward and we will be doing as much as we can to make sure, as a government, that we're successful.
But I know already from the engagement that I've had with the business community, the trade union movement, sporting organisations. I know there was indeed a little bit of controversy over some of the people that got involved in the campaign. Let me tell you, I will seek support from anyone in any quarter in any corner of this community or the world for this without exception, without exception.
And if we can get people speaking to people out there who don't read the Fin Review or the Oz, or watch the late night news all the time, then all the better as well. Because everyone gets a vote in this, one vote in a referendum.
I'm very confident though. Because to me this goes to the character of the Australian people. And as a bit of an old fashioned progressive in some areas, I have faith in people. And I have faith in the capacity of the people in this room as well to argue the case.
When the Australian people had an opportunity way back in 1967, they seized it. And we want to give them the opportunity, again, to seize it.
There will be misinformation out there. You all see it. But one of the things about being disadvantaged and suffering from discrimination is that it forges you, in a way. And there is a bit of that, a bit about ‘special rights’ and all this sort of nonsense, which is what will be pedalled. But I'm convinced that Australians, when they have an opportunity to lift the nation up, they'll take it. They'll take it.
This isn't the end of the process either. The Voice is a vehicle for change, it's not the change itself. It's the vehicle to make sure that just as you shouldn’t identify someone's opportunities in life by their postcode, you certainly shouldn't identify the opportunities in life in this country by the nature of their birth. And at the moment you can. And we need to do better than that as a country.
As the leader of this great country I've been given a great honour. I'm not here to occupy the space, which is why we're going to roll this referendum out and give people the opportunity, because I think that the way that you have that process in itself will be a positive thing. And I know that the messages that we'll be seeing are very positive indeed. So I certainly await your input.
We haven't settled on a date, as you know. I genuinely haven't. At the end of the day, as the Prime Minister, that will be a decision that I'll have to advance. But I will be taking advice, including very strong advice from this group. But we need to be ready. I don’t want to rush into this. We've got time to explain it, to win people over. And I think the more that people discuss this the better.
The timeframe will be from sometime in that financial year – that's where the window is open – from July next year through to the next financial year. You don't want to get mixed up in in an election period. So we've got a little bit of time, but not too much. Not a day to waste. And I just want to very much thank this group for giving me the honour of being part of this process. Thank you.