Aboriginal Representative Body Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 6 July 2022.)

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (10:43): I thank the member for Heysen for bringing this bill to the chamber and the member for Dunstan, the former Premier, for introducing this package of legislation last year, prior to the election.

The question of an Aboriginal Voice to Parliament is a very important one for us to consider in this state and it is being considered in the nation at the moment. There was a significant body of work undertaken by Dr Roger Thomas—I hesitate because he now has a different title to his role, but he was the Aboriginal engagement commissioner under the former government and he has served the people of South Australia in a range of roles over an extended period of time.

Roger Thomas spoke on the floor of this parliament a couple of years ago in what was a really important moment, a historic moment, and one that I think everybody who was here very much appreciated. In that speech nearly two years ago he outlined the incredibly important body of work that he had undertaken over an extended period of time in consulting with First Nations voices from around South Australia, government bodies, representative bodies and individual Aboriginal South Australians, in talking about the way they would engage with government and have more confidence and more agency in the work that government does.

It was a significant body of work and it was supported by the former government, particularly by the former Premier, Steven Marshall, in his role as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation during the last term of government. That work culminated in a body of legislation that was very similar in form, if not exactly the same in form, to the bill that is in question today.

At the federal level, there is a significant level of debate underway about what form a Voice to Parliament will take, as presented by the new Albanese Labor government federally. To be frank, I think the federal Labor Party is not doing its best work in this area because there is a lack of clarity around what referendum is going to go forward. They say next financial year, and I think that is a problem because this is an important area for national unity, for reconciliation, and it is important for Aboriginal South Australians and Aboriginal Australians at a federal level.

That lack of clarity puts at great risk the federal proposition for a Voice to Parliament, and it is indeed very difficult for us to have a rational debate about that federal proposition when the federal government has, I think, put the cart ahead of the horse. They are talking very much about the referendum, they are using emotive language to describe whether or not it would be a good or bad thing and I still have yet to hear them, with clarity, explain to anybody what that proposition would entail.

The proposal that this house is dealing with at this moment is a piece of legislation which does provide clarity. It provides a genuine Voice to Parliament for South Australian Aboriginal people. Indeed, it is the result of a process of significant community consultation, led by Aboriginal voices and particularly the work of Roger Thomas. I think that there is an opportunity for this state parliament to provide leadership at a national level by providing this Voice.

This bill, if enacted, will provide a genuine representative opportunity for Aboriginal South Australians to have a clarity, a Voice to Parliament, a say on issues that affect Aboriginal South Australians that is led by Aboriginal South Australians. It does not propose some of the measures that are being talked about at a federal level that I think are creating a level of division in the community. It does not propose special representation by way of veto or extra votes in the parliament. It provides a voice to the parliament and a voice that has been developed in its nature over an extended period of time with many Aboriginal voices captured in the model.

Prior to the election, I cannot remember whether the former Labor opposition, now the government, opposed the bill or sought to certainly delay its commencement, and ultimately the legislation was not passed in time. I have heard the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs since the election, and potentially before, describe the consultation process as inadequate. It is an error for him to do so because the bill that was presented—and there was an opportunity for consultation, and certainly there has been more than a year's opportunity now for people to express points of view on the detail of the bill—was the culmination of a consultation period that was genuine, authentic and led by Aboriginal voices over an extended period of time.

I hope that the Labor Party reconsider their point of view on this bill because we can vote as a parliament today in this house and, not long after, in the Legislative Council to provide that Voice to Parliament that so many people have been seeking for a long time in a way that has been endorsed by many Aboriginal South Australians and, indeed, continue the good work of the Aboriginal advisory bodies that have existed in one form or another for an extended period of time.

During the term of the Marshall Liberal government, the Aboriginal advisory committee to the state government was given the opportunity to address cabinet twice a year and to raise issues that they felt were important to be priorities for the cabinet to consider, to ask questions of cabinet ministers in that room in the State Administration Centre on issues they felt to be important. This was not a group of people who were hand-picked by Steven Marshall and the Liberal Party. We continued the terms of those who were picked by Jay Weatherill's government and replaced people if they stepped down.

This was a body that was a good body. It was not elected, but it was, nevertheless, a good representative body for Aboriginal South Australians. I think that they felt empowered; I hope that they did, as that was certainly our goal. By keeping the cabinet accountable for the work that we had committed to doing over four years through our Aboriginal action plans and, indeed, having set goals and an opportunity for that committee to judge us on our achievement or otherwise, or give us feedback about what was not working, or give us ideas about how we could better resolve those issues that were not going at the pace that we would have liked, was important. That was a voice to cabinet.

I think a Voice to Parliament is ultimately more important because it will provide the opportunity for the reflections of this group, which will be representative of Aboriginal South Australians, to be on the record and, indeed, to have that public-facing engagement that the previous operations clearly did not provide in the same way. I think that the incumbency really behoves the Labor Party to give this serious consideration.

I know that up until now the Labor Party has not supported this bill. It has not supported this opportunity for an Aboriginal Voice to Parliament to proceed. I encourage them to vote for it today, but if that is not the case I encourage them in the weeks ahead to give it a second look, to think about the opportunity that it will provide to get ahead of the rest of the nation in this important space, and to do so in a way that is consistent with the operations of the parliament. Not only will it provide a head start but the purpose of it is to give agency and voice for Aboriginal South Australians to have that say on issues particularly that affect them.

There are issues in this state and our nation that will always particularly impact on Aboriginal South Australians and Aboriginal Australians. There are opportunities, too, to address some of those measures and to ensure that as we are conducting government business, designing policies and funding policies that are designed inherently to support the needs of Aboriginal South Australians, they are far more likely to be effective and have impact if Aboriginal South Australians have had agency and a particular opportunity to feel ownership of those solutions.

I commend the bill to the house, and I urge the government to support it today. I thank the member for Heysen for moving the bill.

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (10:51): I move:

That the debate be adjourned.

The house divided on the motion:

Ayes 21

Noes 13

Majority 8

AYES

NOES

PAIRS

Motion thus carried; debate adjourned.