Uluru Statement from the Heart

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (14:32): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier provide an update to the house on the delivery of the Treaty and Truth parts of his election commitment? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TEAGUE: Labor's Celebrating Aboriginal People election commitment states, and I quote, 'South Australian Labor has already committed to a state-based implementation of the Uluru Statement of the Heart that includes Voice, Treaty and Truth.'

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:33): I thank the member for Heysen, the shadow minister for Aboriginal affairs, for his question. The state government has made very clear, consistent with much of the advice and representations we have received from Aboriginal people themselves, that in terms of the Uluru Statement from the Heart the first step in the equation is to establish the Voice, and that is exactly what we are doing here in South Australia, as we discussed yesterday. It is my hope, my sincere hope, that that is also what we see on the federal level.

The initial plan from the state government, having passed the legislation in March this year, despite its opposition from those who had once supported the Voice, was to have the elections for the representatives to the Voice in September, with the view of then having the Voice providing its representations to the parliament shortly after that.

Having received advice from a number of sources, the Commissioner for First Nations Voice in the state of South Australia, Mr Dale Agius, also upon receiving advice that I understand came from the Electoral Commission, the decision was made not to have a Voice election occurring for the State Voice at the same time as the referendum for the national Voice. Subsequently, the decision was made, of course, to defer the election until March next year and that is what will occur, regardless of the outcome of the federal referendum.

We will have our election for the Voice in March next year. That in and of itself is actually quite a substantial undertaking. Arranging elections in regional communities for state and federal elections always brings with it logistical challenges. This will be no different, particularly given that it is the first election of its type.

I am happy to foreshadow that we desperately want to see a yes vote for the national referendum—not just because we believe in the Voice, but a no vote I fear would serve as having a bad signal to members of regional and Indigenous communities that somehow the Voice has now been rejected, which might dilute the perception of the State Voice in terms of whether or not it still exists.

I say through this forum: it is important that Indigenous communities across the state know that the State Voice to Parliament has been established, the election will occur and this parliament will enjoy having representations from our First Nations people within it. That is something that we are very proud of, particularly on this side of the house, and will be delivering upon. Having delivered upon the State Voice during the course of next year following the election, then the government from there will turn its mind to the remainder of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.