First Nations Voice to Parliament

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:09): My question is again to the Premier. Is the Premier committed to engaging with and acting on the advice of the First Nations Voice to Parliament?

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:09): That depends on that advice. That is the central premise of the proposition. I made clear throughout the deliberations and throughout the parliament in respect of the Voice that, ultimately, it is an advisory body. It will be up to individual parliamentarians when it comes to legislative considerations. It will be up to the executive arm of government to determine what advice we take into account and what advice we choose to not take into account. They will be decisions that different ministers, different MPs, will make in different times.

There were two elements to the Leader of the Opposition's question: engagement and taking advice. In terms of engagement, of course, absolutely—because we believe in choosing to engage. The counterfactual, of course, is to choose not to engage, and we have seen how far that has got us.

The Hon. V.A. Tarzia: You can engage without a Voice.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: Nobody, I think, in good conscience can accept that the status quo represents an outcome that is in the interests of anybody in the state of South Australia, let alone Indigenous or Aboriginal people themselves. We have to do better. We should have an aspiration, in an egalitarian society, to not see such an extraordinary gap between the standard of living for people who are Indigenous versus non-Indigenous. That is why the central premise of the Voice is to choose to engage, to listen, and to allow people to be heard who have otherwise been ignored too often in the past.

So, yes, in answer to the Leader of the Opposition's question, we do choose to engage. In terms of what advice will be accepted and not accepted, that will depend on the advice itself and the circumstances of the policy matter at the time. I have made clear that there will be moments where governments—including, indeed, this government—may choose to not heed the advice of their Voice, but I tell you what, we will be thinking about it first. Even that in and of itself represents a marked change from the efforts we have seen in the past, where no advice has been sought, no advice has been given and no advice has been heard.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Hammond!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We are choosing to engage because we want better outcomes, just as I know Aboriginal people in this state want better outcomes.