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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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CONSTITUTION (RECOGNITION OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLES) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading (resumed on motion).

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (15:53): This is a significant day in the process of reconciliation between the descendants of the first South Australians and those who have made this place their home more recently. Today we will take another step forward towards fulfilling a commitment made by the government only nine months ago, the commitment to give formal recognition to our state's Aboriginal peoples by asking this parliament to amend the South Australian constitution.

I would like to thank honourable members for their support of this bill, and I note that this support comes from all around the chamber—from government members, from our cross-bench colleagues, and from the opposition—and it is absolutely crucial that it happen in that way. Indeed, the power of this bill is as much contained in the words as it is in the expressions of support from the broadest possible range of political perspectives in South Australia. The truth is that without that shared commitment, we cannot move forward in the way we know we must.

This bill does not and cannot reduce every wrong that Aboriginal South Australians have endured as a direct result of European settlement, and I do not want to let our discussion of this bill pass without acknowledging the passion and the insights of many members on that point in the course of their contributions. But, the fact remains that everyone who has spoken has supported this bill, and that is as it should be.

This bill is a landmark in the process of reconciliation in South Australia. Since I introduced the bill late last year, we have marked the fifth anniversary of the national apology to the stolen generation. On that day, 13 February, the commonwealth Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Bill 2012, which has given great impetus to the process of national constitutional recognition, passed the House of Representatives.

With this bill on which we are about to vote, South Australia will take its next step in joining Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales in including a statement of recognition of Aboriginal or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in their state's constitutions. We are approaching the 16th anniversary of this parliament's apology to the first South Australians on 28 May 1997. I hope it will be possible for the parliament to complete its consideration of this bill in time for Harmony Day on 21 March.

I want to again thank the panel of eminent South Australians whose process of consultation and report to the government last year provided the basis for this bill. They are: Professor Peter Buckskin, Dean and Head of School of the David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education and Research, University of South Australia, and co-chair of Reconciliation SA; Ms Khatija Thomas, Commissioner for Aboriginal Engagement; Ms Shirley Peisley, Aboriginal elder and former co-chair of Reconciliation SA; the Hon. John von Doussa, a former judge of the Federal and Supreme courts, and former president of the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission; and the Hon. Robyn Layton, former Supreme Court judge and current co-chair of Reconciliation SA.

This panel was formed in May last year with my announcement of our commitment to move to constitutional recognition of Aboriginal South Australians. We asked the panel to do three things: first, to seek the views of South Australians (of course, in particular, Aboriginal South Australians) on the alternatives of a preamble to the act or a statement in the body of the act and, by implication, a combination of the two; we asked them to advise the government on the preferred form and content of a statement of Aboriginal recognition; and we asked them to prepare options for cabinet's consideration.

The government records its gratitude to the panel for the thoroughness of its process, the timely delivery of its report, and the clarity of its recommendation. In saying that, I also acknowledge the tributes to the panel and the way in which it went about its work that have been made in debate by many non-government members.

When I introduced this bill on 29 November last year, I referred to the panel's processes of consultation in some detail. It is enough to say, at this stage, that the thorough and open structured way in which they went about this task was an essential ingredient in the validity and integrity of this amendment to our constitution. The consultation and seeking of advice was in itself an act of restitution, restoring to the Aboriginal peoples of this state the respect which was not accorded to their ancestors when it should have been.

As I explained in introducing the bill, and as widely understood and approved of, this change to our constitution will not affect legal rights. The reason is simple: that is not its purpose. The purpose is to correct a grave omission in our constitution—the foundational document for the system of government which is established for this state. The purpose is to put right the failure to acknowledge people whose heritage is that the fully lived life cannot be separated from country—country which we now know as South Australia. The purpose is to tell the truth about who we are and to tell it for the generations to come. I commend the bill to the house.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (15:59): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (16:00): On behalf of the opposition, I would like to congratulate the parliament on having passed this bill through this house today and also thank the panel of eminent experts and persons who have put so many hours into getting this legislation to where it is today. Can I just say that in the recent opposition reshuffle, I was very disappointed to lose the Aboriginal affairs and reconciliation portfolio, but I was absolutely delighted to see the Leader of the Opposition Steven Marshall take up this very, very important portfolio.

I know the opposition leader has a passion for Aboriginal affairs, and he will do all he can to make sure that the legislation we put through this place today is not just left sitting on a shelf. It will mean something real for the future of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in South Australia.

Bill read a third time and passed.

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