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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-04-11 Daily Xml
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Question Time

First Nations Voice to Parliament

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you for your service. My question is to the Premier. Is the Voice to Parliament representative of Aboriginal people in South Australia? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: Of approximately 30,000 eligible Aboriginal people, less than 10 per cent voted in the election of the First Nations Voice to Parliament.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:05): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. The state government is committed to ensuring that the recently legislated Voice to Parliament—recently elected Voice to Parliament—makes a thoughtful contribution to public policy development, particularly in respect to matters that affect Indigenous affairs, or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs, in the state of South Australia.

The turnout for the recent Voice election in many respects represents an improvement in what we have seen in other recent elections in South Australia, particularly in comparison to local government. All of the positions within the Local Voice to Parliament were contested. There were far more nominations received than there were positions available. In region 1, there were 41 nominations for 11 positions; 13 nominations in regions 2 and 3; 14 nominations in region 4; 19 nominations in region 5; and 13 nominations in region 6. That stands in stark contrast to what we saw in the most recent local government elections where, of course, there were a number of positions that were elected completely unopposed.

The strong interest from people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent in South Australia to participate in all this I think is a demonstration of their confidence that this is an effort worth pursuing for the betterment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within our state. That is an aspiration that I would expect everyone in this place to share.

Indeed, I note the litany of remarks that have been made by members, on both sides of the house, including from the current opposition, that they are keen to see the Voice actually work. Indeed, so much of the genesis of the Voice that we have here in South Australia comes from members opposite who took to the election themselves a policy to institute a Voice to Parliament. I note that there has been a subsequent change in position from the opposition, which they are entitled to do, but nonetheless there have been—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Hartley!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: I am in no way seeking to diminish or deny the opposition the ability to change their position, but on this side of the house we have got a genuinely held, and indeed a firm view, that we believe a Voice to Parliament is worth pursuing to give Aboriginal people better outcomes. What we have implemented here in South Australia, and what we are implementing, is quite different in nature than what was proposed at the recent federal election. We have not changed the constitution; what we have done is legislated a Voice to Parliament.

Let me say this: earlier this week, I had the privilege and the opportunity to be able to spend time with those who have been elected to represent their communities and to say a few words and have all those representatives in one room at one time. Let me assure you that these are good people who are genuinely interested in trying to get better outcomes for their communities in very complex circumstances. They want to give it a crack, we want to give it a crack, and I hope this whole parliament wants to give it the opportunity to succeed.

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