Voice to Parliament's four main priorities to be revealed - SBS News

KEY POINTS:

• Linda Burney will outline four main priorities for the Voice.
• Major priorities will be health, education, jobs, and housing.
• Burney will insist the Voice won't be a 'passive advisory body'.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney will urge Australians to resolve "unfinished business" by voting for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, as she outlines the four main policy areas it would advise on.

In a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Burney will reveal major priorities for the Voice if enshrined in the constitution: health, education, jobs and housing.

In her first meeting with the Voice, Burney says she will ask for input on ways to reduce Indigenous suicides, increase schooling outcomes for Aboriginal children, and improve health and employment outcomes.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, surrounded by members of the First Nations Referendum Working Group, speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

"From day one, the Voice will have a full in-tray," Burney will say.

“It’s not going to be a passive advisory body. I want it to be active and engaged. We need new perspectives to old challenges."

While parliament will legislate the way the Voice will operate after a successful referendum and consultation with Indigenous groups, the government has gradually revealed details surrounding certain principles.

That includes assurances that it will be gender balanced and include youth representatives.

Burney will say Voice won't be 'passive'

Burney will say the Voice will focus on improving the future for the next generation and, unlike the government, won't be distracted by election cycles.

"I will be asking the Voice for their input to solve these most pressing issues," she will say.

"It's not going to be a passive advisory body. I want it to be active and engaged."

The speech will be delivered after weeks of questioning by the Coalition over the scope of the proposed body, including claims it could demand changes from the Reserve Bank and have a say over road-building projects.

The Coalition under Peter Dutton has raised questions over the scope of the body. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dismissed the criticism as disingenuous, saying it showed opponents lack a "genuine objection" to the proposal.

Burney, a Wiradjuri woman, will intimate that local community members would raise issues with the body, which would then deliver those concerns to the government and parliament.

Burney will say Indigenous children are 55 times more likely to die from rheumatic heart disease than non-Indigenous people.

"These deaths are completely preventable with access to medical care, proper housing and running water," she will say.

Burney to use a personal story to champion Voice's benefits

On referendum day later this year, Burney will urge voters to consider people like her friend Michael Riley.

Riley grew up in Dubbo in the 1960s and lived on the Talbragar Aboriginal Reserve, one of the many missions or reserves around the country where Aboriginal people were forced to reside in often overcrowded conditions, with little or no access to healthcare or essential services.

He contracted rheumatic fever, a serious but preventable illness that, if left untreated, can lead to rheumatic heart disease and death.

Riley became a renowned photographer but died aged 44.

"I visited him every day in hospital," Burney will say.

"I watched him go blind in one eye. His Aboriginality condemned him to an early death - a preventable death."

While several recent polls have found support for a 'Yes' vote is slipping, Burney will say Australia needs new perspectives to solve old challenges.

"For too long, governments have made policies for Indigenous Australians, not with Indigenous Australians," she will say.

"We need the Voice to change that because the Voice will be a mechanism for the government and parliament to listen.

"It will be like a resource of local knowledge and solutions that can help us make better policies."

Fix 'unfinished business': Burney

Burney will say it's time for the constitution to recognise Indigenous Australians who have coexisted on this continent for more than 65,000 years.

"When will we finally resolve this unfinished business?" she will question.

"We are so close. Our destination is on the horizon."

Burney will appeal to Australians to carefully consider how they will vote in the referendum due to be held in the final quarter of this year.

"And I hope more than anything that the answer is 'yes'," she will say.

The referendum's success depends on majority support across the country and in four of six Australian states.

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2023-07-05 00:58:38Z
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