Linda Burney has stressed the Voice to Parliament will prioritise issues vital to Indigenous people over more minor matters such as changing the date of Australia Day – as she is grilled over the ‘scope’ of the advisory body.
The Indigenous Affairs minister appeared on ABC’s Insiders to speak about the Voice as she prepared for a day of campaigning for the Yes vote in Launceston, Tasmania, on Sunday.
It comes off the back of her National Press Club address this week, where she laid out the four major priorities of the Voice which were health, education, housing and jobs.
She explained on the program that she had no doubt those elected to the body would also see them as prime concerns.
Host David Speers questioned her about whether the advisory body had the power to ‘change’ Australia Day.
Indigenous Affairs minister Linda Burney (pictured) was interviewed on ABC’s Insiders about the Voice to Parliament
Minister Burney explained that it was focused on the ‘important issues’ she identified.
‘Josie Douglas, who is this remarkable Aboriginal woman in the Central Land Council, put it perfectly – ‘we are about changing lives, not changing dates’,’ she said.
‘The Voice I know will concentrate on issues to close the Gap in this country.’
‘We’ve got 19 targets and four are on track, that cannot be good for the country and it’s certainly not good for Aboriginal people.’
The Closing the Gap statistics highlighted the differences in health, life expectancy, education and economic opportunity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap identified 19 targets to work towards reducing or eliminating to improve the lives of First Nations people.
Ms Burney has previously claimed the Voice would have no interest in changing the date of Australia Day – despite several Yes campaigners saying it would be on the agenda.
Newly unearthed tweets written by Voice to Parliament architect Thomas Mayo between 2018 and 2021 reveal he hoped the Voice would be ‘an appropriate body, with appropriate authority to discuss an appropriate date’ to celebrate Australia Day.
In a 2022 opinion piece, Mr Mayo even suggested the new date could be the day the Voice to Parliament referendum passes.
Mr Mayo has since told Daily Mail Australia this is a view he no longer supports, stating he does not ‘share that particular view about Australia Day anymore’.
Sydney lawyer Teela Reid joined in saying she believed the national holiday should be scrapped.
‘It is truly disingenuous to be claiming mob won’t be demanding to #AbolishAustralia day,’ she tweeted in June.
‘It started decades before the referendum, it’ll still be a demand after it.’
Ms Burney stressed that the Voice will prioritise issues she outlined in her National Press Club address which were health, education, housing and jobs over changing the date of Australia Day (pictured, an Invasion Day protest in Sydney)
Ms Burney said the Voice would be a ‘two-way process’ between the government and the advisory body and that the ‘scope should be a respectful discussion with the Voice’
Ms Burney was questioned on Sunday about the ‘scope’ of the body and how it would delve beyond the four priority areas she outlined.
She claimed that it would be a ‘two-way process’ between the government and the advisory body and that the ‘scope should be a respectful discussion with the Voice’.
‘I have identified very clearly what I think the priorities are. But obviously there are other issues like baby birthweights, like life expectancy,’ she said.
‘But I really say to you very clearly, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain from the establishment of the Voice.’
The Indigenous Affairs minister added that it would be a relationship ‘of respect’, ‘trust’ and ‘listening to fresh ideas about intractable problems’.
‘I can assure people watching us this morning that the issues that the Voice will be focused on are the issues that worry people watching this show – the disparity – and that’s what we are going to be focusing on,’ she said.
She reiterated that the Voice were also advising the parliament, meaning the parliament could seek the views of the advisory body if legislation came through that affect First Nations people.
When asked if – hypothetically – her department and her Voice were saying different things on an issue like birthing on country, Ms Burney said she ‘would be listening to both’.
‘And trying to make sure that what goes forward is what will work for Aboriginal young people. This is not complex,’ she said.
Ms Burney was again asked, this time twice, whether the government would consider legislating a Voice to parliament if the referendum to enshrine it in the constitution failed at the polls later this year.
Ms Burney reiterated what she had told the Press Club earlier this week, that she has ‘enormous faith in the Australian people’.
‘I don’t say that because I’m supposed to say it, I say it because I really believe it, and I believe that this will be a successful referendum,’ she said.
The referendum for the Voice to Parliament is expected to be held sometime between October and December this year.
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