Megan Davis: Video shows of Voice architect saying Aboriginal advisory body is an ‘anchor’ for ‘treaty’ and ‘truth-telling’ leading to ‘big law firms and lots of litigation’ – and insists ‘the Uluru statement is actually 18 pages’

A key architect of the Voice to Parliament previously claimed the Uluru Statement from the Heart was ’18 pages’ long and that the Voice was an ‘anchor’ to an eventual treaty involving ‘big law firms and lots of litigation’ in a resurfaced video recording. 

Professor Megan Davis said the Voice was ‘inextricably linked’ to treaty in an online panel discussion about the Uluru Statement from the Heart organised by the Sydney Opera House in December 2021.

‘The Voice is inextricably linked to a coordinated approach to agreement-making and treaty,’ said Professor Davis.

‘And that was what was decided: we have a framework here ‘Voice, Treaty, Truth’. What’s the logic for that framework? 

‘That’s what the actual Uluru statement is – the one-pager. But it’s longer than the one page. 

‘The Uluru statement is actually 18 pages: it includes the truth-telling bit, which is the Aboriginal history of Australia.’

Professor Davis’s comments appear to contradict her recent claim that the Uluru Statement is actually 15 pages, which is made in a book she co-authored with Patricia Anderson ‘Our Voices From the Heart’, published just two days ago. 

In the recording of the Sydney Opera House event, Professor Davis goes on to argue that ‘a lot of things can cascade’ from securing a Voice in the Constitution. 

‘Until you have that anchor in the constitution that can’t be undone… then it’s going to be very hard for our people to forge proper treaties in this day and age. 

‘You are retro-fitting something so vast since the first invasion – the first contact – and so it is very difficult to do.’

She added: ‘When you talk to those people who are actively involved in agreement-making, it is all about lawyers and interpretation of texts. 

‘And that’s what treaties are: talk to the US, talk to New Zealand, talk to Canada, it’s all about big law firms and lots of litigation being generated to interpret a treaty.’

It is the second time in recent days past comments made by Professor Davis have rocked the Yes campaign. 

Daily Mail Australia has sought comment from Yes and Professor Davis. 

In a resurfaced speech she gave on June 28, 2018, Professor Davis also said ‘treaties are about reparations’ and that ‘Treaty is not an end, it’s a beginning.’ 

‘Uluru was a sequence reform. Voice to the Parliament first, Treaty second,’ Prof Davis said in the speech. 

‘Treaties are legal texts. There will be disputes over interpretation. The treaties are about reparations for past injustices and they are about land and they are about resources.’

The UNSW professor said the sequence of Voice followed by treaty was ‘appropriate’.

‘Treaty is not an end, it’s a beginning. The Voice to Parliament is not an original idea, it is as old as the calls for treaties,’ she said.

‘Aboriginal peoples as an extreme minority have always sought an enhanced role in decision making in Australian democracy.

‘So the sequence of Voice and then Treaty is an appropriate one. We need an interface between communities and the state.’

The resurfaced comments came just days after it was revealed fellow Voice architect Pat Anderson said the advisory body would ‘share power with parliament’ following a successful Yes vote.

In the past, Anthony Albanese made no secret of his position on a treaty (tweet pictured)

The Uluru Statement from the Heart was delivered in May 2017, after two years of deliberative ‘dialogues’ with Indigenous communities across the country. 

Professor Davis was on the Referendum Council who helped create the statement.  

It underpins the upcoming referendum to be held on October 14, which, if passed, would enshrine an Indigenous Voice in the Australian Constitution. 

This would mean an advisory body of First Nations people must be consulted by federal politicians on matters affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has consistently said the referendum – which polling has indicated will fail – is only about a Voice, not a Treaty or reparations.

But Mr Albanese was voted into office after campaigning under the slogan ‘Voice, Treaty, Truth’ and even vowed to enact the Uluru Statement from the Heart ‘in full’ in his first speech after winning power.