Face of Nation : A new Liberal senator has reignited debate about an Indigenous referendum, using his first speech to break cover and call for an advisory body in the constitution.
An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to Parliament was proposed two years ago by Indigenous delegates at a conference at Uluru. The idea has proved controversial within parts of the Coalition and was again hosed down by Prime Minister Scott Morrison this month.
But freshly-elected New South Wales senator Andrew Bragg said Australia “should not wait any longer” before properly recognising Indigenous peoples.
“Almost every comparable nation has landed some form of legal recognition of First Peoples,” Senator Bragg said in his first speech to Parliament. “The issue of proper recognition in the Constitution will not go away. It shouldn’t.”
Senator Bragg was briefly in charge of the Liberal Party’s organisational wing before leading the Yes campaign on same-sex marriage within the Coalition in 2017.
He is one of the first members of the Government to support the inclusion of an Indigenous advisory body in the nation’s founding document.
Opponents have claimed the proposal would create another chamber of parliament in addition to the House of Representatives and the Senate — a suggestion strongly rejected by those advocating for change.
“A First Nations Voice would not be a third chamber,” Senator Bragg said. “It will not have the standing, scope or power of the Senate or the House of Representatives. “Further, the campaign that ‘race has no place’ in the Constitution may sound good. “[But] our present Constitution already contains race in several places.”
Senator Bragg said any proposal put to a national vote needed “broad support” within the Indigenous community but also needed to “strengthen national unity”. Many within the Liberal and National parties support symbolically recognising First Australians in the Constitution but are wary of changes that go beyond that.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison this month said the plan for a new Indigenous advisory structure was not being considered “within the constitutional context” — suggesting it would instead be established by legislation. This year’s Budget included more than $7 million to continue designing the voice to parliament proposal.
