“A proposed law to alter the constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?”
That is the question Australians are set to answer yes or no to at the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament.
The working group on the Indigenous voice to parliament has met for a second consecutive night to nail down a draft of the referendum question and constitutional amendment and have come to an agreement.
The reform will now go to a parliamentary committee for six weeks before the government hopes to pass the bill in June with a referendum expected in October.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says this is an opportunity that doesn’t belong to the politicians, it belongs to every Australian person equally on person.
“On every measure, there is a gap between the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the national average, a 10 year gap in life expectancy as suicide rate twice as high, tragic levels of child mortality and disease.
“A massive over representation in the prison population in deaths in custody and children sent to out of home care. And this is not because of a shortage of goodwill, or good intentions on any side of politics.
“And that’s not because of a lack of funds. It’s because governments have spent decades trying to impose solutions from Canberra rather than consulting with communities. I know that every Australian wants to see our nation do better than this, because our nation is better than this.
“Every Australian wants to know that an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander baby born today will enjoy an equal right to grow up healthy and safe to get a great education. Find a good job to live a long and happy life.
“That’s what this is about. That’s what this is about,” Mr Albanese said.