The Liberal National Party Policy: 'Our Plan'

In the 2019 Federal Budget, the Morrison government committed $7.3 million to develop models for a First Nations Voice and $160 million for a future referendum once the Voice model has been determined.

The Morrison government's Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt, has since finalised the co-design process to develop models for a First Nations Voice. The 2020 Interim Report and 2021 Final Report both provide further details on how the National and Regional and Local Voices could interact with one another and with parliament and the government.

However since the co-design process has been finalised, the Morrison government has not made a decision on whether it will progress with a referendum to constitutionally enshrine and establish a National First Nations Voice. This part of the process is also completely left out of the LNP policy commitments for the next federal election and the Morrison government's latest federal budget.

The Morrison government has only set aside funding in the 2022 Federal Budget for establishing 35 Local and Regional Voice bodies across the country. Zero dollars have been allocated towards progressing with the establishment and constitutional enshrinement of a National First Nations Voice as called for in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

The government's co-design process on a voice to government has delivered welcome information on what a voice could look like and how it could operate. But the promised reforms fall far short of the reform agenda set out by the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

The government has a plan for a legislated voice to government at local, regional and national levels, following a co-design process led by Marcia Langton and Tom Calma. The government's proposal is stuck within existing structures that are failing Indigenous communities.

The difference between parliament and government is key, as is constitutional enshrinement. Calma and Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt have dismissed the importance of this difference, noting it is the government of the day that has power to make decisions. But this is a misconception of democratic governance, and is partly the result of government in Australia gradually turning away from the authority of parliament.

Having a voice to parliament (not government) would mean Indigenous issues are no longer buried in the bureaucratic mess and secrecy of government. Enshrined in the constitution and recognising the place of First Nations, a Voice would empower Indigenous peoples to influence laws and policies made about them while also providing much needed transparency on government decision making.

I am loath to score political parties in a two-party system. The idea that the possibility of our greater justice might come down to an election that is substantially being contested on other issues is despairing.

The current government has not committed to the 2017 Referendum Council recommendations, as expressed in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The terms of reference of its 2020 Indigenous Voice Co-Design Process were limited to exclude any possibility of constitutional change, the foundational anchor of the 2017 Referendum Council recommendations.

In 2019 the Coalition promised to design a Voice to Parliament, and take that to the Australian people in a referendum. The government set up co-design committees in 2019 to do this work. That work is now done, and despite being forbidden from discussing a Voice's constitutional protections, the committees did note the almost 90% rate of public support for enshrinement via a referendum.

Scott Morrison said as recently as May 2, however, that "it's not our policy to have a referendum on the Voice". It is unlikely the Coalition will progress with a referendum and constitutional enshrinement if re-elected.

Constitutional protection is the most important aspect of a Voice to Parliament. It safeguards it from the whims of government, ensures mob's structural power, and gives us proper standing to engage Treaty. Anything less than that will not deliver meaningful change.

Having sat on the National Co-Design Group for Indigenous Voice, I am surprised the Liberal Party has no apparent faith in its Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Ken Wyatt. He put together a brilliant process and heard overwhelming support from 9,400 people during the consultations. Yet, only the Local and Regional Voice component, as feeders to the now excised National Indigenous Voice, is supported. While a pragmatic approach to go slow and build on advances is often a good bet, the Liberals have misread the room entirely. Bits of Indigenous Voice do not inspire good relationships.