Anna Burchfield
Karrinyup, WA, 6018
To Co-Design Body
Submission for Co-design process
I am a non-indigenous woman from Boorloo (Western Australia), I was born is Ngambri
(ACT). This is my first time making an official written statement to a committee in support
of Indigenous Australians. I am a privileged, educated woman - I have a Degree in
International Relations and P.R from Curtin Univeristy and a Master's Degree in Political
Science from the University of Western Australia. I submit this statement as a private
citizen, on behalf of myself. I work in Marketing for Advanced Personnel Management
(APM).
Why do you think the Uluru Statement from the Heart is important?
It is vital for our Indigenous people to have a dedicated voice in Parliament, they are the
oldest Indigenous culture in the world and we as white and non-Indigenous people are
simply 'tourists' who claimed a sovereignty that was never ceded to us. This Statement
is a logical and simple step.
Why do you think it's important to enshrine the Voice to Parliament in the Constitution,
rather than include it only in legislation?
It is important to do this in the Constitution because the land we govern on and the land
us non-Indigenous people claim to govern is their land. To do this in the Constitution will
help undo the damage of the White Australia policy and the fact that Indigenous people
were only acknowledged as human being in our Constitution in 1967. This process
needs to come full circle. Simply putting this in legislation puts the notion of Indigenous
Australians being the owners and custodians of Australia up for debate or discussion by
predominantly white politicians. This should not be there decision, the ownership of
Australia by Indigenous people is not up for debate or conjecture. Allowing
predominantly white politicians to debate this would only serve the purpose of exposing
more systemic racism and systems of inherent bias.
How could a Voice to Parliament improve the lives of your community?
The visibility of Indigenous people would be incredibly beneficial for my community. I
want to see more Indigenous representation in our State Parliaments too.
Why is it important for Indigenous people to have a say in the matters that affect them?
This is an important step to undo the damaging paternalism of the past. We non-
Indigenous people cannot claim to know what is better for Indigenous people without
consulting them. At some point we need to do differently to our ancestors, not simply
continuing things because that was always how things were previously done. What has
been done in the past has caused awful damage to generations of Indigenous people.
Yours sincerely,
Anna Burchfield
