2374

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Submission Number
2374
Participant
Melinda Wark
Submission date
Main Submission File
View main submission attachment by Melinda Wark31.76 KB
Main Submission Automated Transcript

To whom it may concern

My name is Melinda Wark and I live in Seven Hills in western Sydney, on the land of the
Darug people.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is for us a transformational document. Its formation
was a historic moment in the evolution of modern Australia, as Indigenous leaders came
together and called as one for an Indigenous voice in Parliament.

An Indigenous Voice to Parliament would ensure that matters of significance to the
Indigenous community were kept in the public eye. For instance, public scrutiny would
ensure that Indigenous deaths in custody were adequately investigated, and that
measures proposed 30 years ago by the Royal Commission into Black Deaths in
Custody were implemented. The urgency of steps such as raising the age of criminal
responsibility would be brought to the attention of the public. Sacred sites and traditional
lands would be acknowledged, and their desecration prevented or at least publicised.
The many gaps between the situations of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians
would be brought into the spotlight and closed; at present they are only widening.

I believe that it is essential for Indigenous people to play a role in determining their
situation, as this is central to empowered citizenship.

The Indigenous Voice to Parliament needs to be enshrined in the Constitution, rather
than merely being included in legislation, to ensure that successive governments do not
undermine its position or reduce it to a meaningless formality.

The Government needs to honour its election commitment to a referendum once a
model for the Voice to Parliament has been settled. Enabling legislation for the Voice
must be passed after a referendum has been held in the next term of Parliament; and
the membership model for the National Voice must ensure that previously unheard
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the same chance of being selected as
established leadership figures. This is what the gathering of 1200 Indigenous elders
from all over Australia called for at Uluru in 2017, with one united voice. The cry of this
pivotal gathering must be heard and its demands met for Australia to move into the
future with any semblance of justice.

Yours sincerely,

Melinda Wark

 

 

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