The Uluru Statement from the Heart
Work that is being done across the country to further the cause of reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, by having their voice enshrined in the Australian constitution. Loraine and Michael attended a briefing to the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), where Dean Parkin, Director of From the Heart, spoke very clearly about the opportunity and challenges that are before those of us who are seeking to redress the mistakes of the past by ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have their voices heard in the decisions that fashion the future of Australia.
The message is clear. This is a moment in time where we can come together to lend our support to an ongoing legacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices to the key issues of concern to our nation, to those issues that we feel passionate about and continue to speak out on as individuals and as a congregation.
To do this you need to make a submission which indicates your own personal, individual support for the process to continue as it was decided, namely that:
- The Government must honour its election commitment of a referendum once a model for the Voice has been settled.
- Enabling legislation for the voice after a referendum has been held in the next term of Parliament.
- The membership model for the National Voice must ensure previously unheard Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the same chance of being selected as established leadership figures.
Like many other organisations, the Engadine Uniting Church will make a submission that affirms our collective commitment to these principles and practice. But the future of our petition to follow the process as planned, and have a referendum, is dependent upon the collective voices of individual Australians to push for this, in the name of justice, and it is vitally important that we take some time to make out own individual submissions to ensure the Government sits up and notices.
You can make submission by going online at the From the Heart website, and making a heartfelt statement about why this is important to you, and how the Government needs to respond to be true to its election commitment. It is important to put your thoughts and beliefs in your own words, but if you would like to see what others have said, you can access the published submissions here. If you need further information about the process and the work that has been done to date to arrive at the Uluru Statement from the Heart, you can view the recent webinar held by the Australia Institute.
Michael Bleasdale
Community Engagement Officer
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