What is “The Uluru Statement from the Heart”?

When our new Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, delivered his recent election victory speech he said “On behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I commit to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.”

The Uluru Statement from the Heart all began in 2015, when a Referendum Council was appointed by then Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull and the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten. The Council was invited by the federal government to advise parliament on how to work towards a referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution.

Members of the Council spent six months travelling the country, speaking with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at a series of meetings they called ‘The Dialogues’.

In May 2017, over 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates from Indigenous nations across the country met for the First Nations National Constitutional Convention.

It was during this gathering that the delegates reflected on the insights garnered from The Dialogues, and spent time drafting the 440-word document, “The Uluru Statement from the Heart”.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart makes a series of recommendations, or ‘invitations’ to the Australian people, asking for three sequential key reforms: Voice, Treaty and Truth.

Voice: The first thing the statement calls for is “the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution”. This voice would be in the form of a group of First Nations people, representing all Indigenous Australians. The government would need to consult with this group on policy and legislation, giving First Nations people the opportunity to have their opinions and preferences heard about laws that impact their country and people. The reason the statement specifies that the First Nations Voice must be written into the constitution is so it cannot be removed by any future governments.

Treaty: After the establishment of a First Nations Voice, the Statement proposes the creation of a Makarrata Commission, ‘makarrata’ meaning ‘the coming together after a struggle’. The first goal of this commission would be to oversee and supervise the negotiation of a treaty between colonial Australians and the traditional owners of Australia.

Truth: The second objective of the Makarrata Commission would be to facilitate a truth-telling process to recognise and record past injustices suffered by Indigenous people. The formal acknowledgment of an agreed truth would then make way for “a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia”.

You can learn more about the Uluru Statement from the Heart from this website: The Statement - Uluru Statement from the Heart

• Topics:

• Community
• First Nations Peoples