People shouldn’t repeat ‘apology mistake’ by opposing the Voice: Burney
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney will draw a direct link between Kevin Rudd’s apology to the stolen generations and the Indigenous Voice to parliament, saying many people who boycotted the former prime minister’s landmark address now say they regret it.
Without mentioning Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who last year admitted he “made a mistake” in refusing to support the national apology to survivors of the stolen generations and their families in 2008, Burney will say on Sunday that people shouldn’t “repeat the mistakes of the past”.
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney will draw a link between the apology and the Voice.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
“I know that some people who boycotted that historic day in 2008 have since expressed their regret. They now admit that it was a mistake,” Burney will say in a speech to mark the 15-year anniversary of Rudd’s address in Canberra.
“When a generous and gracious hand is outstretched – in partnership – it should be grasped. To do anything else would be to repeat the mistakes of the past.”
The speech will follow a difficult week on the Voice for the Albanese government in which it backflipped on publishing an official pamphlet for the referendum after days of pressure from the opposition.
Dutton has yet to say whether he will support the Voice, saying the Albanese government has not yet released enough detail to make an informed decision.
Burney will say the apology wasn’t just an acknowledgment of past government wrongdoing, but a commitment to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
She will say it led to the annual Closing the Gap targets, the Commonwealth’s redress scheme in the Northern Territory and the ACT, and the Uluru Statement of the Heart which recommended a Voice to parliament.
“The apology was an acknowledgment that, over decades, governments of different persuasions failed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” Burney will say. “It was also a commitment to do better in the future.
“We still haven’t fulfilled that commitment to do better. On a range of indicators, gaps still exist.”
She will say that now is the time to embrace new ways to close the gap because the old approaches haven’t worked.
“A future that ensures we have a Voice on the issues that affect us,” Burney, a Wiradjuri woman, will say.
“Because we know that the solutions to so many of our challenges are found in our communities – at the grassroots level.”
She will also reaffirm the Albanese government’s commitment to a Makarrata commission, which was a key recommendation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and includes a process for truth-telling and a treaty.
Burney will say she looks forward to a “future of truth-telling through Makarrata – where the injustices of the past are fully heard and listened to … a future where we move Australia forward, for everyone”.
“Later this year there will be a referendum on constitutional recognition through Voice. And it is my deepest wish that Australians vote Yes.”
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