Parliament house in Adelaide. Source : Wikimedia Commons (Used unded Creative Commons)
By the end of 2023, South Australia will be the first to implement a First Nations’ Voice to Parliament.
This comes after discussions surrounding a Voice to Parliament have been ongoing in both federal and state/territory spheres.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister and Attorney-General Kyam Maher said the legislation for the First Nations’ Voice to Parliament is to be introduced in February.
“It’ll be the first in Australia, so it’ll be very historic that, for the first time, there will be a body like this that is elected, that will form a Voice to Parliament, a body that is chosen from Aboriginal people, by Aboriginal people.” Mr Maher said.
With the First Nations’ Voice to Parliament, Indigenous Australians who are enrolled to vote will be able to elect a group from their geographical area, of which must be half men and half women.
40 people will be elected overall, and 12 would become a South Australian voice who are able to speak on any bills sent before parliament.
Commission for First Nations Voice in South Australia Dale Agius said in an Engagement report for the Voice that this was an important step for South Australia.
“The task of implementing a First Nations Voice to Parliament in this State will see a change for the better as we move towards a path of equal footing for equal decision-making”. Mr Agius said.
The Greens in South Australia declared a unanimous support for the Voice, which has seen it move forward.
The federal acting leader of the Greens, Senator Mehreen Faruqi said it was “a historic opportunity to get justice for First Nations people.”
“As Labor’s been working out their plan, we’ve been pushing them on several fronts – to make sure we see progress on treat, to ensure Labor’s approach doesn’t undermine First Nations sovereignty, and that wer see progress on ending deaths in custody and child removals.” Ms Faruqi said.
“As a result of the discussions that occurred between the Greens and Labor, we’ve now got some initial outcomes: money in the budget for truth and treaty, and funding for real-time reporting of deaths in custody.
“Now that we have the Labor Government’s timetable for legislation, [the] party room will meet early next month to discuss Labor’s plan and decide on our formal position on Labor’s voice legislation.” She said.
