Noel Pearson says Voice to Parliament will do more to close gap than native title

The man who shot to national prominence in the Wik native title debate says the Voice to Parliament will do more to close the gap than land rights ever did. Noel Pearson also says Queenslanders have two powerful reasons to vote yes that no other state has.

Noel Pearson addresses the Queensland Media Club. Picture: Liam Kidston

Indigenous leader Noel Pearson says a Voice to Parliament will do more practical good for his people than land rights ever did and says Queenslanders have more reason to vote yes than any other Australians.

The former Cape York Land Council leader, who catapulted to national prominence during the Wik High Court ruling on native title on pastoral land, also said the 80 per cent backing for the Voice by indigenous people was “as good as it gets’’.

“Where are the proposals with 98 per cent support?’’ he said.

“We have been waiting for this for 250 years. We either decide this now or go on for another 250 years.

“We are only three per cent of the population. Chinese and Indians have more numbers than us, so we are relying on the other 97 per cent.

“Nations occasionally have the opportunity to decide on something that is fundamental to their future and that time is now.’’

Noel Pearson. Picture: Liam Kidston

Mr Pearson said Queenslanders, who would be pivotal in whether the vote was carried, were in a unique position as the only state with two indigenous peoples — Torres Strait Islanders and Aborigines.

Queensland was also the home state of Torres Strait Islander Eddie Mabo, whose long fight began the road to native title, as well as the state at the centre of the Wik decision.

The High Court ruled in 1996 in a case involving the Wik and Thayorre people of Cape York that pastoral leases, which cover most of Queensland, did not extinguish native title.

Mr Pearson, a central figure in the ensuing national debate, said the Voice would actually do far more practically to help indigenous peoples by holding both them and politicians to account on real action.

He cited rheumatic heart disease, rife in indigenous communities but almost eradicated elsewhere, as an example.

Noel Pearson addresses westside community leaders about the Voice to Parliament.

“This is the sort of problem that can go on for decades at the moment because no one has the gumption to say ‘what’s our eradication program?’’’ he said.

“Without a Voice to Parliament there will never be the resolve or the resources mustered to (tackle) a disease that is capable of being eradicated. That’s why we need a Voice.’’

Mr Pearson conceded time was running out to win the support of mainstream Australia, but said he was still optimistic despite having fewer than 100 days before the vote.

“Ninety-nine days is a long time for an election but a short time for a referendum,’’ he told a forum with community leaders in Brisbane’s westside on Tuesday, July 11.

“We need to keep the campaign positive. We need to nurture the better angels of our nature and can’t afford to fire up fear or prejudice or anger.

Noel Pearson with Jonty Bush and (far right) Phyllis Yunkaporta.

“We’ve got to get a good result in Queensland. It’s our most challenging state, everybody knows this.’’

Multiple polls have shown Queenslanders were the most opposed of people in any state, with a slim majority against a yes vote according to some surveys.

The referendum must be supported by a majority of people voting nationwide, as well as a majority of states (at least four out of six).

Mr Pearson said it was vital people did not treat it as another partisan issue and said conservatives backed it until “progressives’’ also came on board.

He pointed out that former Prime Minister and arch conservative, John Howard, originally supported a referendum and promised to push for one as part of his 2007 election commitments.

Mayor Wayne Butcher of Lockhart River, Noel Pearson and Mayor Keri Tamwoy of Aurukun addressed the Queensland Media Club on July 10 on the Voice. Picture: Liam Kidston

“What we are proposing is modest, it’s constitutionally safe,’’ he said.

“We deliberately worked hard with constitutional conservatives from the beginning because to them every comma is sacred, even though the constitution was knocked out in 12 hours on a long weekend on board the Lucinda (the paddle steamer on which it was drafted, with minor later variations, in 1891),’’ he said.

He said constitutional change was necessary as laws created for indigenous peoples, such as the Northern Territory intervention, had to be drafted under the “race power’’, section 51(26).

Mr Pearson also said concerns a Voice would lead to “ATSIC mark II’’ were unfounded as, unlike the discredited former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, there was no proposed budget and no bureaucracy.

It was instead merely a mechanism to compel politicians and bureaucrats to form a partnership with indigenous peoples on issues affecting them, he said.

Aurukun elder Aunty Phyllis Yunkaporta broke down in tears as she begged community leaders for support to help her community.

Ms Yunkaporta, who has diabetes, said the Cape York community of more than 3000 people had no permanent doctor, with medicos instead flown in from Cairns, there was constant turnover of teachers and her people were traumatised.