Voice campaigners’ new book confirms Uluru Statement is ‘15 pages’ despite Albo, activist claiming it’s one

Anthony Albanese has been dealt a blow by the latest Newspoll results, amid new claims the Uluru Statement from the Heart is not a one-page document as he indicated.

Claims that the Uluru Statement from the Heart is a simple one page “request”, and not a much longer document calling for treaty and reparations including potentially a percentage of GDP, appear to have been refuted in a new book by two of the Uluru Statement’s own co-authors.

In a new book released last Wednesday by Harper Collins entitled “Our Voices from the Heart”, Uluru Dialogue co-chairs Professor Megan Davis and Patricia Anderson write that the statement is “15 pages long and includes three elements.”

The book describes those elements as “the one page pitch to the Australian people; ‘Our Story’ of the First Nations history of Australia; and the explanation of the legal reform.”

This contradicts recent claims by Voice advocates including both Professor Davis and Ms Anderson as well as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that the Uluru Statement, which is where the call for a Voice to Parliament originates, is just a single page long.

The revelation comes after a Newspoll published today by The Australian shows support for the Voice and executive government has fallen to 38 per cent and those intending to vote no has risen to 53 per cent.

Meanwhile support for the ­Coalition has lifted to its highest level since last year’s election, with the opposition now leading Labor 37 per cent to 35 per cent on primary votes.

Labor still leads on a two-party preferred basis 53-47 per cent, though Mr Albanese’s personal approval ratings have fallen into negative territory for the first time in his premiership.

The issue of the length of the Uluru Statement has dominated the Voice to Parliament debate ever since this newspaper revealed a longer form of the Uluru Statement which was uncovered in documents released by the National Indigenous Australians Agency.

That longer version of the document included calls for a treaty, reparations, recognition of “customary law”, as well as the possibility of “a financial settlement (such as seeking a percentage of GDP)”.

An excerpt from Our Voices From The Heart, by Professor Megan Davies, Patricia Anderson AO, confirming that the Uluru Statement is more than just a one page document.

It also raised the issue of Aboriginal sovereignty, saying “the unfinished business of Australia’s nationhood includes recognising the ancient jurisdictions of First Nations law.”

In addition to describing the Uluru Statement as a longer document, the book also excerpts text from the statement’s longer form that is identical to that revealed by the NIAA.

Despite the revelations of the longer version, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described claims about a longer version of the Uluru Statement as a conspiracy theory.

Anthony Albanese meets with Yes23 volunteers at Woden Plaza in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Last month, when confronted as to whether he read the longer form of the Uluru Statement, Mr Albanese said, “Why would I?”

Before the controversy erupted, Professor Davis had on at least one occasion referred to an “18 page” version of the document and urged people to “read that whole document.”

But more recently Professor Davis has called the notion of a longer form of the document “disinformation.”

Last week’s release of the book, which contradicts claims that the Uluru Statement is just one page, has raised further questions about the broader agenda of the Voice.

Shadow Indigenous Affairs Minister Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said that “this is confirmation of what we’ve argued all along, that the prime minister has been hiding the ball and that there is a divisive agenda that will tear the nation apart.”

“Mr Albanese must now come clean about how much the divisive Voice will cost us before we vote, not after.”

In a statement issued on behalf of Prof Davis and Ms Anderson, an Uluru Dialogue spokesperson said, “The Uluru Statement from the Heart is one page.”

“This one-page, 439-word statement – described as ‘the one-page pitch to the Australian people’ in the book you are referring to – and supporting documents that reflect and record the many regional dialogues and consultation leading up to it have been public for seven years. They are found on the Referendum Council website.

“We are not surprised that the No campaign want to focus on anything but the question that is before the Australian people, which is about recognition and a Voice.

“When you listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on matters that affect them, you get better outcomes for their communities.”