Majority support indigenous voice to parliament

Campaigners for a constitutionally enshrined indigenous voice to parliament have been buoyed by polling indicating support for the concept is increas­ing.

Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt. Picture: AAP

Campaigners for a constitutionally enshrined indigenous voice to parliament have been buoyed by polling indicating support for the concept is increas­ing.

According to research commissioned by the From The Heart campaign and conducted by CT Group, 56 per cent of Australians would vote yes to a constitutionally enshrined voice if a referendum were held today.

Successive prime ministers have categorically rejected the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart’s call for an indigenous voice in the Constitution. Malcolm Turnbull then Scott Morrison described it as a proposal for a third chamber of parliament.

However, the statement presented to the Australian people after dialogues with indigenous people around Australia earned the support of two former chief justices and big corporates, including BHP, which donated $1m for an education campaign ahead of a referendum.

While the Morrison government supports a referendum on constitutional recognition of indigenou­s Australians, it sees the voice as separate. Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt has asked indigenous leaders Marcia Langton and Tom Calma to oversee the co-design of a voice to government that would be enshrine­d in legislation, rather than in the Constitution.

But high-profile supporters of the Uluru statement have not given up hope that the full intent of the landmark document can be realised. The latest polling shows support for a yes vote for a voice to parliament enshrined in the Constitution increased by 7 per cent in three months, to 56 per cent of voters.

According to the latest research, only 17 per cent of Australians would vote no, which is down 3 per cent since March, when the question was put by CT Group to a sample of 2000 voters.

The polling, conducted last month, asked: “If a referendum were held today, how would you vote on the proposal to change the Constitution to set up a new body comprising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that gives advice to federal parliament on ATSI issues?”

The earlier research in March indicated support was higher among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: 71 per cent said they would vote yes for a constit­utionally enshrined voice to parliament.

Mr Wyatt has repeatedly urged pragmatism on the issue. He says Australians are conservative, especially when it comes to the Constitution, and has express­ed fear that any form of constitutional recognition would fail at a referendum if a question about a voice were included.

From The Heart director Dean Parkin says this research shows momentum is on the side of support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart. He believes the polling backs the call of Uluru dialogue leaders including Noel Pearson, Megan Davis, Pat And­erson and Roy Ah-See that there should not be a compromise.

“More and more Australians are joining the movement for a constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament,” Mr Parkin said. “People can see it is fair and practical that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a say over matters that affect them. They understand it’s not polit­ic­ians and bureaucrats in Canberra that know what works best in the Kimberley or Cape York but Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from those regions …

“Those suggesting alternatives … are at odds with the Australian­ people,­ who increasingly support the call for a voice to parliament from the Uluru Statement from the Heart.”