Ken Wyatt calls for patience on indigenous voice

Ken Wyatt says systems have to be in place before indigenous people get a voice in parliament.

Ken Wyatt wore kangaroo skins adorned with feathers of a red-tailed black cockatoo to his swearing-in yesterday. Picture: Gary Ramage

Indigenous Affairs Minister Ken Wyatt — who yesterday became the first indigenous person sworn into cabinet — says the government will not rush to install a voice to parliament, declaring a referendum for constitutional recognition was a “long-term” project.

Mr Wyatt said the proposal for an indigenous voice would be one option the government would consider as it worked towards constitutiona­l recognition, but he warned that “nobody has really defined what a voice is”.

Speaking to The Australian after he was sworn in to cabinet, Mr Wyatt said his elevation showed young indigenous Aust­ralians they could “take the aspirational” road in life and realise they had the capacity to succeed.

Feeling the historical gravity of his appointment, Mr Wyatt and his wife, Anna Maria Palermo, both cried when he was offered the portfolio by Scott Morrison on the weekend. “He was very genuine when he spoke to me on the phone,’’ the minister said. “He said: ‘You’ve done the tough work in aged care.’ He said: ‘You have a big heart. I would now like to offer you the indigenous affairs portfolio.’

“I couldn’t speak to him for two minutes. I had to digest what he said. I had a couple of tears, or I had water leaks.”

Ms Palermo interjected: “You had tears and I had tears.”

On the voice to parliament, Mr Wyatt said there needed to be extensiv­e consultation with Aboriginal groups about a “definitional understanding of the voice”, before a referendum was considered.

“I want to look at the strategic approaches we take on many fronts including, in the long term, the referendum,” Mr Wyatt told The Australian.

“There are some options to consider. Governments have to consider — and it doesn’t matter whether it is our government or another government — they have to consider what is pragmatic and what is going to work.

“It is fine having a concept. But you have got to turn it into an implement­able, real process.”

Bill Shorten went to the election promising a first-term referendum on the indigenous voice to parliament, even if the model for the proposed indigenous advisory body was not fully formed.

Prominent indigenous figure and voice advocate Noel Pearson threw his support behind Mr Wyatt’s cautious approach to considerin­g the proposal recommended by the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017.

The idea for a constitutionally enshrined body of indigenous Australians that would advise governme­nt on Aboriginal issues was dismissed by then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull as being a “third chamber of parliament”.

The current Prime Minister put it back on the agenda in the April budget by putting money aside to investigating a model for a voice.

Mr Pearson said yesterday that there was money set aside for a referendum in the next four years, which he believed could happen under a Coalition government.

“I would say to Australians of goodwill: listen and learn and take place in the discussion on the detail­ over the coming period and when we have a model, let’s debate that model,” Mr Pearson said.

“And, if we can get agreement around that model let’s then come together and then campaign. I don’t think it is going to be at all useful for us to embark on a relentless campaign at a time when we need to do the work on the detail.”

Mr Wyatt — a West Australian MP who in 2010 became the first indigenous person elected to the House of Representatives — ­received a standing ovation from colleagues after becoming Australia’s first Aboriginal cabinet minister, as Mr Morrison’s ministry was sworn in by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove in Canberra yesterday. He wore a cape made up of kangaroo fur as he was sworn in, with Ms Palermo watching on.