We stand diminished until Indigenous voice enshrined, says Anthony Albanese

Anthony Albanese says Australians will ‘stand diminished’ until an Indigenous voice is enshrined in the Constitution.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Anthony Albanese says Australians will “stand diminished” until an Indigenous voice is enshrined in the Constitution and has recommitted Labor to the truth-­telling and treaty process outlined in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

The Opposition Leader, who will travel to Uluru on Tuesday with Labor MPs Linda Burney and Warren Snowdon, says reconciliation cannot be achieved when “one side has no voice”.

Writing for The Australian, Mr Albanese says a referendum is a critical first step to achieving progress and making the “necessary but modest alteration to the founding document of our modern nation”.

“We have not yet had true reconciliation, and a country that is not truly reconciled is not truly whole. And until we are whole, we will never reach our truest potential as a nation — and we have so very much potential,” he writes.

“That is why a referendum is so important. How can we have reconciliation when one side has no voice? The Voice is the bedrock upon which we must build. I want a Voice and Truth then Treaty to be part of our national journey and our national life.”

Ahead of the fourth anniversary of the Uluru Statement’s release next month, Mr Albanese says the voice is a “modest request that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples be consulted about issues and policies that ­affect them”.

“It is not a third chamber. It is not deliberative. It merely seeks to put a structure around what we would all regard as decency, as courtesy and as respect. Through the statement, Indigenous people themselves reached out to all Australians seeking positive progress,” he says.

“Recognition in the Constitution will mark our maturity as a nation.”

Mr Albanese says understanding “all that has unfurled since 1788 and the collision between the people of what was called the Old World, and the people of a world far older” would help realise a greater Australia.

“It would be the ultimate fulfilment of that most Australian of instincts: the fair go. Until we get this done, we all stand dimin­ished. That is not something we should be content to settle for — all we need to do is take the next step.

“But we need political leadership to get there.”

Scott Morrison last month said the federal government was proceeding with a “co-design process … that is seeking the best possible way to have that voice to government”.

“On the other issue of constitutional recognition, more broadly, there is still no clear consensus proposal at this stage, which would suggest mainstream support in the Indigenous community or elsewhere,” the Prime Minister said.

“So we are focused on pursuing the co-design process, on the voice to government and in ­addition to that, we are getting on with the very important job of Closing the Gap.”

Mr Albanese says the government has claimed it wanted to “work collaboratively on these ­issues … but like so much else, this important issue languishes between the lush meadows of Prime Minister Morrison’s promises, and the dustbowl of his reality.”