Health News at Your Fingertips

Lorena Allam

It was standing room only at the Garma forum where hundreds listened to the PM outline his plans for the voice to parliament.

There were cheers and a big round of applause as he said:

Today, I reaffirm my government’s promise to implement the Statement from the Heart at Uluru, in full.

This vote and the need for it was to address the rights of First Nations people, whose needs must be addressed and which are “above politics”.

“More of the same will mean things will just get worse,” Albanese said.

And a standing ovation as he left the stage.

Albo headed straight to shake hands and pay respects to Gumatj clan leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu.

Albo then walked along the path to meet the Garma youth delegates.

‘The voice of the Australian people will create a voice to parliament,’ PM says

The PM wraps up his speech to resounding applause, saying that while a referendum is a “high hurdle to clear” and is risky, he believes in the “character of the Australian people”:

A referendum is a high hurdle to clear, you know that and so do we.

We recognise the risks of failure but we choose not to dwell on them – because we see this referendum as a magnificent opportunity for Australia.
This historic decision, this long overdue embrace of truth and justice and decency and respect for First Nations people will be voted into law by the people of Australia.

The voice of the Australian people will create a voice to parliament.

And that means all Australians have the chance to own this change, to be proud of it, to be counted and heard on the right side of history.

To vote the unique Australian gift of the wisdom of the world’s oldest continuing civilisation into the constitution of our nation.

I am optimistic for the success of this referendum.

PM says enshrining an Indigenous voice will be a ‘unifying Australian moment’

The PM says enshrining a voice to parliament will be a moment “above politics” and will be a “unifying Australian moment”.

He warns that “misinformation and fear campaigns” could emerge on the voice, but adds that it won’t stop some of the measures being implemented to support Indigenous communities:

Enshrining a voice will be a national achievement. It will be above politics.

A unifying Australian moment. There may well be misinformation and fear campaigns to counter. But perhaps the greatest threat to the cause is indifference. The notion that this is a nice piece of symbolism – but it will have no practical benefit.

Or that somehow advocating for a voice comes at the expense of expanding
economic opportunity, or improving community safety, or lifting education standards or helping people get the health care they deserve or find the housing they need.

Championing a voice won’t stop us from upgrading all-weather roads, so
communities can get the supplies and services they need.

It won’t delay our plan to train 500 new Aboriginal healthcare workers … It won’t stand in the way of our new investments in life-saving kidney dialysis treatment. Let us all understand: Australia does not have to choose between improving peoples’ lives and amending the constitution.

Albanese unveils draft wording of referendum question

The PM also reveals the question that will be put to the Australian people at a referendum, and adds that he wants the vote held during this term of parliament:

We should consider asking our fellow Australians something as simple as:

Do you support an alteration to the constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice?

A straightforward proposition. A simple principle. A question from the heart.

We can use this question – and the provisions – as the basis for further consultation.

Not as a final decision but as the basis for dialogue, something to give the
conversation shape and direction. I ask all Australians of goodwill to engage on this.

Respectfully, purposefully we are seeking to secure support for the question and the associated provisions in time for a successful referendum, in this term of parliament.

Albanese reveals new words he will recommend for the constitution

The PM has announced the three sentences that he will recommend to be added to the constitution:

Our starting point is a recommendation to add three sentences to the Constitution:

1. There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Voice.

2. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to parliament and the executive government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

3. The parliament shall, subject to this constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

A voice enshrined in the constitution cannot be silenced, PM says

Albanese says the voice to parliament won’t depend on who is prime minister, and will not be a “third chamber”:

Enshrining a voice in the constitution gives the principles of respect and consultation strength and status. Writing the voice into the constitution means a willingness to listen won’t depend on who is in government or who is prime minister.

The voice will exist and endure outside of the ups and downs of election cycles and the weakness of short-term politics.

It will be an unflinching source of advice and accountability.

Not a third chamber, not a rolling veto, not a blank cheque.

But a body with the perspective and the power and the platform to tell the
government and the parliament the truth about what is working and what is not. To tell the truth – with clarity, with conviction. Because a voice enshrined in the constitution cannot be silenced.

PM speaks of ‘common courtesy … common sense’

The PM has labelled the change the government is seeking “simple”, saying it is a momentous change but one that is “common decency”:

We are seeking a momentous change but it is also a very simple one. It’s not a matter of special treatment, or preferential power. It’s about consulting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the decisions that affect you … Nothing more, but nothing less.

This is simple courtesy, it is common decency. It recognises the centuries-old failure Paul Keating spoke of at Redfern, the failure to ask the most basic human question – how would I feel if this were done to me?

And along with common courtesy, it is common sense. Respect works. When a government listens to people with experience, with earned knowledge of kinship and country and culture and community when we trust in the value of self-determination and empowerment, then the policies and programs are always more effective.

We see it with justice reinvestment, Indigenous rangers, respecting homelands, National Partnership Agreement and the process driven by the Coalition of Peaks and the remarkable Pat Turner.

Albanese says Australia will answer ‘gracious, patient call for respect’

Next, the PM thanks his colleagues that have joined him, including those from the opposition.

He then goes on to say that Australia will answer the “gracious, patient call for respect”:

We are all here, eager to work with you, to bring our commitment to Uluru to life.

To see Australia answer that gracious, patient call for respect and truth and unity. The Uluru statement is a hand outstretched, a moving show of faith in Australian decency and Australian fairness from people who have been given every reason to forsake their hope in both.

I am determined, as a government, as a country, that we grasp that hand of healing, we repay that faith, we rise to the moment.

To work with you in lifting the words off the page and lifting the whole nation up, with a new spirit of partnership between government and First Nations people, through the work of Makarrata, treaty-making and truth-telling and by enshrining a voice to parliament, in the constitution.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, begins his Garma speech with a heartfelt acknowledgement of country and a reflection on his experience at the Bungul held last night as part of the festival.

The PM also states, as he has in the past, that his government will implement in full the Uluru Statement from the Heart:

I acknowledge the people of the mighty Yolngu nation.

I recognise all the elders, leaders and families who have made great contributions to our nation. In particular, I acknowledge the Gumatj clan whose lands we are meeting on.

Last night’s Bungul was a deeply moving moment for me, it was an honour to bear witness to dance and song and story and tradition tracing back some 60,000 years. As the breeze came across me, your ancestors’ presence in these lands and waters makes real your 60,000 years and more custodianship of this land.

And I was grateful also for the chance to meet again with Galarrwuy [Yunupingu] and share in his wisdom, to talk about the opportunities and the challenges in this special part of Australia.

Friends, I am delighted to be back at Garma and I am delighted Garma is back. Here on what is, was and always will be Aboriginal land.

Today, I reaffirm my government’s promise to implement the Statement from the Heart at Uluru in full.

And Anthony Albanese has stepped up to give his keynote address.

Anthony Albanese set to speak at Garma festival

We are expecting to hear from the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, very soon, who will be making his Garma keynote address.

The PM will be joined by the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, and Senator Pat Dodson.

Meteor showers to light up the sky

And in some pleasant news, meteor showers will light up the sky across eastern Australia this weekend.

The Piscis Austrinids meteor shower peaked on Thursday, while the Southern Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids are expected to peak tonight. The peak period lasts about 48 hours.

Visibility is expected to be the best tonight, as the new moon will be dark.

You can read more on the showers, plus how best to capture them, in this guide from Cait Kelly: