Former chief justice backs calls for indigenous voice to Australian Parliament

Source: Xinhua| 2019-07-19 17:12:01|Editor: Lu Hui
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CANBERRA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Murray Gleeson, one of Australia's foremost legal minds has come out in support of establishing an indigenous "voice to parliament."

Murray Gleeson, who served as the chief justice of the High Court of Australia between 1998 and 2008, dismissed concerns that the body would become a third chamber of Australia's parliament, saying it would be a "voice to" rather than a "voice in" the legislative body.

"It is difficult to see any objection in principle to the creation of a body to advise parliament about proposed laws relating to indigenous affairs," he told a group of high-profile judges and lawyers on Thursday night.

"A body that has the capacity to speak to the parliament on behalf of indigenous people should be of advantage to parliament and, through it, the nation."

The indigenous voice was first proposed in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a landmark document signed by more than 200 indigenous community leaders in 2017.

The statement called for the body to be enshrined in the Australian Constitution.

The prime minister at the time, Malcolm Turnbull, dismissed the idea citing concerns about it acting as a third chamber of parliament. The concerns have been echoed by his successor, Scott Morrison.

Morrison's government earlier in July announced that it will hold a referendum on constitutional recognition for Australia's indigenous people within three years but the PM has ruled out a referendum on the voice, which should be established through legislation, according to Gleeson.

"It is unlikely that parliament will propose a change to the constitution in aid of indigenous recognition if the effect of the change will be to curtail its own legislative power," he said.

"That appears to have been well understood by the supporters of the voice. What is proposed is a voice to parliament, not a voice in parliament," added Gleeson.

He said that the structure, composition and functions of the representative body is subject to changes by by legislation of the federal parliament.

"What would appear in the Constitution would be the minimum requirements necessary to guarantee its continued existence and its essential characteristics," he said.

Ken Wyatt, the first-ever indigenous Minister for Indigenous Australians, has voiced his personal support for enshrining the voice in the constitution but has conceded that it is not viable without the support of Morrison and other leading members of the government.

Former Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce on Thursday issued an "unreserved" apology for referring to the voice as a third chamber in parliament only days after the Uluru statement was signed in 2017.

Responding to Gleeson's speech, Noel Pearson, one of Australia's foremost indigenous leaders, described it as "the most amazing speech" he has heard on the subject, thanking him for helping him expose the "damaging lie" of the third chamber.

"This is a really singular moment in this campaign; I think he has really given some great succour for the cause for a First Nations voice, this will be an important milestone in this whole story when we look back on it," Pearson told Fairfax Media.

"It was always a ridiculous argument, it was a dishonest argument, it was a lie and it has been such a damaging lie. I think we are reaching a point in this campaign where the lie is now being exposed."

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