The time for Indigenous recognition is long overdue

It has been two years since the publication of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, in which a council of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders made a significant proposal for recognition of their community’s “rightful place” in modern Australia.

They called for a change to the constitution to create a new body of Indigenous representatives, a “Voice”, to advise parliament on matters affecting their community.

This is not however just about Indigenous people. As the Uluru statement put it, if the Voice becomes a reality it could become a "fuller expression of Australian nationhood”.

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Unfortunately, then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull decided that the proposals in the statement were neither desirable nor capable of winning approval at a referendum. Since then the idea has languished.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has a huge opportunity. He has so far indicated a willingness to engage with the issues, and the appointment yesterday of the first Indigenous cabinet minister in Ken Wyatt, now Minister for Indigenous Australians, is a strong start. Mr Wyatt is a supporter of constitutional recognition.

The Herald today launches a campaign for the creation of a Voice by the end of this term of parliament. There will be considerable debate about the best way to achieve that goal but one thing is clear: the process should be high on our agenda.

Some have in the past issued shrill warnings about earlier steps towards correcting injustices stemming from the white settlement of Australia: from the 1967 referendum which allowed the Commonwealth to create laws for Aboriginal people, to the Mabo decision in 1992, which first recognised native title, to the Wik decision in 1996 recognising land rights on pastoral leases. Yet today most people would argue that these landmark advances have strengthened Australian democracy.

Similarly, some might claim that a Voice will usurp Parliament’s powers or undermine sovereignty. Yet the authors of the Uluru statement have been careful to offer a modest proposal in the hope of winning wide acceptance. The Voice will simply be a formal process for canvassing the views of Indigenous people.

While some will question the value of creating this talk shop, they are wrong. The Voice will be a significant and practical institution because it will focus public attention on the plight of Indigenous people. Governments will have to consider what it says about concrete problems from incarceration rates to employment programs to the taking of children into foster care. The current Closing the Gap annual reports, the only formal accounting of policies towards Indigenous Australians, have failed to create that focus.

Some have raised concerns about the lack of detailed agreement on how representatives to the Voice will be chosen from the diverse Indigenous community, or on how the new body will operate. There is a debate about whether all these details must be worked out in advance before a referendum or whether Australians should be asked to vote on the broad principles and leave the details till later. It is a tough call. The structure of the body must be clear enough to reassure Australians about what they are voting for but it should not be so specific that the vote becomes bogged down in the technicalities that doomed the referendum on the republic.

The Herald wants to open a discussion to facilitate the resolution of all these issues, led by Indigenous voices. It’s time we made this a priority and we had a grown-up, honest conversation about our past, in order to embrace the future.

For too long, politics has got in the way. The Herald urges Mr Morrison to show leadership and explain why this is important for all Australians. The time for Indigenous recognition, as an affirmation of our unique national identity, is long overdue.

The Herald's editor Lisa Davies writes a weekly newsletter exclusively for subscribers. To have it delivered to your inbox, please sign up here