WA Senator Patrick Dodson says referendum on Indigenous voice to Parliament is nation’s top priority

Patrick Dodson, the WA Senator known as “the father of reconciliation”, believes changing the date of Australia Day will not happen in the short term and achieving support for a referendum on an Indigenous voice to Parliament is the nation’s immediate priority. In his first interview since his appointment as Special Envoy for Reconciliation and the Implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Senator Dodson said he believed the vast majority of Australians would vote in support of recognition of the First Nations peoples in the constitution. Labor committed to implementing the Uluru statement during the election campaign and Senator Dodson said he hoped to enlist the support of Liberal leader Peter Dutton and Nationals leader David Littleproud to achieve a successful referendum result. The Broome-based Indigenous leader praised Mr Dutton’s admission this week that he had made a “mistake” when he walked out Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generation in 2008, citing his previous experience as a police officer in Queensland. “I thought it was a very courageous thing for him to do, quite frankly. I thought he was honest and I can see where the pain of the experiences that he cited as the causes for his walking out as conflicting with what was happening in the Parliament — sometimes you feel like that in this place,” Senator Dodson said. “To his credit, he’s apologised about that and I hope he can see his way clear to understand the connection between the complexity of a voice to Parliament and the commitment that Labor has also got to closing the gap and the essential quality of life factors that we’re also going to be pushing very hard to improve upon.” The Uluru statement proposes to enshrine an Indigenous Voice — an advisory body of Indigenous people to express views to MPs on policy and legislation that impacts their communities — in the constitution and establish a Makarrata Commission to work on a process for treaty and truth-telling. Senator Dodson said as special envoy he would work with ministers across Government to drive the process of implementing the Uluru statement, which he said was an “invitation” from the First Nations people to the Australian public to “walk with them on a journey”. He said work had been progressed since the statement was released in 2017 and the focus was now on developing “the set of words that need to be clarified for the public to know what’s is intended to be inserted into the Constitution”. For the referendum to succeed it requires the support of the majority of Australians and the majority of States. Senator Dodson wouldn’t be drawn on when the vote would be held, but he hoped the wording would be confirmed this year. “This is about nation-building, it’s about Australia,” he said. “This is about our real opportunity for all of us to do something wonderful for our country and that is to get behind a referendum that supports the concept of a voice for First Nations peoples to the Parliament so they can have a say on those key pieces of legislation or on policy matters that are going to impact their lives.” On the debate around changing the date of Australia Day from January 26, which marks the date the First Fleet raised the Union Jack proclaimed British sovereignty, Senator Dodson said he would rather Labor be judged on delivering the commitments they made at the election. “I know people are frustrated and they are very angry about that date, but in the scheme of things at the moment it’s not the key priority ... maybe in sometime we might celebrate something else,” he said. “We have a very diverse, multicultural society these days and we’d need to consult with other peoples. The British heritage is just one side of us. It’s a very important side, but there are many other cultures in Australia now and they have important days that we don’t even recognise. “I would think moving forward we focus on what we’re trying to achieve. Put our efforts into constructing something that’s going to lead to a new partnership, a new understanding, a new relationship — something that we can be proud of as a nation.”