Uluru Statement from the Heart

In October 2017, the then Coalition government rejected the Voice proposal, characterising it as a "radical" constitutional change that would not be supported by a majority of Australians in a referendum.

Following this, in May 2022 Labor leader Anthony Albanese endorsed the Uluru Statement on the occasion of his 2022 election victory and committed to implementing it in full.

The council was to advise the government on steps towards a referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution.

These themes were:[12] Over a six-month period the Council travelled to 12 different locations around Australia and met with over 1,200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives.

[3][15][16] A freedom of information request in 2023 released the meeting records of the First Nations Regional Dialogues and a draft version of the Final Report of the Referendum Council.

[18] The text of what is generally characterised as the full statement,[19] but also as the "one-page pitch" of the full document[20] is as follows:[21] We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart: Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs.

This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or 'mother nature', and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors.

It originally referred to a ritualised ceremony of "revenge", dispute resolution, and "peace-making" in which members of an aggrieved clan throw spears at a wrongdoer until blood is drawn.

The other tells the story of the Mala people, represented by the Rufous hare-wallaby who, while holding a ceremony at the top of Uluru, became involved in a dispute with men who came from the west.

[32][33] In the campaign for 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum, some leaders and politicians opposing constitutional change alleged in August 2023 that the Uluru Statement is actually much longer than the one-page document commonly cited.

[34] They pointed to documents released by the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) in March 2023 under freedom of information (FOI) laws.

[43] Pat Anderson, who was a co-chair of the Referendum Council and an architect of the Uluru Statement, supports this view, describing the "Our Story" section as merely a recording of everything that was said at the Regional Dialogues.

Other parts note the views of some delegates that the Voice should be a mechanism for providing 'free, prior and informed consent' rather than advice, and that Treaty could include a proper say in decision-making, the establishment of a truth commission, reparations, a financial settlement (such as seeking a percentage of GDP), the resolution of land, water and resources issues, recognition of authority and customary law, and guarantees of respect for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

[citation needed] The Final Report of the Referendum Council was published on 30 June 2017, and sent to the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and the leader of the opposition, Bill Shorten.

[53] This official painted and signed canvas artwork was presented to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition on 5 August 2017, at the Garma Festival in north-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

[57][58][59] Thomas Mayo, a member of the Darwin dialogues and a signatory to the Uluru Statement, travelled the country for 18 months in his car with the rolled-up canvas in a tube, showing it to people and explaining what the Voice was about.

The Uluru Dialogue, a group formed from key members of the writers of the statement based in the UNSW Indigenous Law Centre to advocate for the requests of the statement, received support by many members of the public, prominent individuals, and a range of organisations from football clubs, medical and historical associations, through to banks and corporations such as Rio Tinto and Qantas.

Investment banker and philanthropist, John Wylie wrote in the Weekend Australian: "We believe that accepting the call in the Uluru Statement for constitutional recognition will be a foundation stone of a modern Australia that’s a spiritually generous country truly at peace with itself and its history.

[72] The aim of the project is to increase awareness and understanding of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and a constitutionally-enshrined Voice to Parliament, and to show that it is a fair and practical reform.

[76] These issues have since been discussed and settled, with Central Land Council chair Sammy Wilson having given the group's blessing to use the name as part of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its message to the Australian people.

NT Indigenous politician for the Country Liberal Party, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (who was elected to the Australian Senate in May 2022[78]), does not favour an amendment that, according to her view, "divides along the line of race".

Queensland Senator James McGrath (Liberal) has suggested that the Voice would damage equality and similarly "divide Australians by race".

[87] It was designed to increase awareness and understanding of the Uluru Statement and a constitutionally-enshrined voice to parliament, and to show that it is a fair and practical reform.

[89] Torres Strait Islander man Thomas Mayo,[b] advocate for the Uluru Statement and the Voice, delivered the 2022 Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture on the topic.

He drew parallels between Vincent Lingiari's struggle to be heard by governments back then, leading to the Wave Hill walk-off (Gurdindji strike), to what Indigenous peoples of Australia are experiencing today.

[96] [97] Following the 2022 Australian federal election, incoming Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, endorsed the Uluru Statement and committed to implementing it in full.

On the first anniversary of the apology to the stolen generations after the referendum in 2024, the government recommitted to makarrata and truth-telling, whilst also noting that the process would take some time.

[100][101][102] Dorinda Cox of the Greens introduced a draft bill, also supported by the organisers of the referendum campaign, to establish a Truth and Justice Commission.

The Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, which is responsible for this issue, opened until 6 September its public review.