Henderson, Genevieve --- "President's page: Voice. Treaty. Truth." [2023] PrecedentAULA 13; (2023) 175 Precedent 3

---

THE ULURU SEQUENCE: VOICE – TREATY – TRUTH

By Genevieve Henderson

I acknowledge that the land on which I live and work is and always has been the land of First Nations peoples and I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

As a long-time member, I thought I knew almost all there was to know about the ALA.

I knew we were made up of state and territory committees with a national governing body, but I was very much focused on my patch. Joining the National Council as NSW Director gave me a glimpse, but it is the role of National President that has really shown me what this mighty national organisation is capable of.

As National President I have the duty and enormous pleasure to attend each state and territory conference, most recently the Queensland and NSW conferences on the Gold Coast and in Sydney respectively. At these events, brilliant, passionate lawyers deliver cutting-edge education with access to justice, equity and issues of human rights at the core. My heartfelt thanks to ALA Queensland Branch President Sarah Grace and ALA NSW Branch President Joshua Dale for their leadership, and to the Queensland and NSW Branch Committees and members for all the energy you bring the whole ALA. Victoria conference is next on my agenda.

Of course, the ALA has strength because it is national. To make an impact on the national stage, we need each and every state and territory. I recognise the particular challenges faced by the hard-working committees with smaller membership populations from which to draw. Thank you.

Legitimacy of the Uluru Statement from the Heart

The ALA supports a Yes vote in the referendum on a First Nations Voice to Parliament with good reason.

The Voice itself cannot be understood separately from the Uluru Statement from the Heart (Uluru Statement), which is an historic consensus of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on whether and how to ‘recognise’ Indigenous Australians in the Constitution.

The Uluru Statement contains three reforms – ‘Voice, Treaty and Truth’ – which stem from 13 deliberative regional dialogues which, in May 2017, concluded in acceptance of the Uluru Statement by 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates.^[1] Every regional dialogue was attended by 100 local traditional owners, community-based organisations and other Indigenous leaders.

The Uluru Statement is a remarkable achievement representing consensus among First Nations peoples on a complex issue. Importantly, the regional dialogues were designed and led by First Nations people, giving them a direct say in what constitutional recognition means to them and infusing the process of consultation with trust, cultural safety and legitimacy in the eyes of the participants.^[2]

This consultative process is unprecedented in Australia. It is on this authority that the ALA supports the Uluru Statement and the Voice as the first step in the sequence.

The proposed Voice is not the product of any political party or faction but by a representative population of First Nations delegates at the National Constitutional Convention in 2017.^[3] It is one step in a series of reforms that are necessarily sequential; the rationale for which is well-thought out and considered.

It is important to recognise that there are differing opinions on the Voice among First Nations peoples, and the ALA will approach this dialogue respectfully at all times while advocating our support for a constitutionally-enshrined Voice followed by treaty and truth – as detailed in the Uluru Statement.

A Yes vote on the Voice at this year’s referendum not only commences the Uluru Statement’s deliberate sequence of reform, but it is also a resounding affirmative message of support for all First Nations peoples across Australia.

It starts with the Voice.

I acknowledge the contribution of Nadia Elads and Elenore Levi, Policy and Advocacy, ALA.

---

^[1] The final Uluru Statement was endorsed by the National Constitutional Convention, as documented in the Final Report of the 2017 Referendum Council, Commonwealth of Australia (2017) <https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/sites/default/files/report_attachments/Referendum_Council_Final_Report.pdf>.

^[2] See ‘Kirribilli Statement’ Final Report of the Referendum Council (6 July 2015) < https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/sites/default/files/report_attachments/Appendix%20G%20-%20Kirribilli%20Statement.pdf> and G Appleby and S Brennan ‘The long road to recognition’, Inside Story (19 May 2017) <https://insidestory.org.au/the-long-road-to-recognition/>. This process was agreed to by the Australian Government in 2015 and the design of the regional dialogues carefully tried and considered before the first in December 2016.

^[3] See Uluru Statement: a quick guide, Parliament of Australia (19 June 2017), <https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp16 17/Quick_Guides/UluruStatement>.