South Australia has a long and proud history of advancing the fair go.
In the 1890s, South Australians led the nation in granting women the right to vote in elections and run for office.
In the 1960s South Australians led the nation on land rights. In the 1970s South Australians led the nation in decriminalising homosexuality.
This week, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are looking to South Australia to help lead the nation again, by voting Yes.
Voting Yes to their request for constitutional recognition through a Voice.
We launched the Yes campaign in Elizabeth because it’s the suburbs and towns of South Australia that will decide if we recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution.
If you vote Yes, our Constitution will finally acknowledge the unique privilege all of us have to share this ancient island continent with the oldest continuous culture on earth.
Voting Yes is a powerful statement about our 65,000 years of shared history.
But it’s also a practical way of building a better future for Indigenous communities.
Because the recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are asking for is not just a symbolic acknowledgement.
They’re seeking something that will make a practical difference to their children’s lives.
That’s what the Voice is about. The Voice will be a non-binding advisory committee of Indigenous Australians, chosen by Indigenous Australians to give advice on issues that affect Indigenous Australians.
The Voice won’t have the power to block laws or overrule Parliament.
It won’t run programs or allocate funding.
Its only power will be the power of its ideas.
But you know that when governments are prepared to listen to ideas from locals, they get better outcomes.
That’s why I’m in Port Lincoln today, it’s why I brought our whole Cabinet to Adelaide recently, it’s why I went to Renmark when it was affected by floodwaters at the start of year and Whyalla last month to back the transformative opportunities of the transition to clean energy.
Because no-one can see the full picture from behind a desk in Canberra.
No-one can make a fully-informed decision without consulting the people on the ground.
South Australians understand this.
Your state knows what it’s like to have to work hard to be heard.
You appreciate the difference that listening can make.
Yet for decades, Governments from both sides of politics haven’t listened to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The consequences of that approach are plain for all of us to see: an 8 year gap in life expectancy, an infant mortality rate twice as high, children in Indigenous communities dealing with diseases that have been eliminated almost everywhere else.
This isn’t because of a lack of good intentions, or a lack of effort.
It’s because for too long we’ve been doing things to Indigenous Australians or for Indigenous Australians instead of doing things with Indigenous Australians.
Voting Yes is Australia’s chance to change this.
Putting a Voice in our Constitution will mean it can give advice that’s independent from day-to-day politics and focused on the long-term solutions we need to close the gap.
The Voice will also save us money.
Because when you listen to people on the frontline, you reduce waste, you build the things communities actually need and you fund initiatives that really work.
That’s the common sense a Yes vote represents.
Listening means better outcomes for Indigenous Australians and better value for money for every Australian taxpayer.
Voting Yes unlocks these new opportunities in a spirit of greater unity.
It’s a chance to take our country forward, together.
Voting No means no change, no progress and no answers.
That’s the thing about the No campaign: they are not offering a different path, just a dead end.
South Australians have always stood up for the fair go.
You’ve always taken the chance to make this great country of ours, even better.
This week, that power is in your hands.
Vote Yes for Recognition, vote Yes for listening, vote Yes for better results.
This opinion piece was first published in The Adelaide Advertiser on Monday, 9 October 2023.