Voice, Treaty, Truth — backing state-level solutions on voice, treaty and truth-telling, and looking for opportunities to connect them to deep listening at a federal level.
Justice & EquityStanding with First Nations
Standing with First Nations · The Democrats' planThirty years since Redfern. Federal truth-telling still stalled.
In 1992, Paul Keating stood at Redfern and asked non-Aboriginal Australians to begin the truth-telling. Some thirty years on there has been some progress at a state level, but federally we have a failed referendum, no Constitutional recognition, no established Voice to Parliament, and Closing the Gap measures largely not on track — in some cases worsening. Our six commitments start where the Uluru Statement starts: Voice, Treaty, Truth.
30years Since the Redfern speech Keating asked us to begin the truth-telling in 1992. Federally, that process has not progressed.
0 Federal Voice to Parliament A failed referendum left no Constitutional recognition and no established Voice at a federal level.
3 Gaps still to close Health, education and life expectancy — where the gap must close for First Nations people.
6 Commitments in our plan The six points under Our Plan — what we commit to, in full.
Voice, Treaty, Truth — explained
Tap each pillar of the Uluru Statement to see what it means and where we stand.
The plan at a glance
Decisions made at a community level, in line with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and as recommended by the Productivity Commission's review of Closing the Gap.
Address the inequities in wealth distribution directly, so communities hold the means to shape their own future.
Solutions built on the evidence and delivered in a culturally safe way, to address the inequality faced by First Nations people across Australia.
Greater civics education, in line with a truth-telling process, telling the stories of who we are as a nation so we can move forward together.
Sacred sites safeguarded responsibly and consultatively.
Where the nation stands, and where we would take it
Not programs done to communities, but decisions made with them.
Today
- Closing the Gap measures largely not on track, and in some cases worsening
- First Nations children over-represented in out-of-home and foster care; First Nations people over-represented in juvenile detention and custody
- Inequities in wealth distribution left unaddressed
- 'Good news' under-reported, with no truth-in-advertising requirement to keep the narrative honest
Our plan
- Self-determination at a community level, as recommended by the Productivity Commission's review of Closing the Gap
- Evidence-informed, culturally safe solutions to address the inequality faced by First Nations people across Australia
- Economic independence, addressing the inequities in wealth distribution
- Greater civics education, in line with truth-telling, so the nation knows its many histories
The single change that matters most
A failed referendum: no Constitutional recognition, and no established Voice to Parliament at a federal level
The Uluru Statement from the Heart honoured in full — Voice, Treaty, Truth
Support state-level solutions on voice, treaty and truth-telling, and connect them to deep listening at a federal level. Thirty years after Redfern, that is the work that begins the healing instead of prolonging the agony as a nation.
The full policy
Word for word — the platform as our members wrote it.
The Issues
Successive Governments have failed our First Nations People.
In 1992, Paul Keating in his Redfern speech called on us to, in essence, participate in the truth-telling:
the starting point might be to recognise that the problem starts with us non-Aboriginal Australians. It begins, I think, with that act of recognition. Recognition that it was we who did the dispossessing. We took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life. We brought the diseases. The alcohol. We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practised discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice we failed to see that what we were doing degraded all of us.
— Paul Keating, Redfern Speech, 1992
Some thirty years on, while there has been some progress at a state level, we have not progressed the truth-telling process at a federal level. We have a failed referendum and therefore do not have Constitutional recognition, nor do we have an established Voice to Parliament at a federal level, and the Closing the Gap measures are largely not on track (and in some cases worsening). It’s just not good enough and while we wait for a government with the fortitude to really progress reconciliation and close the gap, our first nations people continue to suffer.
We need to close the gap in health, education and life expectancy of First Nations people.
Lack of progress around facilitating First Nations Voices, and truth-telling to begin the healing process is prolonging the agony and hurting us as a nation.
Systemic racism, casual and directed continues to result in poor outcomes, including over-representation of First Nations children in out of home/foster care, over-representation of First Nations people in juvenile detention/custody, and inability for our First Nations people to heal.
We have a dominance of conservative press that is primed for negative click bait, and lack of truth in advertising that means that ‘good news’ is under-reported and that money buys you the narrative you want as seen in the recent ‘No’ campaign material in the referendum.
Our Plan
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Commitment to the Uluru Statement From the Heart: Voice, Treaty, Truth supporting state-level solutions on voice, treaty and truth-telling, and looking for opportunities to connect this to deep listening at a federal level.
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Self-determination at a community level, in line with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and as recommended by the Productivity Commission’s review of the Closing the Gap.
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Economic independence, addressing inequities in wealth distribution.
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Evidence-informed, culturally safe solutions to address the inequality faced by First Nations People across Australia.
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Greater civics education, in line with a truth-telling process, supporting our many histories and telling the stories of who we are as a nation in order for us to move forward together.
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Safeguarding sacred sites responsibly and consultatively.
The Evidence
The evidence base for these reforms is drawn from the leading reviews, inquiries and scholarship on First Nations policy in Australia, including:
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Closing the Gap Annual Report and Implementation Plan.
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History Professor Clare Wright of Latrobe University in The Conversation, Masters of the future or heirs of the past? Mining, history and Indigenous ownership.
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Research Fellow (Indigenous Diplomacy), Australian National University, James Blackwell, in The Conversation, Forgiveness requires more than just an apology. It requires action.
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Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices): Securing Our Rights, Securing Our Future Report.
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Productivity Commission review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Report.
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United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
References
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Closing the Gap Annual Report and Implementation Plan.
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Clare Wright, Latrobe University, Masters of the future or heirs of the past? Mining, history and Indigenous ownership, The Conversation.
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James Blackwell, Australian National University, Forgiveness requires more than just an apology. It requires action, The Conversation.
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Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women’s Voices): Securing Our Rights, Securing Our Future Report.
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Productivity Commission review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Report.
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United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Make it happen.
Policies like this only become law when enough people push. Push with us.