A voice to parliament represents a clear line-in-the-sand moment to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Indigenous leaders say.
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Members of the referendum working group for the Indigenous voice say the establishment of the body will be a defining moment for the country.
"We're here to draw a line in the sand and say, 'This has to change, people's lives have to improve'," working group member Marcia Langton said in Canberra on Thursday.
"We know from the evidence that what improves people's lives is when they get a say and that's what this is about.
"The truth burns and truth is very much an Aboriginal value and the Torres Strait Islander value across the country. So that is ... very much a part of our thinking."
The referendum working group stood alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Parliament House to outline the constitutional change Australians will be asked to approve later this year.
Voters will be asked: "A proposed law to alter the constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?"
Co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue Megan Davis described the announcement as a significant day.
"We have never tried in this country to empower our people, to empower our voice. This is about the right to ... be heard on laws and policies about our lives," she said.
An emotional Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said the voice would be a big step forward to recognise Indigenous people in the country's constitution.
"(It) will be a simple, but powerful, act. It will move Australia forward for everyone," she said.
"A voice that will make practical difference. A voice that will work for you. And so today the starter's gun has been fired."
West Australian Labor senator Pat Dodson said the voice gave hope, reversing tyranny against Indigenous people.
"We as Australians can arise to a better relationship with our First Peoples, one where we are liberated and when our hearts and minds are cleared from the tyranny of the oppression and suffering and shame that we have lived with," he said.
But Indigenous coalition senator Jacinta Price said the voice would only add racial division into the constitution.
"Not all Aboriginal people agree with the elite's voice to parliament," she said, after hosting a delegation of Indigenous leaders that opposed the change.
"These are the voices that I will continue to amplify. They don't want to be divided along the lines of race, they want to be part of the wider Australian community and considered as such."
Australian Associated Press
