Indigenous voice to government

The Indigenous Voice to Parliament (the Voice) is the proposed new advisory group containing separately elected Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, enshrined in the Constitution of Australia, which would "have a responsibility and right to advise the Australian Parliament and Government on national matters of significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples". The request for creating the Indigenous Voice to Parliament was a result of the May 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart, delivered by the First Nations National Constitutional Convention which met at Uluru. This request was refused by the Turnbull government, on the grounds that it "would be seen as third chamber of parliament". After Scott Morrison became prime minister of Australia in August 2018, his government proposed the Indigenous voice to government in October 2019, which would introduce a body via legislation, without changing the Constitution. The process by which the channel would be established was known as the Indigenous voice co-design process. The Senior Advisory Group was set up under Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt. With a change of government on 23 May 2022, new prime minister Anthony Albanese promised in his victory speech that a referendum to decide the Indigenous Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution would be held within his term of office. In July 2022 he outlined further plans regarding the referendum, and proposed that the advisory group be named the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. As of February 2023[update], the details of what the Indigenous Voice to Parliament will involve have not been confirmed. The new process is being overseen by Labor's Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney. Whilst the Peter Dutton-led Opposition Liberal Party has thus far reserved its position on the referendum pending further details from the Labor Government on the nature of the proposed Voice, their junior Coalition partner Nationals have declared themselves against the proposal, with their Aboriginal Senator for the Northern Territory Jacinta Price arguing that it will enshrine a racially divisive bureaucracy into the Constitution, that cannot be dismantled. From Wikipedia