The first formal step to holding a referendum has been taken, as the words to alter the Australian constitution to enshrine an Indigenous voice were presented to federal parliament.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus introduced the bill on Thursday, setting the wheels in motion for a referendum later this year.
He said the alteration would rectify more than 120 years of the explicit exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia’s founding legal document.
“Recognition through a voice is neither the beginning nor the end of this story, but it is an important new chapter,” he told parliament.
“It is now 2023. It is time to accept the generous invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. It is time to listen.”…