Video Paul Scambler
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00:00 A modest, benign advisory body that's as far as, as much as we, well we don't know
00:09 that that's going to be the case because we're also told, you know, vote yes now
00:13 and the details will come later. And such a huge undertaking, such a huge amendment
00:21 to make to our Constitution. The Australian people deserve to understand
00:27 what the detail is on this proposal. Participate, because you're a senator in
00:35 Parliament, you'll be able to determine what this voice looks like. Well I can
00:40 tell you now, sitting in opposition at the moment, it's actually quite difficult
00:45 to get, to get support for anything that I put forward and I mean I put forward
00:54 the Prime Minister's Bill to reinstate alcohol restrictions after the
00:58 devastation of the lifting of the alcohol restriction bill, of alcohol
01:01 restrictions in my community. I was ignored and I was told it was nonsense
01:06 and I lost that vote. So to suggest that somehow I will play a meaningful part in
01:13 what this voice looks like is just lip service and nonsense from the
01:18 government. There is of course about 35 billion a year spent on attempting to
01:24 improve the lives of marginalised Indigenous Australians and that is failing.
01:28 So you know given that the proponents of the voice and within those 26 pages
01:34 suggest that there needs to be a place within Canberra for the voice, they need
01:43 to set aside or create a new building for the voice in Canberra, in Parliament
01:47 itself. They've even used terminology like a
01:51 black Parliament. The cost would be massive, would be huge and that would be
02:00 to the taxpayer so that 3% of the population can be represented.
02:06 Roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty and fix the mess that currently exists,
02:11 determine whether billions of dollars are being spent and/or misspent or
02:15 whether being effective and producing outcomes. I want to fix or do away with
02:23 the structures that currently exist already as opposed to creating a whole
02:28 new one trying to reinvent the wheel and plonking it over the top of the mess
02:31 that currently exists. I would want to review the Land Rights Act which we as
02:38 traditional owners are governed by in the Northern Territory where you know a
02:41 lot of marginalised Indigenous Australians actually live and reform it
02:47 in such a way that it provides the opportunity for traditional owners to
02:50 actually have real control over their land, to create economic development
02:55 opportunities, to move away from welfare and to be the job creators without having
03:00 to rely consistently on government to create jobs and/or rely on
03:07 welfare. There are sorts of things that can be done and should be done that
03:14 haven't actually been done despite the fact that the Prime Minister is
03:18 suggesting that the voice is something that hasn't been done before and myself
03:22 and Senator for South Australia, Karen Little, we have a motion on the floor of the
03:27 Senate at the moment to launch that inquiry into land councils, statutory
03:31 authorities, Aboriginal organisations to understand where that money is being
03:36 spent so that we can begin to apply real accountability and determine where that
03:44 money is better spent and again to begin that process of fixing those
03:50 structures that currently exist.
03:53 (audience applauding)
03:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]