For more than 30 years, all sides of politics in Australia have accepted the need for a credible Indigenous voice to the federal government- for constitutional reforms to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to take a rightful place in their own country.

In the Statement for the Heart, our First Nations people asked us to create for them a Voice to Parliament. It is a beautiful document, an invitation, and a gift to our nation from our first people.

The concept of the Voice to Parliament is simple but powerful. It will be a body of Indigenous people with the right and means to be formally consulted on policy and legislation affecting their communities. Essentially, representative Indigenous Australians who know their communities will talk directly to politicians in Canberra. They will offer us practical and effective solutions to their unique challenges including jobs, health, education, and justice. It will be purely advisory in construct and effect. It will not have the power of veto over legislation.

Recognition is a simple statement of fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were the first people here. A Voice to Parliament is a simple and practical way to achieve this recognition in the Australian Constitution. 

A successful referendum will be a source of pride for the Australian nation and a unifying moment for us all. And so it's time to - as the Uluru Statement says - leave base camp, and trek across this vast country. To walk together with Indigenous Australians, as we walk together with those born of early settlers and with our recent immigrants. To give our first Australians a Voice, and for us to listen to that Voice. 

Over the coming months, I will be working hard to ensure The Voice to Parliament is a success.
Join me in ensuring that Kooyong Votes Yes on 14 October.