'Whole-heartedly good': SA to create state Voice to Parliament

Premier Peter Malinauskas said he had taken the policy to the recent election after committing to it as Labor leader in 2019.

“We made it clear that we were committed to the full Uluru Statement from the Heart and we have been consulting with the community broadly, both Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous communities, and we have arrived at a model to put it into the Parliament,” he told Today.

Malinauskas said he believed most South Australians supported the “reasonable” initiative.

“Our voice to the Parliament serves as a demonstration to the whole nation that it is a whole-heartedly good thing to do, not just for Indigenous affairs but as a whole,” he said.

He said the policy was designed to suit South Australia, and that a Federal voice may be different.

“But the principles remains the same around a Voice to Parliament which advances the cause of Indigenous Australians in our state,” he said.

Debate continues over the question of a federal Voice, ahead of a referendum later this year.

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But newly-released Australian Electoral Commission data showed a record surge in voter enrolment for Indigenous Australians in the second half of last year.

An additional 21,000 voters had gone on the books in that time, bringing the Indigenous Australian enrolment rate up 2.8 per cent to 84.5 per cent.

The entire Australian enrolment rate is at 97 per cent.

“The estimated number of ‘unenrolled’ Indigenous Australians has gone under 100,000 for the first time – to just under 87,000 – and that is significant,” electoral commissioner Tom Rogers said.

“We continue to work really hard in getting as many people to enrol as possible, with a particular focus on young Australians and Indigenous Australians who aren’t enrolled at as high a rate as others.”