A joint parliamentary inquiry examining the constitution alteration bill has released its findings after a six-week inquiry, urging the parliament to endorse Labor's proposed Voice to Parliament referendum wording.
The committee, which is made up of seven Labor, four Coalition and two crossbench members, was tasked with looking into the legislation that will call a referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
The committee recommended the parliament should pass the bill with no changes.
Committee chair Senator Nita Green said it was another step on the road to the referendum.
"That recommendation is based on a body of evidence that we received through this committee process. We held five public hearings, we had 71 witnesses come forward, and we received over 270 submissions," she told the ABC.
"We went around the country to listen to community leaders and legal experts to determine that the Voice wording that's been put forward by the government should be passed by the parliament unamended."
The inquiry focused heavily on the wording of the proposed amendment to the constitution, which is:
In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:
- 1.There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;
- 2.The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
- 3.The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.
Senator Green said overwhelmingly the evidence given supported the proposed change to the constitution, including submissions from legal and constitutional experts.
"When it comes to the legal issues, they have been tested, they've been ventilated, and we have made sure that we've considered all of these things in our report," Senator Green said.
"I listened to the evidence of people like Bret Walker, like Professor Anne Twomey, Professor George Williams, the former justice [Kenneth] Hayne and a former chief justice of the High Court in Robert French.
"They were all unequivocal in their assessment that this proposal is constitutionally sound."
The legislation is scheduled to return to parliament at the end of May for further debate, with the government hoping the bill will go to a vote before parliament rises in June.
Some dissent from Coalition committee members
The committee was not unanimous in its findings, with two dissenting reports attached from the one National and three Liberal members.
The Coalition members raised issues with whether the government and the executive would be obliged to consult and consider representations of the Voice, and the impact of that process on government decision-making.
"There are reasonable arguments for and against finding that the Executive would have a duty to consult the Voice and consider its representations," the dissenting report reads.
"The fact is, serious experts, including former High Court and Federal Court judges, gave conflicting evidence about the risk. That is enough cause for the Parliament to take the issue seriously and take steps to eliminate it."
Senator Green said she does not agree with the comments put forward in the dissenting reports.
"I can't justify what those people have written in their dissenting reports, but what I can say is that I don't feel that they have actually reflected the evidence that they've received during these hearings," she said.
"We also heard from legal experts about the fact that this proposal will actually add to the constitution and adorn the constitution.
"I think that the evidence has largely been ignored by the dissenting reports."
However, the dissenting report confirmed the Coalition will not seek to block the referendum from happening, flagging it may potentially vote with the government when the bill returns to parliament.
"The Coalition will not stand in the way of Australians voting on the government's proposal. While the Coalition does not support the proposal as presently drafted, it is right that Australians will have the final say on the Referendum," the report says.
"Their vote may hinge on the principle of equality of citizenship, whether a new national institution can address disadvantage, or whether the wording contains unacceptable constitutional risk, as this report addresses."
Committee member and Liberal senator Andrew Bragg confirmed the Coalition would pass the bill through the house when parliament returned.
"We will be voting for the bill, because we want the people to have their say. Now there are different views inside the Coalition parties, different views inside the Liberal Party about the Voice, but everyone agrees that people should have their say."
