KATE CARNELL:
Look, I am so pleased to be here today with Jim Chalmers who is actually, apart from being Treasurer, he's the local member as well. My name is Kate Carnell and I am national co-convener for Liberals for Yes and we're here together to really show that this isn't a political issue here. We are encouraging all Australians to vote yes and we're doing that because well, apart from it being the right thing to do, this is something that Indigenous Australians have asked for. They've asked for recognition and let's be fair, they are Australia's first people, they've been here for 65,000 years and they've asked for recognition through a Voice to Parliament so from my perspective, this is simple. We haven't done very well with regard to Indigenous policy under the Liberals, Labor, we've spent a lot of money and we simply haven't got the outcomes that any of us want. So let's change that. Let's not just do more of the same. Let's have significantly better outcomes for Indigenous Australians by voting yes.
JIM CHALMERS:
Thanks very much, Kate and welcome to Logan City, it's an honour to have you here amongst so many friends.
This is a demonstration that this need not be a divisive moment, this can be a unifying moment for our country. Whether you vote Liberal or Labor or Greens or some other way, no matter what community you come from or what part of the world you come from, this is our opportunity to grasp this generational opportunity to listen better and to get better outcomes.
The First Nations people of our country have reached out their hand in a generous and a gracious way and we need to grab this opportunity together. This is our chance to come together to unite our principles and our pragmatism and do something that we can be really proud of and what we want to see in this community and in communities right around the country is people showing up and standing up for the first of us in a way that could unite and lift all of us up and that's what this is all about.
There will be people who try and divide us, there will be disinformation and conspiracy theories and people will try and run us down but Australians can rise above the misinformation and the division and we can come together and do something that we're really proud of. You will hear lots of things about what this is not about, I'll tell you what this is all about – it's about constitutional recognition, it's about listening better and getting better outcomes.
I agree 100 per cent with what Kate said a moment ago, we can't expect better outcomes if we continue to do things exactly as we've always done them. This is about doing things differently, it's about doing things better, it's about listening better and getting better outcomes and that's why you're seeing people come together – Liberals and Labor and from other parties and from all kinds of multicultural communities here in one of the most multicultural parts of Australia, coming together to do something that we can be really proud of in three weeks' time.
CARNELL:
Well, let's hope everyone votes yes.