Mr MELHAM (4:36 PM) —I rise to support the motion before the House. Just over 100 years ago, conventions were held and a document was drafted which, except for a few negative references, all but ignored the original inhabitants and owners of our land. Indigenous Australians were excluded from the process. That document eventually became our Constitution. While the negative references have been removed, the Australian Constitution as amended still does not reflect the rich and proud history of our indigenous peoples. We need to learn from the mistakes of the past, not repeat them. Lack of consultation with Australia's indigenous people and lack of negotiation must be left in the history books and never repeated in the present or in the future. Indigenous Australians must have secure, ongoing and full input into the draft document that is now before us. They must have a place at the table. There must be a shared sense of ownership, a sense that both sides have contributed and will continue to contribute in the national effort for reconciliation.

As shadow minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs, I am keen to hear the views of indigenous people on the draft document. Now is a time for listening. Now is not a time for setting one's personal views in concrete. There must be negotiation and there may need to be compromise, but this can only work if both sides agree to respect each other's opinions. There is a need to listen to others' points of view and to accommodate both sides.

Now that the draft document has entered the public consultation process, it is time for the politicians to take a step back, to listen and to let the people take over. Reconciliation has become a grassroots movement. Now is the time for the grassroots to have an input into this document. This document needs to be owned by the people, not by the politicians. This consultation, this negotiation, this partnership between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians is the way forward. We made mistakes in the past because we were not listening. We thought we knew what was best for indigenous Australians. We were wrong. This draft document is an acknowledgment that that approach was a mistake.

The reconciliation process is about acknowledgment of, and respect for, the culture of our first Australians. It is about respect for the enduring cultures of indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. If we cannot respect the culture of our first Australians, how can we respect the cultures of our later arrivals? It is about us fully and freely accepting and recognising the mistakes of the past, making efforts towards a better future and going about it with a generosity of spirit. It is about indigenous Australians accepting our regret and working with us so that we can all share the future equally. This requires generosity on their part, which I believe is there in abundance.

This parliament has recognised its respect for the often harsh history of indigenous Australians by flying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, along with the national flag, at the three entrances to Parliament House and near the entry of the two chambers during Reconciliation Week. I understand that these indigenous flags will also be flown during NAIDOC Week this year. I would like to congratulate you, Mr Speaker, and the President of the Senate for carrying out the initiative of Speaker Sinclair to fly these flags. This is an important symbol. It is a visual reminder to us during Reconciliation Week and NAIDOC Week that we cannot go back to the past and we must work together for a shared future. It is a reminder of the pain and suffering caused to indigenous people and its enduring consequences. It progresses the process of reconciliation.

In the same vein, a document of reconciliation can be a visual reminder of the mistakes of the past. But it can also be a visual reminder that we must all make efforts in the present so that our future is shared, so that the potential of our land is accessible to all and so that all Australians, both indigenous and non-indigenous, have the right to seek their own aspirations. This draft document has such potential, and I look forward to hearing ideas from all sides during the public consultation process.

Question resolved in the affirmative.