Quakers Support The Statement from the Heart and Voice to Parliament

Public Statement in support of the Statement from the Heart and for The Voice to Parliament

In July, Quakers across Australia met and accepted the following Statement from the First Nations Concerns Committee about support for the Statement from the Heart and for the Voice to be enshrined in the Constitution:

Our Quaker testimonies call us to be in right relationship with all peoples and to support social justice systems where people know their concerns are being heard and taken into account.

In the Statement from the Heart, First Peoples speak of the torment of their powerlessness and seek constitutional reforms to empower their people and to take a rightful place in their own country.

They call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice to be enshrined in the Constitution and seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about their history. They seek to be heard.

First Peoples conclude the Statement from the Heart with an invitation to walk with them in a movement of the Australian people for a better future for all living in this vast country now called Australia. Australian Quakers accept this invitation with gratitude.

Australian Quakers consider it is essential that First Peoples have an effective say in laws and policies that affect them. We support the full implementation of the Statement from the Heart and we hold that support for the Yes vote for the Voice is a pivotal step toward the Statement’s full implementation.

Full implementation of the Statement from the Heart will provide the Australian people with an effective mechanism to finally and fully confront the truth of our past and our present and to make way for abiding justice, healing, recovery and repair for Original Australians, and rightful relationships between us all.

Bruce Henry
Presiding Clerk
Australia Yearly Meeting
July 2023