OPINION: The Voice lets us walk together towards a better future

I think we often forget how extraordinary it is to be constantly welcomed.

If you think of all the things that could be said and what we keep hearing is welcome. There is a generosity in that.

That generosity is also reflected in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. If you haven't read it - I seriously recommend it.

It's 439 words that fits on one A4 piece of paper - asking Australians to recognise First Nations people in the Constitution, and to listen to them.

The final sentence of the statement sums it up perfectly: "We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future." But those words and that generosity hasn't come out of nowhere.

It's come from First Nations people, working with governments - Liberal and Labor - to get to where we are now.

In 2007 then-Prime Minister John Howard promised the Australian people a referendum to "formally recognise Indigenous Australians in our Constitution".

Here's how he described it at the time.

"Now, for the first time in a long time, we can see the outline of a new settlement for Indigenous policy in Australia.

"It stands at a point of intersection between rights and responsibilities; between the symbolic and the practical.

"It is, to be sure, less an end point than a point of light that can guide us to a better future. We're not there yet. But if we keep our balance, we can get there soon."

That was in 2007. 16 years ago. From there the Rudd, Gillard, Abbott and Turnbull governments all supported constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

In 2012, under Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the Parliament established the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition.

In 2013, under Tony Abbott, that committee was re-established. That led, in 2015, to the Kirribilli statement - with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull establishing the Referendum Council.

The council's job was to advise on progress and next steps towards a successful referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution.

In 2017, a constitutional convention of 250 Indigenous leaders and Elders came together - and from that we received the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

That followed, in 2018, with the Parliament establishing a joint select committee co-chaired by Liberal MP Julian Leeser and Labor Senator Patrick Dodson.

Out of that, we ended up with a bipartisan recommendation on how the Parliament and First Nations people could work together to co-design meaningful constitutional recognition.

Liberal and Labor politicians - working with First Nations people - over more than a decade and a half to get to where we are now.

But all of this hasn't happened in a vacuum. During that whole period there has been the annual drumbeat of both good intentions and policy failure. Every year we have heard the Closing the Gap reports.

And in all of those reports during that period, we have heard what's on track and what's not. The child literacy and numeracy objective has never been on track. The life expectancy objective has never been on track.

We need to do things differently - and that's what this referendum is about.

Recognising First Nations people in the Constitution and listening to them.

This request has come from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people - who know that through listening we can get better outcomes.

We also now know from local examples on the ground - whether it's in education, or health or housing - that listening gets better outcomes.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart gives us a way of recognition through Voice to deliver results. It's a gracious statement, and we can be gracious in return by voting Yes this Saturday.

This is a chance to accept the generous offer from Indigenous Australians to walk with them towards a better future.

Tony Burke MP, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for the Arts