Quarterly Essay 90: Voice of Reason

At Uluru, an invitation was issued to the Australian people. With the upcoming referendum, the nation will decide whether to accept that invitation.

In this compelling, fresh and imaginative essay, Megan Davis draws out the significance and the promise of this “constitutional moment” – what it could mean for recognition and justice. Davis presents the Voice to Parliament as an Australian solution to an Australian problem.

For Indigenous people, it is a practical response to “the torment of powerlessness”. She highlights the failure of past policies, in areas from child protection to closing the gap, and the urgent need for change. She also brings out the creative and imaginative dimensions of the Voice. Fundamental to her account is the importance of truly listening. In explaining why the Voice is needed from the ground up, she evokes a new vision of Country and community.

Megan Davis is Professor of Constitutional Law at UNSW, a global Indigenous rights expert on the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and a former chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She was the first person to read out the Uluru Statement from the Heart, at Uluru in May 2017.