Support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart and a Voice to Parliament

For over 40 years, Greening Australia has been working towards our vision of healthy and productive landscapes where people and nature thrive.

Greening Australia’s history – while rich with stories of success, progress and respectful relationships with First Nations Peoples – is but a moment in time compared to the tens of thousands of years Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have spent caring for this continent’s lands and waters.

Smoking eucalyptus leaves tell of traditions and history that stretch back thousands of years. Photo: Jesse Collins

Greening Australia gratefully acknowledges the important role that First Nations Australians play in this country’s environmental, social and economic prosperity. Recognising, listening to and elevating their diverse and sacred ways of knowing is essential to Greening Australia’s mission – and to building a more equitable and sustainable Australia more broadly.

Our Thriving on Country Committee plays an integral role in helping Greening Australia to deliver, evaluate, improve and report on our reconciliation journey and our Thriving on Country strategy. It is a formally recognised committee to the Greening Australia board, made up of six First Nations Australians that bring a diverse set of lived experiences, knowledge and perspectives to their positions.

Working on Country together, members of the Thriving on Country Committee and Greening Australia board. Photo: Through the Looking Glass.

In 2023, our shared history is calling. Australians will be asked via a referendum to vote on the establishment of a constitutionally enshrined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.

Greening Australia’s Thriving on Country Committee supports the Uluru Statement from the Heart in its entirety, the notion of a referendum, and a vote in favour of a Voice to Parliament.

Greening Australia welcomes the Thriving on Country Committee’s statement and echoes its commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and support of a vote in favour for a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament.

Greening Australia is deeply honoured to accept the Uluru Statement from the Heart’s invitation to walk with First Nations Australians towards a better future. The Statement calls for a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Australian Constitution and a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making and truth-telling.

Implementing the Statement in full is a key step towards a more reconciled Australia, one that recognises our First Peoples at the heart of the Australian nation and truly listens to their millennia-old knowledge and expertise to build a better future for all.

Change is on the horizon. Photo: Tropical Exposure.

Greening Australia acknowledges the decades-long history of First Nations-led activism that has brought the nation to this historic moment in 2023. Reflecting on our own Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) vision of healthy and productive landscapes enabling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities, Cultures, and enterprise to thrive on Country, we know that there is still a long road ahead of us.

This is a road we look forward to walking hand in hand with our Thriving on Country Committee, our First Nations partners, our staff, stakeholders, and the Australian people.

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