This year is clearly one of great significance in our nation. We are in a phase of preparation for the referendum to take place later this year which considers the proposal to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

In 2021, CRA as the peak body of Religious throughout Australia clearly expressed support for the proposal of a voice that emerged from the Uluru Statement of the Heart. Support for that statement was also expressed in the decisions of the Second Assembly of the Plenary Council. There is also great respect that this referendum is a democratic process in which each person needs to exercise discernment in preparation for the referendum. There is a diversity of views among people of goodwill.

At recent Church-related gatherings that I attended in my capacity as president of CRA, I was privileged to have the opportunity to hear the voices of two among many prominent spokespersons at this time of discernment.

The first presentation was at the recent Mission Conference. Dean Parkin from the Quandamooka peoples of Minjerribah (North Stadbroke Island) spoke with passion as to what an affirmation of the proposal would mean to the First Peoples of Australia in terms of the depth of recognition, reconciliation and respect this would afford. Such recognition, reconciliation and respect are also clearly linked to very concrete issues concerning the wellbeing and just rights of First Peoples. Dean’s address was a reasoned and powerful cry from the heart.

The second presentation was at the recent meetings of the Australian Bishops at which the CRA Executive attended as observers. Frank Brennan SJ, well known to many of us, drew from his legal and procedural expertise to present a concise yet thorough analysis of the strengths and challenges of the process leading to the referendum and the implications for Church participation in the preparation for the referendum. Again, the conclusion was the critical importance of this moment for the First Peoples of this land and the nation itself.

The discernment for each of us as individuals and as communities (in the broader sense) is one that needs to be engaged, prayerful and positive as we prepare for what is a watershed moment in the story of this land and nation.