Reporting by Stacey Pestrin and Imogen Hayne
South Australian One Nation MP Sarah Game will move to repeal the state’s Voice to Parliament, in the wake of the defeated referendum.
South Australia became the first jurisdiction in the country to legislate a state-based First Nations Voice to Parliament in March and elections are due to be held next March.
Ms Game, a state Upper House MP, plans to give notice on her First Nations Voice Repeal Bill on Tuesday.
She said she was concerned the state Voice lacked “genuine consultation” with South Australians and would be an “enormous arm of government so heavy it will lift no-one”.
But Premier Peter Malinauskas said the Voice had been legislated “after probably one of the most exhaustive pieces of community consultation that I’ve borne witness to”.
South Australia’s Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Kyam Maher, said Ms Game’s planned repeal bill was “disappointing” but he had spoken to his colleagues in the legislative council and they were “committed and absolutely resolved to our South Australian First Nations Voice”.
“There actually is zero prospect of this being repealed,” he said.
Mr Maher said elections will go ahead for the South Australian Voice early next year.
“I think many people, even the most vocal opponents during this referendum, have talked about the importance of local voices and that’s exactly what we’re doing in South Australia,” he said.
“There will be a series of local voices elected on March 16 next year by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander South Australians, and representatives from those local voices will form the state’s First Nations voice.
Mr Malinauskas said the state’s legislated Voice was “very different in nature” to a constitutional change, and would be a “non-binding advisory committee” similar to other existing advisory bodies.
“No different to what we have with the South Australian multicultural affairs commission or the construction industry skills commission. It’ll be similar in nature to that,” he said.
South Australia’s commissioner for First Nations Voice, Dale Agius, said a third round of community consultations would take place in a couple of weeks, explaining how to nominate and vote for the state-based Voice.
He said while the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people he had spoken to were “a little bit upset and disappointed” with yesterday’s outcome, “the excitement for the state-based process still continues”.
SA Opposition leader David Speirs did not comment on Ms Game’s bill, but said the Liberals would be open to amending legislation related to the state’s Voice “should it be deemed not to be working”.
“That might include, should we conclude that South Australians don’t want this state voice. They clearly don’t want a federal voice.”
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