Representatives from Uluru Statement from the Heart were in Tamworth to talk all things Voice to Parliament.
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Geoff Scott and Roy Ah-See, both from Wiradjuri nation which is bordered by Murumbidgee, Lachlan and Macquarie rivers in NSW, spoke to about 50 Indigenous and non-Indigenous people at the Coledale Community Centre on April 18.
Mr Scott said they were there to have a conversation and provide more information about the Uluru Statement and constitutional recognition.
"We're not here to be the thought police," Mr Scott said.
"We're here to inform people."
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In 2017, the Uluru Statement from the Heart was read for the first time by prominent Aboriginal Australian Megan Davis, who was part of a 16-member Referendum Council jointly appointed by then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and opposition leader Bill Shorten.
The council toured Australia that year, speaking to about 1200 people, and concluded with the statement which called for a First Nations voice to be enshrined in the Constitution.
Shortly after his win in 2022, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged to hold a referendum on the voice to parliament.
Mr Scott said they talked at the forum on Tuesday, about the origins of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander struggle to be heard "which goes back hundreds of years".
"For too long we've been ignored. In 1967 we got to the point where we were counted," Mr Scott said of the referendum which saw Indigenous Australians counted on the census.
"Now we want to be heard, and that provides for a protective voice in the Constitution."
He said they talked about events leading up to the Uluru Statement, the path they've been on since, and the Constitutional Alteration bill currently before parliament.
Tamworth Local Aboriginal Lands Council CEO Fiona Snape said the meeting gave people the opportunity to ask questions and learn about the constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament process.
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