I rise today to talk about a joint motion from Dr Paterson, Mr Pettersson, Mr Braddock, Ms Clay, Mr Davis and me. Our motion is to support and help protect the integrity of the upcoming Voice referendum.

This motion is being introduced at a critical time. As we all know, Australia has an important decision to make on 14 October. Today, with it being Tuesday 19 September, there are only 25 days to go until 14 October. It is absolutely crucial that this referendum has integrity by helping to fight the spread of misinformation and ensure information about the Voice is factual.

I know that there has been plenty of discussion on the Voice over this year, particularly in the last couple of months as both the Yes and the No campaigns have taken off. I am sure we will have had many conversations in our personal lives with family and friends about the Voice and how we are going to vote. I guarantee that our social media has also been inundated with content on the Voice. That is why we need to help ensure that this information that is so accessible and readily available is factual and provides Canberrans with all the information that they need.

What we are being asked to vote on is very simple. It is this: do we want to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution by enshrining a Voice to parliament which will provide advice to government on policies that affect them, or not. It is that simple.

If the Voice referendum were to be successful, it would result in a body made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and allow them to communicate directly to government on the issues that affect them and on how the government can address these issues. What better way to address these issues faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than by hearing directly from them and listening to how they think these issues can be addressed?

The Voice is about recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution and paying respect to 65,000 years of culture and tradition. The Voice is about listening to advice from a body of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people about matters that affect their lives, in an effort for government to make better decisions.

The Voice is about making practical progress in Indigenous health, education, employment and housing, so that our First Nations Australians have a better life. The Voice will not have veto power. The Voice is not about controlling funding or interfering with the courts. The Voice will work alongside existing organisations and our traditional institutions.

Without a doubt, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face more challenges than non-Indigenous Australians and they have to overcome many more obstacles throughout their lives. The life expectancy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is eight years shorter than non-Indigenous Australians. Suicide rates are twice as high and there are worse rates of disease and infant mortality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

I could go on and on about the inequality and discrimination faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but clearly our current approach is not working and something needs to be done to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The call for the Voice did not come from politicians; the Voice is the result of the Uluru Statement from the Heart that was developed in May 2017, 50 years after the 1967 referendum which confirmed that First Nation Australians must be counted as part of our national census, in the statement read so gracefully by my colleague, Ms Jo Clay.

This now leads me to my concern about the misinformation and disinformation that is being so quickly spread. As a supporter of the Voice, I, like many other members, have been engaging with our constituents in many ways, including announcing my support for the Voice on social media.

While I do not think it is overly helpful continuing to repeat the misinformation being spread, I would like to touch on my experience with it. For example, over the weekend, I, along with Ngunnawal elder Aunty Violet Sheridan, Dr Andrew Leigh and Mr Pettersson held a community barbecue where we invited the community to pop in for a sausage and have a chat about the Voice. The negative and No supporter comments on the social media ads that we put out to advertise the event attracted comments that quite honestly were shocking and a real eye-opener to how far we have yet to come as a nation.

Promoting this barbecue in support for the Voice has attracted many disrespectful remarks and even some outright lies about what the Voice is and how it will affect non-Indigenous Australians. People have left comments on my social media accounts stating that, if the Voice were to be successful, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people would be getting free homes and cars or that non-Indigenous Australians should be fearful that their homes will be taken away from them, and many other comments of a similar vein.

Another common attitude that is being spread within the community is the belief that there is not enough information on the Voice. I, along with many who are campaigning on the Voice, know that there is still a lot of awareness-raising to go. The purpose of the barbecue that we had over the weekend was an opportunity for people in the community to come together to chat about the Voice and to seek answers to questions they may have.

If you truly feel as though you do not know enough about the Voice, there are things you can do. One thing you can do is to do your own research on the Voice. The Voice has been covered extensively for months now on both sides of the argument. The Australian government, the Yes campaign, the No campaign and many other accredited institutions have extensive information available about the Voice.

It is important that everyone knows what they are voting on. It is our responsibility to access the official information that has been released and not to rely on the unchecked information that is so often spread through social media from questionable or unreliable sources.

In closing, I am encouraged to see public support from many members in the chamber across all political parties, and I would like to make the following very clear: a Yes vote can and will make a real difference. A No vote will continue to deny Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the chance to have input into the policies that affect them.

For anyone who is undecided, my recommendation would be that, if you want to help improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, then vote yes. We as a community can help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a voice on the issues that affect them and give them a say on how we together can walk with them to fix these issues.

I hope you will all be joining me in voting yes on 14 October as well as supporting this motion today. I commend the motion to the Assembly.