As the Uluru Statement from the Heart begins: “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.”

We, as Jewish Australians, understand the important connection between land and people. Together, we join our First Nations partners in seeking “the substantive constitutional change and structural reform” that the Uluru Statement called for in order to realise “ancient sovereignty (to) shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood.”

Drawing upon a rich history of Jewish-First Nations Australian collaboration, NIF was proud to endorse the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2020 and to stand firmly with those in support of a Yes vote at the referendum.

Senator Malarndirri McCarthy is a Yanyuwa Garrawa woman from the Gulf country in the Northern Territory. She is the Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians and Indigenous Health in the Albanese Ministry.

She first entered the public sphere as a journalist with the ABC and then later with SBS/NITV.

Senator McCarthy was elected to the Northern Territory Assembly as the Member for Arnhem in 2005. During her seven years in the Assembly, she held the Ministerial Portfolios of Local Government, Regional Development, Indigenous Development, Tourism, Women’s Policy and Statehood.

She was elected as Senator for the Northern Territory and Christmas and Cocos Keeling Islands in August 2016.

Her experiences bring unique perspectives to the role of Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health, with a familiarity of challenges and opportunities facing Indigenous Australians living in rural, regional and remote areas.

Senator McCarthy’s focus is to bring communities together and ensure more Indigenous Australians can live longer, healthier and happier lives.

Melissa Castan is the Director of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, at the Faculty of Law. Melissa’s teaching and research interests are in Australian public law, constitutional law, Indigenous legal issues and legal education. She's co-author, with Professor Sarah Joseph, of The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: Cases, Commentary and Materials (OUP, 2013), and The Global Lawyer (2020, Lexis Nexis) with Kate Galloway and John Flood, as well as numerous scholarly articles and chapters. She's also national convenor of the Alternative Law Journal, and co-hosts legal podcast Just Cases, with James Pattison.

Josh Burns is Labor’s Federal Member for Macnamara in the inner south-eastern and bayside suburbs of Melbourne.

First elected in 2019, he serves in key parliamentary roles including as Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights and Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Aid Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. 

These positions reflect his commitment to ensuring Australia pursues a proactive and inclusive foreign policy, acting as a leader and partner in our region and beyond, and to the development and promotion of human rights. He recognises the importance of Australia being a nation in good standing internationally.

His values are grounded in the experience of his family. As the grandson of migrants who left Europe and settled in Melbourne in search of a safe place to raise their families, he knows the importance of upholding a multicultural and multifaith Australia – and the profound role education can play in changing lives.

He has been a strong advocate for progressive change – addressing housing affordability, tackling the homelessness crisis and ensuring Australia takes meaningful action on climate change – and is deeply committed to reconciliation with our First Australians in line with the Uluru Statement from the Heart. He is acutely aware of the need for local action to reflect the best of Australia’s aspirations as a country.

Before representing his community in the Australian Parliament, he previously worked as a teacher’s aide and a factory hand, and served as an adviser in state and federal governments, including to the Premier of Victoria.