The Australian National University launched a new website - 'Quest for Indigenous Recognition Project' at Parliament House, Canberra, this week.

The ANU Council has 'unreservedly' declared support for enshrining an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the Constitution and produced a website detailing historical events that have come before the 2023 Referendum on the Voice, so all Australians can see the fight for Indigenous recognition began many decades ago.

Minister for Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney, Professor Peter Yu - Vice-President First Nations (ANU), and former Liberal frontbencher Julian Leeser MP united on the occasion to deliver speeches that acknowledged First Nations history, and gave supportive arguments for a Voice to Parliament.

Providing a Welcome to Country for the event was Ngambri-Ngunnawal custodian Paul House, who spoke in traditional language before translating in English.

"Respect is in the people, the government, the university, embracing voice, treaty and truth-telling," he said.

Welcome to Country by Ngambri-Ngunnawal custodian Paul House. (Video: Jess Whaler - National Indigenous Times)

Minister Burney thanked Mr House for his welcome and recounted her inaugural speech, where she spoke of Wiradjuri man Jimmy Clements, who in 1927 together with his friend John Noble walked for a week over the mountains to Canberra from Brungle Mission, where Minister Burney's father came from, to attend the opening of the provisional parliament, a story that has been documented in the new 'Quest for Indigenous Recognition Project' website.

"In my view everyone has seen extraordinary change in our nation and this project represents that change. There is now a desire for truth, and a desire for knowledge that is new," she said.

"There is a story in this country, that says very clearly that Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders have been advocating for our rights for a very long time.

"It is about truth, through the recognition. It's about listening by the establishment of a voice and it's about better results because of that voice. Now, it just seems remarkable to comprehend that Australia would say no, to an advisory committee, and that's what we are really talking about in this very simple form, October the 14th."

Mr Leeser, who made waves when he stepped down from his role as a frontbencher due to the Liberal party's stance on the Voice to Parliament earlier this year, said: "As a Liberal, I believe in opportunity. In creating the settings where people have opportunity. I want to give people more choices and more opportunities to take risk and succeed."

"And as a conservative, I believe that the strength of countries is found in the bonds between us all. It is found in citizens feeling connected to their country, neighbours, and culture," he said.

"My concern as a Liberal, is that Indigenous Australians are not sharing in this country's opportunities. I believe the disconnect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia is the root cause of the economic disconnection in Indigenous communities and lives.

"In terms of household income, the latest data of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has found that 43% of Indigenous adults receive a total weekly pre-tax income - of $500 a week or less. The poverty line in Australia is $489 a week for a single person. Almost one in two Indigenous adults live on the poverty line. Closing the gap means creating economic opportunity. It's about jobs not welfare. It's about universities not prisons. This referendum is about voice. It is also about empowerment, respect and the strengthening of Indigenous civic infrastructure, all within our democratic system. These are deeply Liberal and conservative ideas.

"The Voice is not about special treatment or privileges. It's simply about trying to get Indigenous Australians to the same starting line that other Australians are at."

Professor Yu a Yawuru man from Broome in WA's Kimberley region, acknowledged the hard work of the ADB Editorial board for bringing the history of Indigenous Recognition together before delivering his message.

P"I am proud that the ANU has unreservedly declared its support for enshrining an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the Constitution. These historic milestones of course are not a comprehensive list of the story that all Australians should know. So much more could have been written. So much more must be written," he said.

"If ever we needed reminding that the truthful history of this nation needs to be heard, it is the debate over the Voice Referendum proposal. So much of the misinformation and toxic commentary that underpins the 'No Campaign' is dependent on the great Australian silence and the distortion and corruption of Australian history."

He said that First Nations people need to be part of a nation that is committed to healing and reconciliation and to justice. Before adding that when Australia votes in the referendum, will get to decide if we move forward with a new relationship with Indigenous Australia.

"The current relationship is not working. We know that because of the continued torment of powerlessness that so many in our community experience. We all know the statistics that tell the devastating story of that torment," he said.

"We hoped that our simple quest for recognition, eloquently expressed in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, would penetrate the wall of prejudice and ignorance that Bill Stanner talked about in his famous 1968 Boyer Lectures. What we have found instead is that those bricks that hold that wall together are hard to dislodge.

"Particularly when the prejudices of Settler Australians, inherited from the colonial era, are continually reinforced by mainstream political leaders, powerbrokers and people who hold positions of influence."

Professor Yu referred to a speech made by former Western Australian Governor Malcolm McCusker before saying: "The recognition of First Nations people through the proposed constitutional enshrined Voice is not about guilt. It is about a simple recognition of inclusion and owning a history that is complete and truthful."

"Nelson Mandela famously said at the end of Apartheid addressing white South Africans; 'we don't want you to feel guilty for what has happened, but feel guilty if you want to perpetuate it', in Australia it is about changing the "white blindfolded" version of history, as Senator Patrick Dodson so aptly describes it, so that we can make Australia a better nation."

Professor Yu also spoke about the stories of Wiradjuri elders Jimmy Clements and John Noble.

"They came to remind white Australia that their 'sovereign rights' had not been ceded," he said.

"This projects highlights that this Referendum proposal did not simply come out of a national convention at Uluru in 2017. We stand here today on the shoulders of countless people who have fought over many decades for First Nations to be recognised within the fabric of the Australian nation state."