"There is its British inheritance, the structures of government and society transported from the United Kingdom fixing its foundations in the ancient soil. "There is its multicultural achievement: a triumph of immigration that brought together the gifts of people and cultures from all over the globe - forming one indissoluble commonwealth." In Pearson's words, "we stand on the cusp of bringing these three parts of our national story together" by giving constitutional recognition to Indigenous Australians to make "a more complete commonwealth". Except that he said that in 2014. And Australia is no closer. Mutitjulu elder Rolley Mintuma presents the Uluru Statement inside to Teangi Brown and Irene Davey during the closing ceremony, May 2017. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Addressing the material and social suffering of the first Australians is necessary, of course. But insufficient.

Loading Some of the finest moments in Australia's Parliament occur in February each year when the two sides of politics come together in the annual review of the Closing the Gap project, an effort to lift six key indicators of Indigenous health, education and employment to those enjoyed by every other part of our society. The deadline for achieving this is not a far distant one - 2030. The usual hysterics and hubbub of the House of Representatives fall away as the two leaders enter a serious and sincere bipartisan discussion of the year's progress. But progress is halting and uneven. Overall, it is failing. The effort is bedevilled by the same problem that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy has suffered for centuries - it is driven by the urge to do things to Indigenous Australians, not to do things with them. Our first peoples two years ago proposed the creation of an Indigenous advisory body to the Parliament. It would be established and legitimised by an amendment to the constitution.

The Indigenous "Voice" would have no executive or legislative power. Its function would be to offer Indigenous views on Indigenous policy. Yet even the request for a voice was strangled by then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who falsely described it as a "third chamber" of Parliament, implying that it was some sort of danger to the prerogatives of the Parliament. This was a straw man, a false argument that was really just an excuse for inaction. The new Parliament that is to convene in the next few weeks has an opportunity to fix this failure. By giving our first peoples a voice, the Parliament would give them their best opportunity to help a united country Close the Gap. Successfully. That is necessary, but insufficient. The canvas where the Uluru Statement from the Heart was painted on, during the closing ceremony on May 2017. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Even if Australia can manage to close the gap on practical measures of Indigenous quality of life, our country is still blighted by the less tangible gap - the great gulf of respect, recognition and self-esteem that has trapped Indigenous Australians at the lowest level of the system of social order.