PATRICIA KARVELAS, HOST: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joins me this morning from Western Australia. Prime Minister, welcome back to Breakfast.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, Patricia. And can I just jump in and very quickly give a shout out to Kate Jenkins. She has been an extraordinary Sex Discrimination Commissioner. She's made a remarkable achievement in that that role and I wish her well in the future.

Thank you very much, Minister Keogh.

And I also acknowledge all of the special guests who are here, but I particularly want to acknowledge the veterans and the serving personnel of the Australian Defence Force who have joined us here as well this morning.

Welcome here to Parliament House.

We are here today to acknowledge courage.

We are here today to acknowledge sacrifice.

We are here to acknowledge the bonds of camaraderie forged under fire, and the cruel realities of loss.

Today we mourn the passing of the Honourable John Kerin AO. John served in a number of portfolios, including a stint as a Treasurer, but it was as Minister for Primary Industries and Energy that he made his greatest mark. And what a profound mark it was.

John once wrote, "Politics is like farming; no-one is forced to do it, but someone has to." It was to Australia's lasting fortune that John did both, bringing his deep experience of the land first to the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, and then to Federal Parliament.

I am deeply saddened by the passing of the Honourable Stewart West, former Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Housing and Construction, and Administrative Services.

Serving in the Hawke Government as a Cabinet Minister from 1983 to 1990, Stewart put his whole heart into his portfolios.

Indeed, Stewart showed a great willingness to put his money where his mouth was. He was a politician of unbending principle, one who cherished the privilege of being in Cabinet but who nonetheless prioritised principle over career.

NARELDA JACOBS, HOST: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joins us now. Prime Minister, thanks for joining us at midday.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning.

JACOBS: Mr Albanese, the referendum must be called between two and six months from the passage of the bill that was introduced this morning. So when, between October and December, will you send us to the ballot?

RAF EPSTEIN, HOST: Anthony Albanese is the Prime Minister of Australia. Good morning, Prime Minister.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good morning, good to be with you Raf.

EPSTEIN: Do you know how much you get an hour?

We are pleased to announce that the Governor-General, His Excellency the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd), has accepted the advice of the Government to appoint the Honourable Justice Debra Mortimer as Australia’s new Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia (Federal Court).

Justice Mortimer is only the fifth Chief Justice of the Federal Court and the first female Chief Justice appointed since the Court was established in 1976.

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.

I am proud to lead a government that will give all Australians the opportunity to vote for constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at a referendum later this year.

I know Qantas has a deep and longstanding commitment to the cause of reconciliation – and recognition.

And Australia has been talking about this for a long time.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: The Uluru Statement from the Heart invites all Australians to walk together to a better future. Today, we take a very important step forward on that journey. After many months of careful consideration on the draft form of words that I presented at Garma last July, the Referendum Working Group and the Government have agreed on the provisions that all Australians will vote on in this year’s Referendum. I want to thank, sincerely, all the members of the Working Group and all who have engaged with them.

The Albanese Government is taking the next steps on the path to constitutional recognition through a Voice by introducing the Constitution Alteration Bill into the Parliament.

Cabinet has listened to the Referendum Working Group. The question the Parliament will now consider to be put to the Australian people at the 2023 referendum will be:

“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.