Journalist and Wiradjuri man Stan Grant has been announced by the PM and Opposition leader as special adviser on Indigenous constitutional recognition.
Mr Grant will replace Pat Dodson on the Referendum Council on constitutional recognition after Dodson resigned to become a senate candidate for labor.
The Referendum Council was established last December to advise on referendums on recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution.
The appointment was revealed in a bipartisan announcement from both the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and opposition leader Bill Shorten.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
"Mr Grant's extensive experience and commitment to constitutional recognition and indigenous affairs will be
invaluable in the role as a member of the Referendum Council," they said in the statement.
Grant's profile as a spokesman on Indigenous recognition and racism in Australian society has been growing since he made a speech on racism that went viral just before Australia Day and then reduced the Prime Minister to tears in an exclusive interview with The Point earlier this year when speaking about Indigenous issues.
The speech by Grant has reverberated across the internet just days before Australia Day was due to be celebrated.
At the time it came to light, the video that refers to the Australian dream as being “rooted in racism”, had received more than 740,000 views on Facebook and tens of thousands of shares across social media.
"The Australian dream - we sing of it and we recite it in verse: 'Australians all let us rejoice for we are young and free'," he said.
"But my people die young in this country - we die 10 years younger than average Australians - and we are far from free. An indigenous child is more likely to be locked up in prison than they are to finish school."
"It is the very foundation of the dream. It is there at the birth of the nation. It is there in terra nullius."
