Tag: Aboriginal

A Plea from the Heart: The Referendum 2023

Tomorrow we’re being asked to vote in the Referendum. What a rare privilege we Australians have, being in a democracy where we all get to have a say in any changes to the Constitution (the rules for governing our nation).

What a shame that the original occupants of this land weren’t included like that back in 1901 when it was written. How different things would have been if they had. Mass stealing of children wouldn’t have happened, for one. Back then the aboriginal people weren’t seen as people so therefore, they weren’t relevant – which may be where the problems started.

Right now we’re being given the opportunity to correct the omission of First Nations people from the Constitution. We’re being offered a generous olive branch, a positive step forward. The body of representatives that is proposed to be included in the Parliament is the proposal put forward back in 2017 in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Eighty percent of all aboriginal people want this. They see it as a step forward, as progress, as a way to express their needs and make proposals as to how those needs might best be met.

It isn’t a threat to non-aboriginals. No one is going to take your house or your family’s farm.

The Voice to Parliament is an advisory body only. Which is why some people say it doesn’t go far enough. But the Voice to Parliament will be able to advise whichever government is in at the time, regardless of their politics. Isn’t that a grand thing? Doesn’t that feel right? And that advice will be proposed by First Nations people themselves, by the people who are talking to all the ‘grass roots’ communities and mobs over this wide land.

The Yes vote is a soft approach. People say it comes from the heart. It does. But even the head can discern that it’s a step towards getting better outcomes for the Aboriginal People. That’s if we don’t let the noise confuse us. The strong, negative language used by the No voters is designed to frighten and divide us. Don’t go there. If you feel afraid, go back to basics. What is the actual proposal? What are the actual words?

Please, if you still don’t know, do your due diligence today.

The following links are basic definitions: not Yes and not No hype.

Referendum 2023 – The Constitution (aec.gov.au)

The Australian Constitution (peo.gov.au)

Voice to Parliament – Reconciliation Australia

If you want to witness a two-sided discussion that’s fair and good, I recommend the latest ABC Q & A. Q+A Live From Adelaide – Q+A (abc.net.au)

I am voting Yes and I’m voting with my heart and my head. My decision comes from a place of love and hope, the very place that the Uluru Statement came from. If you haven’t read it or listened to it, I implore you to do so. It’s enlightening.

View The Statement – Uluru Statement from the Heart.

No means no progress.

Yes means acknowledgement, acceptance and inclusion. Yes means we’re listening. Yes means the Constitution will be complete. And I’m proud to be part of that.

Politics in the Referendum

It’s inevitable that politics would get mixed up in the Australian public’s decision whether to include the First Nations people in our Constitution.

I’m writing this blog post only a month after the other Voice-related one, because I want to respond to John Howard’s comments in The Australian newspaper on 26th July 2023.

I have a huge respect for John Howard, Australia’s Liberal Prime Minister 1996-2007. So, I take his comments seriously. I’m glad I was able to vote for him. I’m glad that, as a woman, I am allowed to vote at all. Just as I’m sure indigenous Australians are glad that their inclusion in the Constitution in 1967 – as Australians – has allowed them a vote.

John Howard is quoted in the article as saying: “Shouldn’t we just be sitting down talking to each other? Not about the voice, not about reparations, not about treaties, but just talking about how to lift up Aboriginal people, and put them in the mainstream of the community, finding out ways of doing it.”

Well, yes! That would be terrific. Talking about lifting the Aboriginal people up and including them in the mainstream is a great idea. And that would best be done with a group of Elders who have the most understanding of the issues. And for continuity, since governments come and go, the group should be a separate body assured of its place in Parliament.

Mr Howard is concerned that the Voice to Parliament will create conflict about how to help indigenous people. That’s possibly true because there will always be differing opinions (and we can’t stop media hype) but the point is for the body to provide advice based on close knowledge and understanding of the issues. So, therefore, there is a possibility that the advice will reduce conflict.

We would also be hopeful that good advice aligned with the specific issues would reduce money wasted on schemes that don’t help.

I believe it’s best to leave out of this discussion any future treaty and reparations. These bigger issues complicate the proposal at hand. They are distracting, more contentious and would take a long time to work out. Therefore, the Albanese government not talking about them makes sense. Mr Howard’s suggestion that there’s subterfuge in the exclusion, to me isn’t warranted. Although both sides of government do like to play that game.

Finally, there is the issue of inclusivity of Aboriginal people into the mainstream. Mr Howard says: “We are profoundly and absolutely part of Western civilisation. Part of our culture is the Aboriginal culture, but the mainstream culture of Australia is not very Aboriginal.”

I agree with him that the best solution is to encourage all Australians to be in this mainstream, to “remain one people, living in one nation under one law which applies with equal force to all of us.”

But that does not negate my belief that privileged white people and indigenous Australians, because of their life experience, think differently and need different things. Having a Voice to Parliament will provide Aboriginal people with a closer and clearer expression of themselves.

As a reminder, all we are being asked is: do we agree to the addition of the following?

Paraphrasing, the added lines are that a body called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice can make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth (the High Court) on matters relating to themselves. The Parliament will have the power to make laws in relation to the body’s recommendations.

Whatever politics you follow, find out as much as you can from as many places and people that you can. If there are Aboriginal people you can talk to, ask them what they think. If we believe we should be one Australia, put the political arguments aside as much as possible. Sometimes in the end, when we’ve done all we can with our minds, we have to make a choice from the heart.

Useful links:

Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023 – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au)

Constitution alteration – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au)

Constitutional reform: FAQs – Benefits of reforming the Constitution | Australian Human Rights Commission