1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people DO NOT need another voice in Parliament. They already have 11. That’s the number of currently elected members (8 senators and 3 members of the House of Representatives) who identify as ATSI, already giving them a higher per capita representation than any other single ethnic group in Australia.
2. The Voice is both racist and divisive.
The 1967 referendum results overwhelmingly agreed that ALL Australians, including ATSI peoples, were equal under the Constitution. Now the 2023 referendum proposal wants to give 3.8% of the Australian population special privileges because of their race and heritage, thus making us decidedly unequal. Never before has a proposal divided our nation more. It’s promoting racism, not fixing it.
3. The expected outcomes of the Voice are not transparent.
Trust us, the government says. but refuses to give specifics. The USFTH is simply a vague warm-and-fuzzy statement; however, the accompanying 26 pages – “Our Story” – are open to interpretation and speculation. The section on Treaty states “a Treaty could include a proper say in decision-making, the establishment of a truth commission, reparations, a financial settlement (such as seeking a percentage of GDP), the resolution of land, water and resources issues…’ Every single law that goes through Parliament affects ALL Australians, regardless of their ethnicity, so a successful Voice potentially has the power to block, delay or challenge every piece of Australian legislation.
4. The success of The Voice referendum is not necessary to produce better outcomes for ATSI people.
Linda Burney, Minister for Indigenous Affairs says the success of The Voice will fix problems in ATSI communities such as education, health, employment, and so on. Excuse me! The Minister already has the power and funding to be able to fix those issues without enshrining them into the Constitution. Collectively, we need to ask why these problems still continue, given the billions of dollars annually that are thrust at them.
5. We do not need another level of funding bureaucracy.
There are currently 3,200+ agencies that receive funding for ATSI people, including 160 Land Councils and the NIAA, the latter which received $4.4 billion this year. More money goes into this collective funding (for 3.8% of Australians) than is spent in total annually on Medicare for 100% of Australians. These agencies are not reportable under normal ASIC guidelines, like every other “regular” business. Instead, they are subject to special Aboriginal corporate law – C.A.T.S.I. – which means less government surveillance.
6. The Voice is not simply an advisory body to the Parliament.
The activists say it all on the logos on their t-shirts. Voice. Treaty. Truth. The Voice is only the first step, to allow the other two to follow on.
· Thomas Mayo – “PAY. THE. RENT.”
· Teela Reid – “
What we need is to get back to these radical roots of the Communist Party.
”
· Professor Megan Davis –
“The Voice is a mechanism that enables First Nations people to have a voice in the decisions and policies and laws made by the government of the day, and by the Parliament.”
No one in the YES campaign wants to clarify the full potential implications of the Voice. And because “treaty” isn’t explained, Aussies wonder if reparations may include either no or restricted access to public spaces such as beaches, national parks, roads – the precedence is already set with Uluru, Mt Warning and Burrum Heads foreshore, to name a few – even paying “rent” on land they have purchased, and so on. According to RMIT University, there are 21 locations in Australia that can either only be accessed by Indigenous people for cultural reasons or are closed to everyone for unrelated reasons.
I also hope the mouthpiece for the truth telling isn’t Bruce Pascoe.