0
0
A Voice Information event was held at Narara Ecovillage on 27 September, where there were 2 speakers in person, Hon. Dr Gordon Reid MP, the Federal Member for Robertson with proud Wiradjuri heritage, and Gary Field the Barang Operations Manager and proud Wiradjuri man.
By John Shiel & Dave Burrows*
On Zoom, there was Queenslander Bernice Hookey, a proud Waanyi woman & CEO of MZB Empowerment and Kishaya Delaney, a proud NSW Wiradjuri woman, lawyer & Uluru Statement Youth Dialogue Ambassador.
Dr Gordon Reid began with describing the Voice legislation, and how the Parliament will decide the detail. He felt that listening to many indigenous people will dramatically change their lives by living longer lives, and by having more go to university than prison.
Gary Field described how the indigenous battle has been going on for hundreds of years with the mistreatment and dispossession of his people. For 10s of thousands of years they have been the custodians of this land, but share a history of colonization, discrimination and denial of their voices.
Bernice Hookey wants a say in policies that could remand your child into custody for trivial reasons, or remove your children (her 2 year-old was almost taken away). Bernice wants more empathy and compassion to be able to drive change for a brighter and more equitable future.
Kishaya Delaney said that ever since 1924 indigenous groups have wanted State and Federal bodies to speak to government on matters relating to them, but these were changed or abolished with different governments. Indigenous people have internationally recognised rights to self-determination and involvement in decision making and the Uluru Statement from the Heart asks that this voice cannot be abolished. We have to allow young black kids to be accepted and belong.
Q&A
1. How to combat misinformation from the No campaign? Combat misinformation with truth and fact. Use AAP fact checker. BTW, when you don’t know in a democratic Australia, we should find out.
2. Why don’t all indigenous people agree on Yes? Indigenous people can’t have the same view because they have different backgrounds and some even belong to different political parties. Surveys show 80% Voice support whereas only 30% is all that is needed to get elected to Parliament.
3. Can you comment on the lived experience of Jacinta Price and Warren Mundane as mentioned in their Press Club speeches? Jacinta and Warren falsely denied that 1) stolen generations and segregation existed, and 2) that colonialisation was beneficial for indigenous people. We are neither innately criminal, nor bad parents, but are overly represented in jails and have our children taken away. Jacinta and Warren have led privileged lives, and deny the oppression. Bernice has friends who have not lived past 50 years old, and she did not even finish school. Kishaya said that the Central Land Council from Alice Springs which represents 24,000 people has vehemently rejected Jacinta Price’s view. The Opposition could have legislated the Voice when they were in power, when they received the Calmat Langton report in 2017, but did nothing.
4. How will the Voice work and not get politicised? The powers of the Voice are determined by the Parliament, and there will be community consultation after the referendum to determine its
structure. This detail will change with who is in government, but when the Voice is in the constitution, it cannot be removed, and to be truly independent, the representatives should not be political.
5. What if the Voice doesn’t work out, and needs change? Being in the constitution, the parliament would try hard to make the Voice work by changing and tweaking it so that they can close the gap. To remove the body, there would be another referendum.
6. What about the confusion of sovereignty? The colonisers put no treaty in place with the 500 nations, but claim to have sovereignty. How can you reconcile this with the fact that some elders of the remaining 250 nations say that 1) their land was never ceded; 2) we have a Voice already; and 3) the white settlers need to agree a treaty with us? The western sense of sovereignty is that of ownership and control of the subjects of the land on which we are on. The parliament makes up laws to lock people up and take children away. There was no ceding of sovereignty by indigenous people but these two things can co-exist at the same time as noted by the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Indigenous sovereignty is about the innate connection of the land, culture, country, and ancestral tie, and can never be ceded nor extinguished. There are many thousands of indigenous people who were removed from their homes or dispossessed and do not have that connection with culture, and their lore and their land. They include the vast majority of the east coast of Australia, and they may want a treaty directly and may take up the progressive No campaign. But this will not meet the needs of western indigenous people. The Voice will provide different advice across the country, and so will benefit those indigenous people where help is needed, not to those who don’t need it.
*Co-organisers of the Voice Information Event
