Voting YES on October 14
Today I was asked to participate in an event in partnership with the Gold Coast Suns AFL club, and the campaign for a Yes vote in the upcoming referendum on October 14. I was pleased to accept but I appreciate the topic has been pretty controversial in our area, with lots of mixed views on how people should respond. While the event today was well attended by local Labor politicians, I was a member of the LNP for 6 years and am now fiercely independent because of my genuine belief that most of the problems we face as a community are complex enough to be better solved outside party politics.
On this referendum issue, I’m voting YES, and these three points are the main reasons why.
Firstly, as a non-indigenous Australian and a direct descendent of the First Fleet, I reckon it makes sense for our nation’s Constitution to acknowledge the people who lived on the land for tens of thousands of years before English or European settlement. This seems fair. When the constitution was first established it didn’t do that, and while some amendments have since been made (around 1967) to remove obviously racist and discriminatory measures in the original document, I think we’ve matured enough as a nation to be intentionally proactive in our mention of First Nations people in the Constitution and sharing the land, respectfully, together. Most other nations around the world have done this. It makes reasonable sense. And most people I talk to generally agree with me on this point.
Secondly, the mechanism of “The Voice”, which seems effectively a new government department drawing on the experience of previous departmental efforts, seems like a good way to deal with wholistic and specific issues that First Nations people face. If we agree that there’s a problem with higher rates of incarceration, inferior health outcomes, and problematic family separation in indigenous Australian communities, and we agree that what has been done so far has not helped enough, then an organisation providing advice to the government about a better way seems sensible.
That the Voice is composed and directed by the people we elect; the Federal Parliament representatives; provides certainty that our election decisions will shape how The Voice can operate and be composed and that is respectful of the Parliament, and parliamentary process, too. That’s what the amendment says will happen. Notwithstanding what you might have heard, the Voice cannot override Parliament; the people we elect; the amendment is clear on that. The decades of bi-partisan support for the processes that brought us to this point can’t be overlooked either, nor should they be, even though today it seems support for The Voice seems divided along partly lines of left and right. While this is sad, it is no reason to not vote Yes out of respect for the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the mechanisms that established it, that were supported by both the left and right of Australian politics up until now.
Finally, and this is a little more personal, all my favourite sporting teams and favourite musicians, and professional organisations I associate with, like the Institute of Company Directors, seem to be saying Yes to the referendum as well. This gives me reassurance that it’s a good idea. These are all people I like to watch, listen to, learn from and associate with. They are saying Yes, and so am I.
Who is saying No? Pauline Hanson is saying No, and the commentators on Sky News seem like they’re saying No. The Liberal Party seems divided on No. But in any case, I don’t want to be associated with the values and behaviours of those I see saying No. Pauline Hanson is not my kind of person. Sky News is not my type of news outlet.
I want to be on the right side of the history in this nation, no matter the outcome of the referendum. That means voting YES, acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people properly and reasonably in the Constitution that establishes our nation’s identity, addressing thousands of years of settlement for First Nations in the context of several hundred years of conflict and challenges for them since the English arrived. Acknowledging cultural identity is essential for healing.
Voting YES moves us forward together, properly acknowledging that our nation’s identity is inextricably wedded to the land on which we all now live and we share with First Nations people who have lived here for tens of thousands of years.
On October 14, I encourage you to vote YES with me.