Precede:
BARRY COTTERELL is a retired barrister who spent the last 20 years of his career chairing various tribunals. He has an Arts degree, a Masters in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Laws, and was a Fellow of the London Institute of Arbitrators. He has an interest in justice, especially for First Nations people, and in urban planning and the environment.
Edited by Phil Jarratt
I take this opportunity to contribute to Noosa Today’s regular feature in which community leaders are asked to share their voting intentions in the coming referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
The current generation cannot be blamed for what occurred in the past: the now rejected notion that Australia was unpopulated (Terra Nullius), the dispossession of First Nations people, the use of Native Police to extend settlement, the rape of Aboriginal women, the murder of men, women and children, or the subsequent taking away of those children from their parents, who because of their impoverished circumstances, governments considered they could not care for them.
Likewise, the current generation did not deny First Nations people education, employment, or housing, which is the outcome from years of neglect of their need.
These are all issues of “truth” which have slowly become known and accepted as truth despite the silence of the past.
However, the coming referendum is our opportunity to address the situation. If we vote No we will be accepting the current situation, which is acknowledged by most as unsatisfactory. We will be accepting the failure of the Closing the Gap program by deciding not to change. By voting No we will be accepting responsibility for doing nothing to improve the problem.
The No campaign says it supports recognition but its campaign will not create practical change for the better. Token recognition is not the question on which we are voting.
A No vote means no Voice and no recognition, which will be indefinitely postponed. If the No campaign is successful there will be no change for the better.
Albert Einstein apparently said, “Problems cannot be solved with the same level of awareness that created them.”
First Nations people live with the problems which have accumulated since colonisation and are best placed to suggest solutions. The impacts will not necessarily be the same for all individuals or communities and they may well be cumulative, which requires First Nations input into devising solutions.
This is why regional voices should feed into the national Voice.
Once First Nations are allowed a Voice they will gain ownership of the solutions and take responsibility for them being successfully implemented.
The community does not object to corporations or other organisations having a voice to the Parliament and to the executive government.
This body will give First Nations people a similar voice and it will be a very representative and transparent voice.
When governments have previously received “unpopular” representations from bodies that have been created, whether by the same political party or the other party when in government, they have chosen to abolish the body rather than address the problem or the suggested solution.
It is difficult to get governments to change priorities or to fund an alternative solution. The Voice needs to be permanently secured by being inserted in the Constitution to achieve consistency.
The Voice Referendum is a very simple proposition. The people of Australia are asked to approve a change to our Constitution, firstly, to recognise our First Nations people. Secondly, to approve the creation of a body, to be called the Voice.
The Voice will then be able to make recommendations to Parliament and to the executive government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The Voice will be restricted to these issues. Once we approve the change, the Parliament will determine the details by making laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.
Outcomes are better when those affected by decisions are consulted and listed to, which is what the Voice will achieve.
As Jean Paul Sartre observed: “Once we know and are aware, we are responsible for our action or our inaction. We can do something about it or we can ignore it. Either way we are still responsible.”
Now that we know, we need to act responsibly and vote Yes.
NOTE: Noosa Today has not verified the contributed content above. All articles appearing under this banner can be fact-checked at these websites:
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-19/fact-check-yes-no-campaign-pamphlets-
