We are a group of concerned local citizens who firmly believe the Voice Referendum will not answer the issues on the ground for aboriginal communities, especially those in remote areas that are away from the urbanised communities. We are most certainly not racist and by no means are we stupid in voting no. How will another ‘bureaucratic will’ make any difference to the host of social issues that successive governments and over 3500 funded government aboriginal groups have been unable to fix over decades? Despite billions of dollars being provided to aboriginal organisations there is no clear evidence of major improvements. As Australians, irrespective of political views, there is clear evidence that we do care about the many social issues that face aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people across this great nation.
There are plenty of existing Voices, with funded organisations and existing parliamentary representation. This Voice proposal will not provide the answers and will become another bureaucracy that fails to address issues going forward.
Rather than the words of a pop song by John Farnham that, something that asks the question ‘try and understand it’, something we have not been given the details about, we should be listening to the chorus of an iconic song by The Seekers that say ‘We are one but we are many and from all the lands on earth we come – we share a dream and sing with ONE voice – I am , you are, we are Australian’.
Lyrics that unite us as one and not create division among Australian people.
Do we want to create an Australia that is based on division by enshrining one group of Australians from other Australians in our constitution?
Do we want to have a nation for our children and grandchildren that is based on such a division? Our nation has been developed by people of many backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures and practices- people who have made a very significant contribution to our wonderful nation – people who care about the aboriginal and torres strait islander people – people like us who are concerned about whether well intended funding does in fact reach those in need.
Surely our aim should be to unite to ensure funding gets to those in need rather that perpetuate division that this proposal has already caused.
This proposal has caused the greatest division in our history – friendships have been put at risk, communities, and people within those communities, have been subjected to criticism and abuse, claims of racism if you say you are expressing your democratic right to say no. This is not the Australia we grew up in and the combined role of activists is clear – it’s all about power, control and pressure being applied to our current system.
Statements by the activists for the other side have clearly outlined that agenda. Do you want these people calling for reparations, pay the rent and to punish politicians pushing the Voice barrow with very clear risks for the future? – not this group of concerned citizens.
The entire crux of the referendum has to be HOW will the Voice change what needs to be done on the ground? The proposal in so many ways is built around emotional calls about the conditions on the ground, but there is very little detail on just how this can be achieved when history has shown so many advisory bodies and voices have failed miserably to achieve positive and long term outcomes.
Let us be quite clear we share the concerns but do not believe this proposal will bring about much needed change.
Let’s look at the Uluru Statement from the Heart – has this been accepted as the way forward by all aboriginal mobs across Australia?- the very clear answer is no. In fact the statement was rejected by many including groups who walked out of the discussions. It was rejected by the traditional owners of Uluru and despite this rejection by numerous elders, names were added to the canvas that they did not endorse. These elders want the Australian public to know about the lie that is being sold to them as being factual. They are also reported to have rejected the statement as being dangerous and that the canvas should be torn up. Given that mobs across the country do not support the statement, why should we? So many remote mobs were not even given the opportunity to have a say. Sorry but in our view this divisive statement has more holes in it than Swiss cheese and the repeated denials by our Prime Minister on the content of the statement, compared to that of activists, has to be an area of real concern – just who can you trust here? Many red flags flying with this constant contradiction of real intent.
The question needs to be asked as to why are monies not getting to those in need on the ground? Reported statements by an esteemed aboriginal elder of the Narrunngga mob state that over the past three decades a growing number of Not For Profit groups have capitalised on the feeding frenzy for aboriginal dollars.
It is reported that many millions of dollars have been wrought by individuals within those groups. There is no accountability as to what percentage of the many billions being given to these groups actually gets to those in need – no audit – no transparency. This is a major area of concern and the entire governance just needs a complete investigation.
When you look at the total spend each year on funding for the over 3500 funded organisations to support 3.2 per cent of our population, reportedly at near to $39 – 40 billion, do you know that this is almost as great as the total government spend for the entire country of some $39.5 billion on Medicare? – Surely we need answers on current funding models.
Another area of concern is what just happens to the many millions of dollars paid to elites by mining companies in terms of royalties. It is reported that the reason lies in the way payments with the money being given to elites are structured. Minimal amounts of these royalties are being used to improve living conditions, according to the esteemed elder of the Narrunngga mob, with further claims that many are also claiming Centrelink benefits and reportedly not disclosing the royalty payments.
There are real holes in the system that are costing the taxpayer and mining companies billions of dollars each year but with very little improvement on the ground. There has to be a better way.
An area that is also of concern are reports that native title claims are in the wind for Noosa Shire – similar to the $210 million dollar claim for the Redlands area in SEQ – a claim to be met by Council and we would suggest ultimately by the ratepayers – is the community aware that reparations, pay the rent are critical aspects by the activists going forward?
There are many risks, uncertainty and lack of detail about this Voice proposal and as a result ,we, the undersigned, are Voting NO – Join us in Noosa say NO.
Carl Beck, Bob Birkhead, John Hayward, Jim Bennett, Paul Cummins, Garry Church, Craig Jenkins, Ken Weir,
NOTE: Noosa Today has not verified the contributed content in this or any of the articles appearing under the YES/NO banner which can be fact-checked at these websites:
www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-19/fact-check-yes-no-campaign-pamphlets-
