The political sandpit people like me play in most of the time is all about local issues, but there are moments when all of us should turn our gaze higher and wider. This is one of those moments.
For the past 15 years Noosa’s political landscape has been shaped by amalgamation, de-amalgamation and our overwhelming demand for a local voice in the way we are governed. Our demand was heard all the way to Brisbane, and further.
In the 2007 plebiscite, 95 per cent of Noosa residents rejected the proposal to amalgamate with the larger Maroochy and Caloundra City Councils. We knew we had different values, a different view on how to manage growth and protect our environment and lifestyle. We wanted to keep our voice!
In 2008 we lost our council, but immediately began a battle to win it back, culminating in that memorable 2013 vote when 81 per cent of us said YES to getting our voice and council back.
We have nothing to lose by giving the 3 per cent of Australians who are Indigenous a say on the matters that affect them, and having this inserted into our constitution so it’s no longer a political plaything. There’s nothing radical about the most disadvantaged Australians having a better say in things that affect them. In fact many experts say it’s a modest change, perhaps too modest.
For 60,000 years or so, over 500 First Nations groups had their own tribal councils, fostered their local culture and cared for ‘country’ through a complex system of governance, lore and laws. Over 200 years ago their ‘amalgamation’ was called ‘Terra nullius’ (land belonging to no one) the legal concept used by the British government to justify the settlement of Australia. It was a lie, designed to skirt the law of the time that required them to enter into a treaty prior to colonisation.
The referendum on 14 October is a way of redressing this history and providing a framework to empower indigenous people to achieve better outcomes for their people.
In 2017 the largest consensus of First Nations peoples agreed on a proposal for substantive recognition in Australian history – the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
It is a powerful statement which in part declares:
Our children are alienated from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.
This is the torment of our powerlessness. …
We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.
When I cast my ‘Yes’ vote next month I will not be thinking about any party political agendas and I won’t be confused by all the misinformation. I will focus on those straightforward 92 words that will go into our constitution, and on my moral and ethical obligations.
I will be voting as a parent, knowing this small change may help make the lives of indigenous children that little bit better in the future. I will as a fifth generation Australian be relishing the opportunity to be part of history in a nation that is mature enough to no longer be founded on a lie.
NOTE: Noosa Today has not verified the contributed content above. All articles appearing under this banner can be fact-checked at these websites:
abc.net.au/news/2023-07-19/fact-check-yes-no-campaign-pamphlets-aec/102614710
.aap.com.au/factcheck/
