With the Voice to Parliament Referendum date announced to be October 14 2023, this thread will run in the lead up to the date for general discussions/queries regarding the Voice to Parliament.
The Proposed Constitutional Amendment
Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:
there shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice; the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; the Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.
Past Discussions
Here are some previous posts in this community regarding the referendum:
- The Voice referendum official Yes/No pamphlets
- Linda Burney says there is everything to gain and nothing to lose by supporting the Voice
- Families distressed after 'highly misleading' video used by anti-Voice campaigners goes viral
- The Indigenous Voice to Parliament – separating fact from fiction | 7.30
- 10 questions about the Voice to Parliament - answered by the experts
- The yes pamphlet: campaign’s voice to parliament referendum essay – annotated and factchecked
- Fact-checking for the "No" referendum pamphlet was not compulsory
Common Misinformation
- "The Uluru Statement from the Heart is 26 Pages not 1" - not true
Government Information
- Referendum question and constitutional amendment
- voice.gov.au - General information about the Voice
Amendments to this post
If you would like to see some other articles or posts linked here please let me know and I'll try to add it as soon as possible.
- Added the proposed constitutional amendment (31/08/2023)
- Added Common Misinformation section (01/07/2023)
Discussion / Rules
Please follow the rules in the sidebar and for aussie.zone in general. Anything deemed to be misinformation or with malicious intent will be removed at moderators' discretion. This is a safe space to discuss your opinion on the voice or ask general questions.
Please continue posting news articles as separate posts but consider adding a link to this post to encourage discussion.
I know it isn't a popular view around here, but for the sake of a diversity of opinion, here is why I will be voting no.
I am of the view that all Australians should be treated equally in the eye of the law, regardless of the colour of their skin or who their grandparents are. I think the law should be race-blind.
I think it is a step in the wrong direction for Australia to have laws that separate Australians along racist lines. I think it's a step in the wrong direction to enshrine in the constitution that people of one ethnic heritage get special representation that people of different ethnic heritage do not.
I don't care who your dad was, or who his dad was, or who his dad was. Just because someone's dad's dad's dad was in Australia before someone else's shouldn't entitle them to more representation to parliament than anyone else. You shouldn't get special privilege just because you were born into a particular family lineage.
I think Australia needs to do more to help those who need help. Nobody should die in police custody. Everybody should have access to education. Anyone who is born into poverty should be lifted out of it. And any time the government is going to make laws, they should obviously consult with the people who those laws will affect.
Regardless of the colour of their skin.
And that is exactly why you should vote yes. To help ensure that everything you've said happens.
Look, here is an example: women and Africans have different responses to various medicines and pain killers and such. Generally, historically, they get subpar care compared to white men. Not intentionally! It's just decades and centuries of data is from white male subjects.
And its baked into the mentality too (here's a link from the USA: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/the-state-of-healthcare-in-the-united-states/racial-disparities-in-health-care/)
It's not exactly apples to apples here - but the basis the same. There are differences and inequities which an advisory board would be useful for, for achieving the goal of equality.
And really, that could also be your biggest misunderstanding of the world here (sorry for sounding confrontational, but hear me out): equality vs equity.
If the law is truly equal, then it is inequitable and unfair. This is because WE are unequal.
For example, if a speeding fine is $500 for everyone, regardless of the speed or the person, then it is equal. However, a rich person can speed as much as they want, and it's just part of the cost of driving for them. A poor person would have to sell their car to pay their debts. That's not equal punishment. Some countries take income into consideration when assigning speeding tickets as a way to balance the law.
The point is to highlight: equal is not always fair. Equal is not always equitable.
So listen to scientific and medical advisors who are the people best suited to identify these concerns and propose solutions.
The solution isn't to make the law that Aboriginals pay lower speeding fines or that white folk pay higher speeding fines though, is it? The solution is to make fines scale with the offender's wealth, not their race.
If somebody needs help, I don't believe we should take their race into consideration. We should just help them, regardless of their race.
If the government is going to make a policy or change the law, I don't believe that somebody's race should decide whether or not the government consults with them first. The government should consult with them regardless of their race.
I think your misunderstanding of the world is that you think racism is a good idea. I personally don't agree with you.
"so listen to the"..."advisors"
Good idea. That's why you should vote yes. So there's dedicated advisors to listen to.
"We should help them, regardless of their race"
Yes. But different people need different help.
Racism is the idea that your race is better than others. That is not what I'm saying. I am saying that there are differences in the ethnicities in Australia, in both physical and cultural terms, which result in needing different actions to achieve the same results.
"The government should consult them"
So vote yes, so there is someone to consult.
Hey, remember that time Tony Abbott made himself Minister for Women?
If some group of individuals require substantially different medical treatment because their biology is that different to everybody else's, then the people who should be consulted are scientific and medical experts, not more politicians. You do not need to enshrine a racist body into the constitution to be able to meet the different needs of different people.
Racism is descriminating on the basis of race, which this proposed ammendment would do, and you appear to support.
You do not need a racist advisory body enshrined in the constitution to be able to consult with people.
It would be nice to live in your fantasy world, but it's obvious that a) you don't understand what/how analogies are b) that not having a non-racist body not-enshrined in the constitution hasn't worked well so far, so we should try having a non-racist body not enshrined in the constitution, and vote yes.
You don't know what the word discrimination means, or what Aborigines go through, and both are kind of sad things about you.
Lastly "need": no, but it seems to be the best option out of any we've been presented so far. As such, we should vote yes. If you have something better for us to vote on, then you should have presented it.