It is with much hesitation that I write this blog as I have tried not to engage in the campaign around the voice referendum. The whole process has left me feeling hollow, frustrated and ashamed. It has made me question our maturity as a nation and the morality of our political class and by extension, all of us really. I don’t exclude myself in this, I recognise my own privilege and culpability in this mess of a society we are creating.

I guess there’s my privilege smacking me right in the face there, I can switch off from the campaign, but the First People can’t as they must live with the ramifications of the campaign every day. My heart goes out to all First People dealing with the racism and bigotry that has been fueled by this campaign.

Initially I felt uncomfortable being asked to vote on something that really doesn’t affect me directly. As far as I am concerned if the majority of First People (and I believe 80% do) wish to be recognized in the constitution for the land they have occupied for some 60,000 years then they should be. It is not up to me to say whether they should or not. But I think it is the right thing that they are. As for the voice, if this is something the First People need to assist in addressing the plethora of issues facing them, then by all means, we should have one. Especially noting that the intergenerational issues faced by First People are a direct consequence of colonisation, the theft of their land and the destruction of their livelihood and culture. If anything, the amount of divisive vitriol evident in this campaign highlights just how important the voice is because it has held a spotlight on just how racist and unjust a system our country was founded on not that long ago.  It has also highlighted just how entrenched our intergenerational fear, denial and silence of our history is in Australia.

Despite my wish to withdraw from this campaign, it’s the sense of injustice and despair that has led me to write this blog and the catalyst really has been the events in Palestine over the last week that has moved me to write. The plight of the Palestinians is the same of all other indigenous peoples across the world that must deal with settler colonialism, and we are seeing the worst of how that can transpire in Palestine at the moment.

To be honest I think we should be going much further than just the minor changes that we are seeking to the constitution. I have read the constitution a few times, to me it’s just another dry piece of legislation that is not inspiring or unifying. If it was up to me, I would rewrite the whole thing and include a preamble and a bill of rights similar to what South Africa have done, I just love the preamble of the South African Constitution, if you haven’t read it, I encourage you to do so, here is a link. When you read it, just replace South Africa with Australia and feel how proud this statement makes you feel if it was ours.

I just don’t understand all the fuss about the minor changes sought in this referendum. The vitriol that has been spread for such a modest change astounds me and takes me back to the debacle of the marriage equality plebiscite. I really can’t fathom that we have people campaigning against this change and stoking division in our community. I have always thought that it takes no intelligence to be negative and this campaign has highlighted this to me again. It is not lost on me that its essentially the same people who were against marriage equality who are the same ones against this referendum. It is also not lost on me that the sky never fell in after we supported marriage equality, just as it won’t fall in if we support the referendum.

My greatest disappointment with the referendum campaign has been its politicization and how nasty, adversarial and hostile it has been and how we now appear to be in an era where weaponised misinformation and stupidity reign supreme. Is this the level of debate we will now have to deal with every time we consider something progressive for our society? How f**ked up is it that our political leaders would run with a slogan like, ‘if you don’t know vote no?’ That the Liberals are happy to weaponise ignorance for political gain is another example of how toxic and morally repugnant they have become. Not only that, but they have also enabled dishonesty, confusion and fear … because they have had to because logic, fairness, love, hope, kindness and courage are not on their side. 

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is such an amazingly gracious and generous offer from the First People of Australia. It is an olive branch that we should embrace and is the whole reason why we are having this referendum and as such is why I can’t understand how there could possibly be a campaign against it. I have attached the Statement from the Heart at the end of this blog to remind us of why we are voting tomorrow. 

I get the argument from some First People that the voice is not enough, and they want to go straight to treaty, reparations and getting land back. These are conversations we need to have and part of me would prefer to rip the scab off and deal with it all once and for all. But that would not be palatable for most of us, so I get the approach of starting with the voice, which is designed to be so modest that non-indigenous people would not reject it. I hope we accept this opportunity in good faith, with open hearts and minds, I am worried we will not.

To me YES means recognition and listening. YES continues the conversation, even the inconvenient and difficult ones, because they need to be had. YES is not going to fix everything overnight but it’s a step in the right direction. But most of all, YES gives us hope.

We are living in NO right now, NO is the status quo, and the status quo is failing us socially, environmentally and economically. We all know this and feel it in our hearts.

Perhaps we should ask ourselves what type of world we want to pass on to our grandchildren. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing. A world we can be proud of, where everybody has equal opportunities to lead a rich and fulfilling life. Implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart will help achieve that and saying YES is our best chance to start making that happen.

We have a choice tomorrow, a choice between fear and hope. I choose hope.

The Uluru Statement 2017

We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart:

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.

This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.

How could it be otherwise? That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years?

With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood.

Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened 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.

These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. 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.

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.

Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.

In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.

… and the NO campaign called this a declaration of war … like WTF!

Here is that link to the South African Constitution again just in case you are keen to check it out now that you’ve reached the end of this blog.

POSTSCRIPT – 15/10/2023

I still have hope, despite my disappointment at the result of the referendum it was not an unexpected outcome. It’s time for reflection now. Here is a blog I wrote back in September 2020, which has given me some perspective this morning, here is a link.

POST POSTSCRIPT – 3/12/2023

I think I’ll leave the last word on this blog to Barkaa. She released this track on 10th November, it’s called Division and its a cracker. 

Thank you for reading this blog.

All the best.

Tim