Tag: YES

Voice, then Truth—and Treaties (4) #YestotheVoice

The Voice to Parliament is not a partisan political issue; it is a national matter that draws together a wide range of Australian society in support of the First Nations people of this continent and its surrounding islands.

Over 110 ethnic and cultural community organisations have committed their “steadfast support” for a YES vote in the upcoming Voice referendum. Signatories includes multiple Indian and Chinese community organisations, along with Sri Lankan, Italian, Irish, Iranian, Greek, Vietnamese, Filipino, Sikh, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist and Pacific Islander community groups – to name just a few.

The Joint Resolution describes a constitutionally guaranteed Voice as “modest, practical and fair”. In their press release, multicultural community leaders say, “as leaders of diverse multicultural community organisations, we endorse the Uluru Statement and its call for a First Nations voice guaranteed by the Constitution”. They further say, “We commit our steadfast support, and urge all Australians to work together to ensure referendum success. Let us co-operate across differences of politics and diversities of culture and faith, to heal our country and unify the nation.”

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Leaders of Australian Muslim communities have expressed their strong support of the YES vote in the coming referendum. Indigenous Australian peoples have a long relationship with Muslims, dating back centuries before British colonisation.

Yolngu and other Indigenous peoples in the north of Australia traded and engaged in cultural exchanges with Makassans from Indonesia. Islamic references identified in Yolngu mythology and ritual include “the ‘Dreaming’ creation figure, Walitha’walitha, also known as Allah.”

Many Indigenous Australian women married Afghan cameleers who were brought to Australia in the 1800s to help traverse the country’s interior arid and desert regions. Others intermarried with early Muslim Australians, particularly Indian ‘hawkers’, also who came to Australia as ‘guest’ workers in the late 1800s.

Many Indigenous Australians are reconnecting with their Muslim heritage. Today, Islam is the only religion that is increasing among Indigenous Australians, while other categories of religion are unchanged or have declined according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census data.

The Islam in Australia survey conducted in 2019 found 94 percent agree or strongly agree that Indigenous Australians should be recognised in Australia’s Constitution.

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Australian Jewish community leader Mark Leibler thinks an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is important. Whilst he recognises there will always be a diversity of views within any community, he believes that the Australian Jewish community broadly supports the Voice as a just and reasonable step towards righting past wrongs.

He refers to a famous quote from the prophet Jeremiah that references a voice, and it comes to mind as we contemplate this step: “A voice is heard, crying, weeping. It is a mother, Rachel, crying about her children; inconsolable because her children are gone.” The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice needs to be heard because our Indigenous children are suffering also, says Mark Leibler. And the words of the prophet tell us why: calm your weeping – as there is hope for your future.

He wisely notes that “we are privileged as Australians that our history encompasses the most ancient, enduring culture on earth. Surely, our founding document should recognise and celebrate this richness.”

He also notes that “while Australians of today are not responsible for past wrongs, we are responsible for recognising the impact of intergenerational trauma and for supporting Indigenous fellow citizens to heal from this trauma so that it doesn’t negatively impact generations to come.”

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Not all members of the Liberal Party are reluctant to support the YES vote in the proposed referendum. Liberals for Yes is a group of Liberals from around Australia, from branch members to federal politicians, who support a yes vote on the Indigenous voice to parliament.

Kate Carnell is national convener of Liberals for Yes. She is a serving member of the board of BeyondBlue, a former CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a former chief minister of the ACT.

She says, “We want to ensure that Liberals across Australia feel empowered and comfortable to vote yes and even advocate for it in their communities. We acknowledge that our federal parliamentary leadership has chosen to oppose the proposed constitutional amendment. But the Liberal party’s greatest tradition is that it is a broad church that accommodates a diverse range of views.

“An Indigenous voice would be a standing body aimed at practical outcomes, with its existence mandated by the Australian people because they support recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander as the original inhabitants of our continent.

So it is fair, it is practical, it is workable and constitutionally safe; this makes it well aligned with Liberal values.”

Voice, then Truth—and Treaties (3) #YestotheVoice

The Voice to Parliament is not a partisan political issue; it is a national matter that draws together a wide range of Australian society in support of the First Nations people of this continent and its surrounding islands.

In early 2023, Common Grace launched the national Listen to the Heart campaign, calling Christians to vote yes in the referendum for a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Common Grace describes itself as “a movement of individuals, churches and communities pursuing Jesus and justice together for the flourishing of all people and all creation”. Its campaign, Listen to the Heart, is led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christian Leaders, including Aunty Jean Phillips, Uncle Ray Minniecon, Uncle Vince Ross, Adam Gowan, Sabina Stewart, Bianca Manning, and Aunty Sue Hodges.

The campaign invites Christians across Australia to deeply listen to the calls of Indigenous peoples for justice, through Voice, together with Treaty and Truth-Telling, reflecting the three key commitments sought by the Statement from the Heart. See https://www.listentotheheart.org.au

The Voice to Parliament will be Voice structured to allow local, regional, state and territory voices to be heard through this National Voice.

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In 2015, the Social Justice Committee of The Hunter Presbytery made a submission to the Joint Parliamentary Inquiry into Constitutional Recognition in 2015. The three key elements in their submission still hold good some eight years later:

1. Australian people are ready for change; there is agreement the Constitution should be changed as soon as possible.

2. Practical Recognition is required, not just Symbolic Recognition. One way to implement practical recognition in the Constitution is through a Voice to Parliament.

3. The recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Australian Constitution is important and long overdue.

See https://voice.niaa.gov.au/sites/default/files/submissions/977d1a4feb65e-The%20Hunter%20Presbytery%20%20sbm17ea86ebffeafe689558a_Cleaned%20%26%20Redacted.pdf

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For people in the Uniting Church, voting YES in the proposed referendum is a clear way to express our long-held and enduring commitment to our covenant relationship with First Peoples. Voting in this way to support the referendum would be one more step along a pathway that has been clear for many decades, that the UCA stands in solidarity with First Peoples in Australia. In 1980, at Noonkanbah in Western Australia, Uniting Church members stood in solidarity with the traditional owners, the Yungngora people, against the mining of their land.

The Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress was established in 1985, and a Covenant between the UAICC and the UCA was formalised in 1994. This Covenant recognises that working for reconciliation amongst people is central to the Gospel. In 2009, the Preamble to the UCA Constitution was revised to recognise the difficult history of relationships between the First Peoples and the later arrivals, as Second Peoples. Our present relationship is one which seeks to ensure that we commit to the destiny together which we share as Australians.

Supporting a vote for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is yet another step along that pathway of sharing a destiny together. It’s an expression of our central commitment to justice for First Peoples. It is an act that sits at the very heart of the Gospel.

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The Statement from the Heart is a consensus statement which was born out of extensive discussions across the nation and finalised at a Constitutional Convention at Uluru in May 2017. The Statement offers a way forward for Australia that is practical, not merely symbolic. It advocates for the three key elements: Treaty, Truth, and Voice.

Last year, a number of Australian religious leaders declared their support of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which includes the request for just such a Voice to Parliament. There are Anglicans, Catholics, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Quakers, Baptists, and others who support this, along with the Uniting Church.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Christian Leaders, including Aunty Jean Phillips, Uncle Ray Minniecon, Uncle Vince Ross, Adam Gowan, Sabina Stewart, Bianca Manning, and Aunty Sue Hodges, are supporting the YES campaign for the Voice to Parliament.

A Joint Resolution of Australian religious leaders in support of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which includes the request for just such a Voice to Parliament, was signed in May 2022, on the fifth anniversary of the Statement from the Heart. Anglicans, Catholics, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Quakers, Baptists, and others support this, along with the Uniting Church.

Last month, representatives of another batch of “religious” organisations have come out in support, as the peak bodies of many sporting organisations joined together to advocate a YES vote in the coming referendum: the AFL, NRL, Rugby Union, Cricket Australia, Baseball Australia, Deaf Sport Australia, Football Australia, Basketball, Taekwondo, Golf, and more.

All of which means, it makes sense for people of faith to Vote YES!!!

Voice, then Truth—and Treaties (2) #YestotheVoice

When they met in early February this year, every First Minister in Australia—territory, state, and federal—agreed to support the Voice to Parliament. This is a highly significant bi-partisan step by a group of informed leaders who recognise the importance of taking this step. It is only one step—there is still the matter of Truth Telling to be implemented, as well as Treaty (or, more accurately, Treaties) to be concluded. But the Voice is a key step forward.

The Prime Minister said that “the Voice will recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our constitution, and consult on matters affecting them”. The statement from the joint meeting indicated that the Voice “provides independent advice … is accountable and transparent, does not have a program delivery function, and does not have a veto power”. These are all important details that the Australian electorate should consider, when making a decision on this matter in the proposed referendum later this year.

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The structure of the proposed Voice to Parliament was set out in a report issued in 2021, co-authored by University of Canberra chancellor and now Senior Australian of the Year Professor Tom Calma and University of Melbourne Professor Marcia Langton. This report envisages a network of local and regional Voice bodies covering 35 areas Australia-wide, which would deal with issues raised by local communities and contribute members to form the national Voice.

Under the Calma–Langton proposal – the result of extensive consultation – each local region would determine for itself how it should be formed. The national body would have 24 members. They would comprise 18 base members, two each from every state and territory and two from Torres Strait. Another five members would represent different remote regions and one would represent Torres Strait Islanders living on the mainland.

The membership would be gender-balanced, with an option to include two more with specialist skills as required, jointly appointed by the federal government and the Voice itself. Members would serve no more than two four-year terms and two of them, of different genders, would be selected to serve full time as co-chairs.

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A few months before the First Ministers had signed their declaration of support for the Voice to Parliament, earlier this year, the Uniting Church had joined with many other religious organisations in Australia to sign a Joint Resolution of Australian religious leaders in support of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which includes the request for just such a Voice to Parliament.

The Joint Resolution was signed in May 2022, on the fifth anniversary of the Statement from the Heart, by representatives of nine Australian religious bodies. They called for immediate bipartisan action to hold a referendum on a First Nations voice to Parliament. Uniting Church President Rev Sharon Hollis was the signatory to the Joint Resolution on behalf of the Uniting Church Assembly. See https://uniting.church/supporting-uluru-statement/

The Statement from the Heart is a consensus statement which was born out of extensive discussions across the nation and finalised at a Constitutional Convention at Uluru in May 2017. The Statement offers a way forward for Australia that is practical, not merely symbolic. It advocates for the three key elements: Treaty, Truth, and Voice.

Why I am voting YES

I have been thinking about the upcoming referendum,,now announced for 14 October, for quite some time. I was recently asked why I planned to vote YES, and after giving this some consideration, I decided that there are eight key reasons to Vote YES:

1. There has been a long period of preparation leading to this present moment. Many Prime Ministers, each one since Gough Whitlam, have spoken in support of according a special place for First Peoples (yes—even John Howard!) In the last decade, our federal leadership has acted by setting up an Expert Panel in 2010 (Gillard), and then a Joint Select Committee in 2012 (Abbott), and then the Referendum Council in 2015 (Turnbull). This has been a bi-partisan political trajectory, culminating in the decision to go to a referendum in 2023 (Albanese).

2. As a result, Indigenous consultations have taken place, led by intelligent, compassionate, informed Elders, leading to the 2017 Consultation at Uluṟu. The Uluṟu Statement provides a clear Indigenous voice which speaks clearly about what is required: recognition in the Australian Constitution, a permanent Voice to Parliament, the telling of truth about our national history, and a Makarrata Commission to oversee the formalisation of treaties with the various First Nations. This is what the Elders of the First Nations are now asking of us.

3. Reputable polling shows that a vast majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people support the request of the Statement from the Heart, which forms the basis for the proposed referendum. We all need to listen, acknowledge, and respond to that clear request. Voting YES will not solve everything, but it will be a very important basis for future action in this regard.

4. Many community groups and organisations are supporting a YES vote. This proposal has seized the imagination of people around the country. Sporting organisations, religious organisations, members of all major political parties, leaders of many ethnic and cultural community groups, leaders of many businesses, first ministers of every state and territory as well as our Prime Minister, each have joined their voice to the call for a YES vote. Support cuts across all distinctions and divisions in our society to unify in a strong call to vote YES.

5. Regular advice from the Indigenous-elected Voice will shape future policies of the national government in ways that will provide practical support to First Peoples, and help move us closer towards Closing the Gap in all areas. There is much work to be done. Governments in recent years have said that they want to Close the Gap, but progress has been slow. Regular, informed advice from the people most impacted will surely help us to move forward in this regard.

6. A resounding YES vote, akin to what took place in the 1967 referendum, will give a clear indication of how we have, at last, matured as a nation, moving beyond the xenophobic fear of the white Australia era and its continuation into the “white blindfold” years in the “history wars” of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In recent decades in our society, we have taken a number of important steps in this regard, and this vote invites us to take a very important leap forward.

7. A YES vote will not be a divisive decision. Recognising First Peoples in the Constitution will not drive a wedge between “us” and “them”, nor will it give any privilege to these people. It will simply be a formal, legal recognition of the reality of the fact that when British colonisers invaded and settled on this continent, claiming it is their land, that land had in fact been cared for over millennia by the people already living on that land. In fact, a YES vote will provide good grounds for coming together in a more cohesive way in our society. It will speak truth about our past. Any future progress towards real reconciliation within our society depends on our taking this step, now.

8. A strong YES vote will provide a solid foundation for positive, constructive, hope-giving actions in the coming years, that will ensure we address the situation and redress the disadvantages of Aboriginal and Islander peoples. We recognise them with flags, we acknowledge them when we are on country, we encourage their languages and nurture their community groups; now we need to recognise them within our Constitution and ensure that there is a permanent Voice which can speak clearly on their behalf into the public arena.

I think that for the sake of First Nations peoples and for the health of the country as a whole, it is imperative that we vote YES!!!

The murky world of opposition to a YES vote: exposing the vested interests at work

I recently came across a fascinating thread on Twitter, from Dr Jeremy Walker, of the University of Technology Sydney. Dr Walker researches across the disciplines of political economy, geography, and science and technology studies. His current research focuses on “the history of neoliberal economic theory and government in relation to energy transition and climate justice”.

He had some very revealing things to say about the links between opposition to the Voice to Parliament and the fossil fuel industry. Those who are behind the scenes, funding the public opposition to the Voice, are right wing characters who have been active for many decades, now, in defending the industries of, first tobacco, and then fossil fuels, and in promoting climate denialism. They are a most unsavoury bunch; unfortunately, they are well-connected with regard to money, media, and conservatives with high public profiles.

They are precisely the sort of people that I do not wish to pay attention to, or to give any credence to what they say, coming from their own vested personal interest. But what Dr Walker has written, about those supporting the public advocates of the No cause, is disturbing. It is worth reading. With his permission, I have extracted and summarised from his postings on Twitter, in what follows:

“The anti-Voice campaign is being run by the Australian branch of the global Atlas Network, comprised of 500+ neoliberal ‘research institutes’. One notable member of this Atlas Network is the “Centre for Independent Studies” (CIS), which fosters the careers of Warren Mundine and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Evidence suggests they speak not with the authority of any First Nations community but for fossil fuel/mining corporates.

“Big Oil ‘think thanks’ which are funded by the Atlas Network are usually run by the elite members of the invitation-only Mont Pelerin Society. John Howard is one such member. A key Australian Atlas organiser, and central to climate science denial and policy defeat in recent years in Australia, was mining lobbyist Hugh Morgan, who begins meetings “acknowledging the traditional owners of this country: King George III, his heirs and assigns.”

“The Atlas-affiliated “Institute of Public Affairs” (IPA) was established in 1943 by Keith Murdoch, with funding from RioTinto and BHP. Since then, the IPA, funded by Rupert and coal baron Gina, has had many oil, gas and mining execs on its board, and it also runs anti-climate & anti-Voice campaigns.

“In Canada, Atlas units defeated laws to recognise First Nations rights established under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), to protect their oils and their corporate profits. Very similar tactics are now in play in Australia. Atlas has also been implicated in the election of far-right, neofascist anti-Indigenous govts in South America—for instance, Balsonaro in Brazil.

“In the UK, climate protestors now face major jail sentences, which was unheard of only a year or two back. Apparently activists are forbidden from even saying in court why they protest—that is, there is to be no mention of a climate emergency allowed as a defence. This authoritarian turn in policing by the UK Tory government was prompted by an Exxon funded Atlas-linked unit called Policy Exchange.

“Listed among the registered owners of Policy Exchange are Howard’s foreign minister Alexander Downer, and David Frum, George W. Bush speechwriter. Another Atlas-linked organisation in the UK is the science denial and anti-climate policy unit, the Global Warming Policy Foundation. Look who is the new board director: ex-Australian PM Tony Abbott.”

These are the people and the organisations that are pushing people to vote No in the forthcoming referendum. It is outrageous! There have been decades of conspiracy and underhand dealings in relation to protecting fossil fuel. It is a shameful and tragic story which is continuing now in the anti-Voice agitation. All the more reason why we need to Vote YES!

Dr Jeremy Walker is acting director of the Climate, Society and Environment Research Centre (C-SERC) based in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at UTS, and a member of the international Climate Social Science Network (CSSN) based at Brown University (USA). He is the author of More Heat than Life: the Tangled Roots of Ecology, Energy and Economics (2020, Palgrave).

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There is a comprehensive exposé of the Atlas Network at

https://www.desmog.com/atlas-economic-research-foundation/