The Liberal Party’s decision to support the NO case in the coming referendum for a Voice to Federal Parliament for Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders has come as a relief to a large section of the community which felt success would depend on Liberal support.
Responding to the Liberal decision follows:
The first point must be to define the terminology.
“First Nation people”. Prior to white settlement there was no ‘nation’; only separate tribes.
“Indigenous”, means anyone born here which means most of us.
The Voice concerns only Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander people. This is fact and needs to be clear for any discussion.
The concept of a Voice for aborigines (maybe not so much for the Torres Strait people) can be traced back forty years when the book “Red over Black” was written by Geoff McDonald. He worked at Aboriginal Reserves where he noted Marxists working to use Aborigines to bring about leftist policies through a Voice to Parliament. The plan was to create a Voice, followed by Truth Telling and a Treaty. A Black State would then follow to change Australia as we know it.
So, the plan has been promoted to varying degrees by most Prime Ministers including Mr Howard but then rested on the ‘back-burner’ until the Albanese Government resurrected it.
We can thank the promoters and much of the media for conditioning community support for a Voice. It has been responsible for creating community opinion where most traditional things are challenged or scheduled to be replaced.
Now we are a few months away from the referendum and most political parties have reached their position whether to support the Voice or not. The Nationals and One Nation were early to decide their NO vote and the ALP and Greens will vote YES. The Liberals have been slow to reach their decision but after a meeting on April 8th the decision was agreed to support a NO vote at the referendum. Leader Peter Dutton announced details which were met with confusion because he also said the Liberals would support a Voice in State and Local areas. This seemed to show his support in principle for a Voice. He also supported the “Indigenous” (read Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders) being recognised constitutionally. It is not clear whether it was for the actual Constitution or the Preamble.
While it is refreshing to have the Liberals reflecting the community wish to defeat the referendum later this year; the statement has other detractions which hopefully can be rectified.
The various States are progressing for their legislated Voice. But these will impact the Parliamentary process in the same manner as a Federal Voice. The Voices will be able to speak on any issue before the Parliament. From the floor, they may address the House. They have access to Cabinet. All of these features are denied to the remainder of the population, resulting in division.
Recognising any single race or group in a Constitution instantly creates division. There are those recognised and those not recognised. Why would this be a policy to pursue?
Whether it is PM Albanese or Opposition Leader Dutton promoting certain wording for a Constitution, whether they are ‘modest’ or not; the wording is open to legal interpretation. This may deliver a completely different result. Take note that our Constitution already grants control of rivers and waterways to the States and yet the Tasmanian Franklin Dam dispute resulted in a Court decision which completely reversed that Constitutional right. There can be no guarantee that straight forward wording will always mean what it says!
In summary, it is with relief that we welcome the Liberal decision to Vote NO to the Voice but the rest of the outcomes carry too much ambiguity and it is necessary for some retraction and correction. The Party cannot rest yet.”