White men have no Dreaming

Aboriginal Australia and the VOICE to Parliament Referendum 2023

The case for YES is clear and I will vote accordingly. The case for NO isn’t clear and the key points can be countered which I’ll attempt to do.

YES
• The Voice was recommended after a years-long engagement with Indigenous communities across Australia.
• Indigenous people should have a say in policies that affect them.
• If the government listens to Indigenous people as it creates policies about them, the policies will be better.
• It will be permanent, and future governments won't be able to remove it.
• Ensuring the Voice can speak to "executive government" means its central role is entrenched, regardless of future governments.
• It will be gender equal and include youth members, meaning more voices from Indigenous communities will be heard.
• It has been carefully devised and given the green light by legal experts.
• Fixed terms mean representatives will always be accountable.
• The Voice would be a good mechanism through which to negotiate Truth and Treaty processes with the Commonwealth.
• Parliament, and by extension the Australian people, would still hold the ultimate say over what becomes law.
NO
• It's symbolic, and fixing systemic issues facing Indigenous communities would require a body with actual power.
"It’s symbolic” is opinion only.
• Governments can ignore its advice if they don't like it.
Governments already do this and it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
• The Voice adds race to the constitution.
What’s wrong with acknowledging reality? - Aboriginals are not only another race just as are Asians and Europeans but are our Original race in Australia and deserve to be recognised and heard.
• Because the Voice will be designed by parliament, future governments could change or sideline it.
Design it so that this doesn’t happen.
• Indigenous people already have a voice via an unprecedented level of Indigenous representation in parliament.
Aboriginal people no more speak with one voice than do the rest of us. Representatives come and go while ‘The Voice’ would remain.
• Truth and Treaty should come before the Voice.
Why? Says who and based on what? - other than opinion.