Sana Nakata writes in The Conversation (30.8.23) about the Prime Minister’s long-awaited announcement that the ‘Voice to Parliament’ referendum will be held on October 14, describing it as a national vote of generational significance.
‘Today, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced an October 14 date for a national referendum on whether to amend the Constitution to establish a new advisory body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
‘Called the “Voice to Parliament”, the new body would provide advice and make representations to parliament and the government on any issues relating to First Nations people. The Voice to Parliament has been toted as a vital step toward redressing Australia’s painful history of discrimination against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
‘The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has said it would also remedy a “long legacy” of failed policies on a variety of issues, from the over-representation of First Nations people in the prison system to poorer outcomes for First Nations people in health, employment and education.
‘… Even after 1967, it remains clear that existing voting rights and political institutions alone cannot represent the interests of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the federal government.’
- A divided Australia will soon vote on the most significant referendum on Indigenous rights in 50 years
- Australians to vote October 14 on the Voice, with Albanese urging people to support ‘an idea’
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament referendum set for October 14
- It’s a date: Albanese confirms October 14 referendum, leaves six weeks to convince nation
- Indigenous voice to parliament referendum date announced as 14 October
- Voice referendum locked in for October 14
- How do the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ cases stack up? Constitutional law experts take a look
- Australians will vote in a referendum on October 14. What do you need to know?
- As referendum set for October 14, ‘yes’ is behind and the poll trends are unfavourable
- Why the ‘yes’ campaign should embrace the politics of nationhood
- The Voice referendum could be Australia’s date with destiny, and it may never come around again
- Australians have six weeks to make a decision on the voice. It needs to be based on facts, not fear
- Don’t close the door on Indigenous Australians, says Albanese
- View from The Hill: Australians go into the referendum divided – can the country emerge united?
- With the Voice referendum contest so close, the campaign ahead will be crucial — but very different to an election
- Do I have to vote in the Voice referendum? Can I vote early? What about postal voting?
- There are two sides to the ‘no’ campaign on the Voice. Who are they and why are they opposed to it?
- 7 rules for a respectful and worthwhile Voice referendum
- The Voice to Parliament referendum asks a simple question, but Australia’s answer is complicated
- The Indigenous voice debate is testing Australia’s democracy – and we can’t give in to rancorous polarisation
- Australia’s voice debate is being flooded with misinformation and lies. Here are some facts
- Your questions answered on the Voice to Parliament
A yes vote for the voice would mean Australians could meet each other’s eyes and not flinch
Kirstie Parker, a Yuwallarai woman and signatory of the Uluru Statement From the Heart, writes in The Guardian (20.9.23) that a successful ‘yes’ vote in the Voice referendum would allow Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to ‘come together’ and the nation to ‘flourish’.
‘The spectacle of tens of thousands of Australians walking together in support of the voice last weekend was a powerful reminder of what the yes campaign for a First Nations voice is all about.
‘Yes is for unity and hope, it is for the energy that springs from a shared commitment to building a better future.
‘Looking out at the crowd gathered in Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga in Adelaide, where I had the honour to speak, I felt my ancestors with me.
‘I descend from one whose name translates literally to “big heart” and, witnessing the spectacle of thousands of South Australians determined to help make things right in this country, my own heart felt fit to burst.
‘… The Uluru Statement expresses our determination to end the status quo, one in which we experience catastrophic outcomes in every realm compared with non-Indigenous Australians.
‘These outcomes are indisputable. The ongoing impacts of colonisation, the intergenerational trauma it has caused, is undeniable.’
- A yes vote for the voice would mean Australians could meet each other’s eyes and not flinch
- Taking the high ground: let kindness have its day
- As a white Australian, I am deeply ashamed of the past. Voting yes is a step towards a more equitable future
- Is it ethical non-Indigenous people get to decide on the Voice? Is it OK for one group to have rights others don’t? An ethicist weighs in
- Anthony Albanese says the Voice referendum is worth it, but it hasn’t been the unifying moment he was hoping for
- Pearson contrasts ‘peace dividend’ from Voice with war from No side
- ‘Blak sovereignty’ leaders switch to Yes, isolating Lidia Thorpe
- The voice debate has been a long fight – and the blows have landed hardest on First Nations people
- People power and a tsunami of ads: the yes voice campaign’s last-ditch effort for an unlikely victory
- What kind of Australia will we wake up to if the Voice referendum is defeated on October 14?
- Voice to parliament: No campaign win would haunt Australia’s national conscience
- The voice contains hope. It will help end the great Australian silence
- The bitter politics and hypocrisy of the Voice debate will mark it as yet another ugly chapter in Australia’s history
- Support for the Voice to Parliament is lower in outer suburbs and regional Australia than inner cities, polling suggests
- Queensland the ‘No’ state as support for the Voice evaporates
- AEC calls for ‘civility’ in last week of voice campaign as staff report clashes with voters
- When it comes to Indigenous affairs, Australian voters’ opinions are complicated
- Winning a Yes is hard, especially in Queensland. Why does the state lean towards No?
- Coming to terms with the past is more important than ever. The Voice referendum is a vital first step
- ‘If not now, when?’: Thomas Mayo pleads with voters not to delay Indigenous voice for future generations
- In the atmosphere of the Voice debate, Australia’s small markers of progress have already been eroded
- ‘Don’t slam the door on the children’: Noel Pearson makes final pitch on voice referendum