australia: indigenous voice referendum.

[isvicthere?]

Australia rejects proposal to recognise Aboriginal people in constitution

Voice to parliament referendum fails in defeat that Indigenous advocates will see as a blow to progress towards reconciliation

www.theguardian.com

Nice one, "sport"! After stealing their lands and treating them barbarously for two centuries, "Australia" votes "resoundingly" not to recognise the people who were there for 40 thousand years before they rocked up. Native Australians were only given the vote in the 1960s, so this doesn´t really come as any surprise.

 

[moochedit]

Some info about it here.

Culture and Empowering Communities | NIAA

Strengthening of Indigenous cultural expression and conservation and working with communities to set priorities and greater influence over decisions that affect them.

voice.gov.au

A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

“Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice

In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:

1. there shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;
2. the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
3. the Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”

Referendum 2023

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is responsible for providing the Australian people with an independent electoral service which meets their needs and encourages them to understand and participate in the electoral process.

www.aec.gov.au

 

[Chz]

I was told to get out of town and experience the "Real" Australia when I was there. Well I did. And this result isn't even in the slightest bit surprising. Even the suburbs of Brisbane make rural England look like a utopia of progressive thought. Even if the plan had been better thought out, it still would have failed.

It didn't help that they didn't do much to sell it. It also got a lukewarm response from the people it was meant to help (not good enough), though I'd have personally gone for something is better than nothing given that it will be at least another generation until there's another referendum on the subject.

 

[Lord Camomile]

It would be nice to be pleasantly surprised a bit more often

 

[DownwardDog]

I'm sure they only picked the name "The Voice" so they could use that John Farnham song in the adverts but it was too vague and nobody really understood what the fuck it was supposed to be. We also had some regulatory over-reach in rural WA after the Juukan Gorge incident - one of my neighbours got fined $20k for putting a culvert under his own driveway - which definitely boosted the No vote.

I voted Yes mainly because if this didn't succeed we'll never get a referendum on the fucking monarchy.

 

[marty21]

Mrs21 is Australian, but left there decades ago & has never been back. She was following this , wasn't surprised at the vote , which was part of the reason why she left in the 1st place.

 

[shakespearegirl]

Mrs21 is Australian, but left there decades ago & has never been back. She was following this , wasn't surprised at the vote , which was part of the reason why she left in the 1st place.

Same here. Whilst the result is not surprising it’s disappointing. Has prompted me to do a cull of Fb ‘friends’ spouting barely disguised rasist shit

 

[Cloo]

This is thoroughly miserable stuff. So insecure and petty not to be able to countenance this.

 

[SpookyFrank]

So much for a fair go.

 

[eatmorecheese]

Many members of my family voted for this and we are gutted.

We will keep going.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

Such a modest proposal, but not in the least surprising it was rejected by the population of racist, settler colonial state.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

Indigenous people in being treated like shite shocker.

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Such a shitty outcome…

 

[Jeff Robinson]

“When bipartisanship, which had long been a feature of the push for Indigenous constitutional recognition, died in November last year even before the question was settled, the debate went downhill fast. It was neither respectful nor informed. It was vitriolic, mean-spirited, full of misinformation, driven by racism, petty grievances and conspiracy theories based on fear and ignorance. The referendum became by proxy a vote on Indigenous peoples’ right to exist in our own land – and our fellow Australians voted to reject us.
Imagine – just try – how that feels today.”

Rejecting the voice shows Australia is still in denial, its history of forgetting a festering wrong | Indigenous voice to parliament | The Guardian

The referendum became by proxy a vote on Indigenous peoples’ right to exist in our own land. Imagine – just try – how that feels today

amp.theguardian.com

 

[isvicthere?]

Indigenous people in being treated like shite shocker.

Of course. However, in 2014/5 I worked just outside London with a bunch of Australians who (except for one) were liberal, and anti-racist. They assured me that Australia had changed, and it was no longer at all like when they voted to retain the monarchy in 1999.

It would appear, as I suspected at the time, they were "outliers" with regard to Australian social attitudes.

 

[Jeff Robinson]

Of course. However, in 2014/5 I worked just outside London with a bunch of Australians who (except for one) were liberal, and anti-racist. They assured me that Australia had changed, and it was no longer at all like when they voted to retain the monarchy in 1999.

It would appear, as I suspected at the time, they were "outliers" with regard to Australian social attitudes.

To try and be somewhat more hopeful (rare for me), the split in the referendum was about no 60 yes 40. Only about 3% of Australians are indigenous I think so most of that 40% would have been white Australians. Whilst still incredibly gruelling that 60% voted no to such a minimal political demand for basic recognition and representation, at least there’s a substantial minority to build upon for the future? It took the Swiss dozens of referenda to get women the right to vote.

 

[Artaxerxes]

I have no idea why this was even a referendum, I’m guessing it’s the constitutional changes.


The advisory body seems the most basic possible thing to implement given the number of those that proliferate under any government

 

[moochedit]

I have no idea why this was even a referendum, I’m guessing it’s the constitutional changes.


The advisory body seems the most basic possible thing to implement given the number of those that proliferate under any government

Yeah it sounds basically like the equality commision (or whatever it's called) that we have in the uk. Not sure why a referendum was needed.

 

[mojo pixy]

Yeah it sounds basically like the equality commision (or whatever it's called) that we have in the uk. Not sure why a referendum was needed.

So that when things completely fuck up, nobody has to take the blame because it was [waves hand] the will of the people.

(That's just a guess tbh but is informed by err recent experience)

 

[Idris2002]

I'm sure they only picked the name "The Voice" so they could use that John Farnham song in the adverts but it was too vague and nobody really understood what the fuck it was supposed to be. We also had some regulatory over-reach in rural WA after the Juukan Gorge incident - one of my neighbours got fined $20k for putting a culvert under his own driveway - which definitely boosted the No vote.

I voted Yes mainly because if this didn't succeed we'll never get a referendum on the fucking monarchy.

How much of this was liberal-with-a-small-L patronisation of indigenous people, one that promised a voice, but had no guarantee that that voice would be listened to, let alone acted on? From the little I saw of this Voice proposal, it seemed to me to provide an ersatz version of the kind of relationship to the state that the Maori in Kiwiland have via the Treaty of Waitangi. But that treaty does have actual teeth, and has been leveraged to build Maori power in New Zealand. I can't see either wing of the Aussie political class letting any real power go to their indigenous folk . . .

 

[Artaxerxes]

How much of this was liberal-with-a-small-L patronisation of indigenous people, one that promised a voice, but had no guarantee that that voice would be listened to, let alone acted on? From the little I saw of this Voice proposal, it seemed to me to provide an ersatz version of the kind of relationship to the state that the Maori in Kiwiland have via the Treaty of Waitangi. But that treaty does have actual teeth, and has been leveraged to build Maori power in New Zealand. I can't see either wing of the Aussie political class letting any real power go to their indigenous folk . . .

This was a complaint about it from several indigenous groups according to the graudian article on it

 

[Almor]

I have no idea why this was even a referendum, I’m guessing it’s the constitutional changes.


The advisory body seems the most basic possible thing to implement given the number of those that proliferate under any government

How much of this was liberal-with-a-small-L patronisation of indigenous people, one that promised a voice, but had no guarantee that that voice would be listened to, let alone acted on? From the little I saw of this Voice proposal, it seemed to me to provide an ersatz version of the kind of relationship to the state that the Maori in Kiwiland have via the Treaty of Waitangi. But that treaty does have actual teeth, and has been leveraged to build Maori power in New Zealand. I can't see either wing of the Aussie political class letting any real power go to their indigenous folk . . .

The Australian government might have gone for a referendum because of backlash against against New Zealand's 'co-governance', there's been a lot of whinging about it recently, and the Māori Health authority.

Fairly common opinion that 'co-governance' was a significant factor in Labour's recent election loss, tbf Labour did fuck up trying to push '3 waters' through with minimal scrutiny and the attachment of some co-governance elements in that were a gift to the right, although National introduced the first co-governance project in the country, and there are others already operating.

It's been used pretty heavily in the culture war thing of white people being oppressed by woke, or whatever.

 

[DownwardDog]

How much of this was liberal-with-a-small-L patronisation of indigenous people, one that promised a voice, but had no guarantee that that voice would be listened to, let alone acted on? From the little I saw of this Voice proposal, it seemed to me to provide an ersatz version of the kind of relationship to the state that the Maori in Kiwiland have via the Treaty of Waitangi. But that treaty does have actual teeth, and has been leveraged to build Maori power in New Zealand. I can't see either wing of the Aussie political class letting any real power go to their indigenous folk . . .

I might be wrong, but my opinion is that Albo and the ALP were absolutely sincere about some form of constitutional recognition that might improve the lives of indigenous people. The format of the "The Voice" was probably the biggest change they thought they could get through a referendum. As it turns out, they were incorrect.

This fiasco was a major factor in WA (and was definitely exploited elsewhere) but the margin was so big here that I don't think it would have switched No to Yes.