What do First Nations people think about the proposed Indigenous Voice to parliament? We spoke to dozens of Indigenous people from all walks of life to hear their voices.
We spoke to dozens of Indigenous people from all walks of life in capital cities, country towns and remote communities, from Townsville to Tasmania, and Broome to Adelaide. The conversations took place before the current campaign by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton tobefore a referendum on enshrining a Voice in the Constitution.
Anthony Hume, 42, a Yorta Yorta man from Torquay in Victoria, was typical of the Voice supporters. “It is about time that we had a voice, so it is a definite yes from me, that’s for sure,” he says.Barry Smith, 51, a Noongar-Ballardong man from Midland, Western Australia, said: “I come from a country town where we don’t really have a say in much. I would really like to have someone who is representing us.
Rodney Gibbins, a palawa man from Hobart, was also in the undecided camp, saying he didn’t understand the proposal.“We know it’s not going to have any power, we know it’s not going to have any say over funding or anything like that, so one has to wonder what’s the purpose of it?” Gibbins says.The proposed referendum is a national vote that will most significantly affect First Nations people. Electoral mathematics mean the outcome will not be determined by the 3.
A common sentiment from those surveyed was that not enough information was readily available. Jennifer Hubert, a Yindjibarndi woman living in Alice Springs, felt as though the information was “all there but it’s under the carpet, and it needs to come out more”.
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