The
Saturday Paper,
October 21 – 27, 2023,
No. 472:
Although
the Voice referendum was lost, and despite the racist vitriol it
unleashed, the movement for Indigenous rights and recognition has
grown. By Thomas Mayo.
Analysis:
The movement that follows the Voice
As
a parent of five, I am acutely aware of the way in which our children
absorb everything – conversations, body language, snippets of the
news and the bits and pieces they share with friends at school. We
try our best to protect them from the harsh realities of the world
until we think they are ready. They might seem oblivious to it all,
but they know more than they tell, as if they are reciprocating our
care.
Though
I knew this of our children, I wasn’t prepared for my 12-year-old
son’s reaction to the referendum loss on Saturday. When I called my
wife soon after the loss became official, to see how they were, she
told me he had cried. He went to bed early, barely consolable.
The
next day, when I checked in on them, she told me William was okay.
She remarked on how he had mentioned several times that he felt calm
that morning, as if the feeling were strange to him. We came to
realise he had been feeling the weight of the referendum on his
little shoulders. For the first time since the loss, I cried too.
The
Indigenous leadership of the “Yes” campaign called for a week of
silence that ends today. There was a need for contemplation after an
intense campaign. Anyone who put up their head for “Yes” was
brutalised. We were labelled communists, greedy elites, puppets of
the United Nations and promoters of a racially divided Australia.
None of this is true.
The
racist vitriol we felt was at a level not seen for decades in
Australia. Indigenous advocates for the Voice could not speak out
about the abuse without some sections of the media, whose audiences
we needed to persuade, falsely claiming that we were calling all “No”
voters racist. Even if only in the way the headlines were worded.
Respected
Elder and lifelong champion for Indigenous peoples Marcia Langton
probably experienced the worst of this. The stories with negative
headlines exploded and continued for more than a week because she
dared to mention the race-baiting of the “No” campaign.
The
“No” side, on the other hand, was barely scrutinised. When their
figureheads claimed racism against them, some journalists showed
sympathy and the “Yes” campaign was scapegoated. When leading
spokespeople for the “No” campaign were racist beyond reasonable
denial, their leaders doubled down defiantly. Most of the media’s
focus quickly moved on. The abhorrent “No” campaign cartoon,
depicting me in a racist trope and printed in The Australian
Financial Review, is one example of many.
In
the week of silence, I have had time to reflect on last Saturday’s
outcome. I have concluded Indigenous peoples were correct to take the
invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart to the Australian
people. We were not wrong to ask them to recognise us through a
Voice.
For
a people with inherent rights but who are a minority spread across
this vast continent – with a parliament that will continue to make
laws and policies about us – it is inevitable that we will need to
establish a national representative body to pursue justice. We need
to be organised.
Delaying
the referendum was never an option, not even when the polls were
going south. Had we convinced the government to postpone the
referendum, we would still be wondering what could have been,
especially if the gaps continue to widen. We had a responsibility to
try now, to use the rare opportunity we had, in the interests of our
children. At least now we know where we stand.
While
the outcome was disappointing, in all my years of advocacy for
Indigenous rights, I have never felt such levels of solidarity.
As
a leader of the campaign, I accept that, although we tried our best,
we failed. I agree there were aspects of the “Yes” campaign that
could have been better and I ponder what else I could have done.
These thoughts hurt, like an aching emptiness in my chest.
An
honest assessment compels me to mention Opposition Leader Peter
Dutton as well. Dutton has shown he is bereft of the qualities held
by the Indigenous leaders I have worked with. He is well short of the
calibre of his opposite, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
While
Albanese listened to Indigenous peoples respectfully, Dutton ignored
us when in power. When Albanese negotiated the constitutional
alteration with the Referendum Working Group, he did so in good
faith, while Dutton was duplicitous, two-faced, deceitful.
At
the next federal election, the record will show the prime minister
had a go. He followed through with his pre-election promise to hold a
referendum in this term of parliament. He kept his word, even when
the going got tough, whereas Dutton has already reneged on his
promise to hold another referendum should the first one to fail to
pass.
It
is noteworthy, because it exposes that this is all politics on his
part. If he ever becomes prime minister, it is an indication that he
places no value in speaking with Indigenous people before making
decisions about them. His promise of a second referendum was decided
without consulting Indigenous leaders, not even his own spokesperson
on Indigenous affairs.
None
of this is bitterness on my part, just truth. Peter Dutton chose
politics over outcomes. His career came before fairness. He sought
victory at any cost.
When
I go home on Sunday – just my 25th day in Darwin this year, having
worked almost every day since May 21, 2022 – I can proudly tell my
son that though the referendum failed, the movement for Indigenous
rights and recognition has grown.
In
2017, we were almost 4 per cent of the population calling for Voice,
Treaty and Truth-Telling. As of Saturday, we are nearly 40 per cent,
walking together. Almost seven million Australians voted “Yes”.
Both major parties would kill for a first preference vote like that.
Probably
the most important analysis from the referendum was that polling
booths in predominantly Indigenous communities across the entirety of
the country overwhelmingly voted “Yes”. We have thoroughly
established that this is fact: a great majority of Indigenous people
support constitutional recognition through a Voice to Parliament. We
seek self-determination over who speaks for us. Claims otherwise are
an incontrovertible lie.
To
my fellow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, I say we
continue our push for our common goals. Don’t be silenced. Be
louder, prouder and more defiant. Of course, you will be. The
survival of our culture and our babies depends on it.
To
the parents I met so many times, who turned up for their first
doorknock with their little ones in tow, their “Yes” shirts worn
proudly, sunscreen smeared on their faces: keep having those
conversations with your neighbours at every opportunity. Keep turning
up.
To
the small number of people who registered to attend the town hall in
Yamba and Grafton, and the hundreds more who turned up without
registering, and who expressed their gratitude at how the forum had
brought the community together: stay committed to this unselfish
cause. In regional communities across the country, the town hall
attendances were magnificent. Keep turning up.
To
the random members of the public who have hugged me, to the beautiful
Elders who treated me like a son, to the fellow union members who
organised their communities, not just their places of work, maintain
the love for what makes this country unique – more than 60,000
years of continuous heritage and culture.
While
the outcome was disappointing, in all my years of advocacy for
Indigenous rights, I have never felt such levels of solidarity.
Across
the country, lifelong friendships have been made. I have new Aunties
and Uncles, like the strong Aboriginal women at Baabayn Aboriginal
Corporation in Mount Druitt, who themselves have formed bonds with
the local ethnic communities as they campaigned for “Yes”. I love
you, Aunties.
In
this campaign we saw Liberals and Nationals give speeches alongside
Labor and the Greens. We saw corporate chief executives leafleting
with union officials. All denominations have prayed together. The
“Yes” rallies, more than 200,000 people strong, brought colour,
joy and diversity to the streets, in unity with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people.
Late
this week, ending the week of silence, an official statement from
Indigenous leaders was made public. In summary: we continue our calls
for our voices to be heard, for reform and for justice, and we need
your ongoing support.
This
is the task ahead. I say to all the hundreds of thousands of people I
have spoken with over the past six years, the many friends I have
made on this journey: we were always on the right side of history.
Young Australians voted “Yes” with us. Imagine what we can
achieve if the almost seven million Australians who voted “Yes”
continue to have conversations with their neighbours, meeting “No”
voters with an understanding that they may have voted “No”
because of the lies they were told. In time, we will turn the “Nos”
into “Yeses”.
Let
us talk of our strengths while addressing our weaknesses. Let us
believe in ourselves, our communities and our country, rather than
looking over our shoulders at the shadows Peter Dutton has thrown
across Australian politics. Let us call on the parliament to shine a
light on those shadows, those deathly shadows, lest they continue to
undermine our democracy. Ask yourself, which group will be targeted
next?
When
I was writing my first book about the Uluru Statement from the Heart,
published in 2019, my son was just eight years old. He asked me what
the title of the book would be. When I asked him what he would call
it, he proceeded to do a series of armpit farts. We both laughed.
Then I told him I would call it Finding the Heart of the Nation. He
asked me, “Where is the heart of the nation?”
I
put my laptop down beside me on the couch. I pulled him close. I put
my hand on his chest, and I said, “The heart of the nation is
here.”
The
heart of the nation is still here. It always was and it always will
be, waiting to be recognised by our fellow Australians. Whether you
voted “Yes” or “No”, I say to you with humility and respect,
open your hearts and your minds henceforth. The truth should be
unifying, not divisive.
This
article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday
Paper on October 21, 2023 as "After the vote".
Thomas
Mayo is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander man,
assistant national secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia and
author of six books, including Dear Son – Letters and
reflections from First Nations fathers and sons and the
bestselling children’s book Finding Our Heart.
October
21, 2023
