For
months now the entire country has known the exact wording of the
national referendum question and text of the constitutional amendment
which will create a permanent advisory body composed of Aboriginal &
Torres Strait Islander representatives of the First Nations peoples
of Australia.
National
Referendum Question
“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?”
**********
Text
of additional clause to be inserted in the Constitution
if referendum question is answered by a double
majority
in the affirmative
“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:
there
shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Voice;
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;
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.”
**********
On
the morning of Wednesday, 31 May 2023 the second
and third reading of the Constitution Alteration
(Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) 2023 Bill occurred
in the House of Representatives and was passed by a majority of the
House with just 25 members out of a total of 145 members dissenting.
The
parliamentary dissenters in alphabetical order
were:
Birrell,
Sam. J. Boyce, C. E. Buchholz, Scott (Teller)
Chester,
Darren J. Conaghan, Patrick J. Coulton, Mark M.
(Teller)
Gillespie,
David A. Goodenough, Ian R.
Hamilton,
G. R. Hawke, Alexander G. Hogan, Kevin J.
Howarth,
Luke R.
Joyce,
Barnaby T. G.
Landry,
Michelle L. Littleproud, David
McCormack,
Michael F.
O'Brien,
Llewellyn S.
Pasin,
Anthony Pike, Henry J. Pitt, Keith J.
Wallace,
Andrew B. Webster, A. E. Willcox, Andrew J.
Wilson,
Richard. J. and
Young,
Terry J.
A
majority of these dissenters took it upon themselves to organise and
conduct a “No” campaign against the proposed Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament once the referendum
question had been approved by a majority in the House of
Representatives.
Advance
Aus
Ltd
formerly
Freedom Aus Limited, Advance
formerly known
as Advance
Australia &
Fair
Australia
(both associated with Advance Aus Ltd),
Recognise
a Better Way,
Whitestone
Strategic Pty
Ltd,
Texas-based
RJ
Dunham & Co,
Matthew
Sheahan,
Vicki
Dunne,
Laura
Bradley,
Simon
Fenwick,
Marcus
Blackmore
and
former Liberal MP Tony
Abbott
are
among
the companies
& persons
which assist the dissenters in their apparent aim to sow doubt
and division
ahead
of the referendum.
[AFR,
10.04.23 & The
Guardian,
13.07.23].
In
this they appear to have had some measure of success.
According to custom, the
parliamentary dissenters have also
produced
the official “No”
campaign
pamphlet titled “The
case for voting No” which
can be read in
full and
downloaded at:
https://www.aec.gov.au/referendums/files/pamphlet/the-case-for-voting-no.pdf
The
first
page summary text
is as follows:
“REASONS
TO VOTE NO – A SUMMARY
This
Referendum is not simply about “recognition”. This Voice proposal
goes much further.
If
passed, it would represent the biggest change to our Constitution in
our history.
It
is legally risky, with unknown consequences. It would be divisive and
permanent.
If
you don’t know, vote no.
RISKY
We
all want to help Indigenous Australians in disadvantaged communities.
However, this Voice is not the answer and presents a real risk to our
system of government.
This
Voice specifically covers all areas of “Executive Government”.
This means no issue is beyond its
reach.
The
High Court would ultimately determine its powers, not the Parliament.
It
risks legal challenges, delays and dysfunctional government.
UNKNOWN
No
details have been provided on how members of the Voice would be
chosen or how it would operate.
Australians are being asked to vote first before these details are
worked out.
Australians
should have details before the vote, not after.
We
don’t know how it will work, we don’t know who will be on it, but
we do know it will permanently divide us as Australians.
Some
Voice supporters say this would just be a first step to reparations
and compensation and other radical changes. So, what would come next?
DIVISIVE
Enshrining
a Voice in the Constitution for only one group of Australians means
permanently dividing our country.
It
creates different classes of citizenship through an unknown body that
has the full force of the Constitution behind it. Many Indigenous
Australians do not support this.
PERMANENT
Putting
a Voice in the Constitution means it’s permanent. We will be stuck
with negative consequences
The
content of this argument (which can be viewed at
aec.gov.au/referendums/pamphlet.htm) was authorised
by a majority of those members of Parliament who voted against the
proposed law and desired to
forward
such a case. This text has been published without amendment by the
Electoral Commissioner“
******
The
official “Yes”
campaign
pamphlet from
the
majority of the parliamentary assenters
titled
“The
case for voting Yes”
can
be read in
full and
downloaded at:
https://www.aec.gov.au/referendums/files/pamphlet/the-case-for-voting-yes.pdf?v=1.0
This
affirmative campaign is assisted by
YES23.
Examples of how
the two
very different pamphlets
are
being initially received in mainstream & social media:
CONCERNING
POLLED RESPONSES IN JULY 2023 TO THE PROPOSED NATIONAL REFERENDUM
QUESTION
Latest
Newspoll
conducted
on 12-15 July 2023 shows
48
per cent of
the
1,570
surveyed
voters
say they now intend to vote no
to
the
proposal
to insert an Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Voice into the
Australian Constitution.
Among
surveyed voters from regional areas 62 per cent opposed the Voice
proposal.
The
survey breaks down by gender to 47 per cent of all males surveyed
and 49 per cent of all females surveyed now oppose the Voice.
By
age it appears that 59 per
cent of those younger voters surveyed were in favour of inserting
an Aboriginal &
Torres Strait Islander Voice into the Australian Constitution,
while 46 per cent of all older voters surveyed were in favour of
the Voice.
NOTE: The 15 July 2023 Newspoll as reported does not breakdown responses by state and, as a referendum affirmative requires a majority of the voting age population in a majority of states, it is possible that at this time there is still a majority in favour of the Voices in four of the seven states & territories.
