Regional communities were central to Uluru Statement, and they must also be for the Voice to Parliament
Retrieved on:
Saturday, May 27, 2023
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Our communities know what issues we face, and often they know what solutions we need.
Key Points:
- Our communities know what issues we face, and often they know what solutions we need.
- However, dialogues in these areas are still needed in the lead-up to the Voice referendum.
- Having regional voices heard was essential in designing and advancing the idea of a Voice to Parliament.
Listening to regional peoples was essential to the Uluru Statement
- To reflect this, the Referendum Council during 2015 and 2016 held Regional Dialogues with Indigenous peoples, to find out what we wanted to see achieved through constitutional reform.
- Our voicelessness as Indigenous peoples, and the voicelessness of our communities, was raised at these dialogues.
- Not all Indigenous peoples, including some from regional and remote areas, support the Voice to Parliament.
- A Yougov poll from April this year, one of the most representative samples to date, shows 83% of Indigenous peoples support a Voice.
Is anyone listening to regional people?
- Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has stated the Voice would be incapable of representing regional and rural peoples.
- Indigenous people in NSW’s regional town of Orange have also expressed strong support for the Voice.
We need better engagement with regional people
- Failing to seek the active participation of regional and rural peoples is doing them a disservice.
- It is this neglect that forms much of the problems and resentments regional peoples have towards Canberra.
- Are we truly doing politics and media differently if we don’t actively engage 30% of Australians and 60% of Indigenous peoples?
Giving regional people enough information
- Wagga Wagga City Council has held forums on the Voice, alongside state MP Dr Joe McGirr, to inform and engage people.
- Local councils, regional MPs, organisations from our rural communities such as the CWA, all have roles to play in this referendum campaign.
- Even if they are undecided on the Voice, we must ensure regional and remote peoples are included in the nation’s dialogues about the Voice.