Like so many communities around the nation, Port Augusta locals came together this week to recognise the country’s ongoing journey to reconciliation.
Key points:
- The Indigenous Voice to Parliament would be an independent and permanent advisory body to the government
- Many undecided to which way they’ll vote on the Voice
- Australians will head to the polls later this year to cast their vote
But unlike other Reconciliation Weeks, this year there was another “r” word that frequently cropped up in conversation — referendum.
The week intends to highlight the importance of coming together, but many feel divided on which way they will vote on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Arabana-Afghani man Clinton Dadleh says the referendum on the Voice is a “hot topic at the moment”.
“I’m a bit undecided as to whether I go the ‘Yes’ vote or the ‘No’ vote because I don’t have a lot of information on what it is going to mean exactly for me, and how my voice is going to be heard,” he said.
“Who is going to be representing my voice and my family’s voice?”
Although Mr Dadleh believes this is an opportunity to move forward as a whole nation, he feels it is unclear yet on how the Voice is going to work.
“So right now, I’m sitting borderline; not on the fence — because there’s no fence, it’s either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ — but without that information I can’t make the right decision,” he said.
And he says he is not alone in feeling confused.
“I had a friend who contacted me and asked which way I was going to vote,” he said.
“At the end of the conversation, he just said, ‘I want to vote right, I just want to do the right thing’.
“But what is the right thing?”
Mr Dadleh said there could be more than 40 Aboriginal language groups living in Port Augusta at once.
“How are they going to be represented,” he asked.
“Not one person can speak for everybody.
“To be quite blunt, we need to need to be able to fix the bigger issues happening in communities, not just change or amend the constitution to include Aboriginal people.”
Barngarla woman Jonas Dare also feels conflicted about what her vote will count towards.
“We’ve got citizenship now and we can vote now, but our votes don’t count considering the dumping of nuclear waste on our country,” she said.
“Our voice has been ignored. We still don’t have a say over our country, and we don’t have a treaty and we don’t have sovereignty.
“This country is starting to feel like a dictatorship, and how do people have a voice with a dictatorship?
“Once again, it’s just smoke and mirrors and it’s pretend.
“In one part, the Voice is actually a rehash of the Recognise Campaign that Aboriginal people threw out — we were like, no we don’t want to be a part of that.
So, the government have just changed the letters around, but it’s still the same thing — it’s still the Recognise Campaign.”
Ms Dare says she does not want to encourage people to vote “Yes” or “No” but believes sovereignty needs to be given back.
“Until we have treaty and sovereignty, what does the Voice really mean,” she asked.
Adnyamathanha Elder Vince Coulthard echoes Ms Dare’s concerns on how the referendum will affect their battle for sovereignty.
“Do we relinquish our sovereign position if we get recognition in the constitution,” he asked.
“If there is a law that says this won’t affect our sovereignty, then I’ll certainly be for it.
“If the Voice doesn’t get up this time, then it’s not going to happen for another 100 years.”
But he still has reservations around what rights the Voice will actually give his people.
“It’s not really a voice in parliament; it’s to operate in an advisory capacity to the government, but not necessarily decision making,” he said.
“But if we have our sovereign rights, we have a rightful place to make decisions about our country.”
Adnyamathanha man Malcolm McKenzie said the “Yes” vote is important to Aboriginal people, but he wants to see outcomes for his people.
He believes the vote can also play an important role in reducing anti-social behaviour in the town’s youth.
“Business development, good education and engaging young Aboriginal people, that should be a part of the high school curriculum,” he said.
“People have the right to vote ‘No’ but I think this is a once-in a lifetime opportunity where the Voice is recognising 65,000 years of Aboriginal culture and heritage — and I think that’s a fantastic thing.
“I would like to see Anthony Albanese say a bit more about how the Voice is going to improve us.”
