We have been reading about the No campaign this morning, and it shows why we need an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
The malicious fear-mongering and self-interested false narratives surrounding what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders want and need have, over the years, helped to create many ineffective and inappropriate policies and programs that fail to address our community's real issues. The no campaign's cherry-picking of supposed Indigenous opinion and blatant mistruths is designed to promote mistrust and division.
The simple facts are that the Uluru Statement from the Heart did not ask for reparations; it asked for a Voice, to be heard. It was a plea for hope from a people who have been dispossessed and denied that voice for the past two hundred and fifty years, where before the arrival of colonial settlers, they had sovereignty for over 60,000 years. Six years after the Uluru statement was developed, some continue to deny that right. Voting Yes for the Voice will enable true narratives and give the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community strength to work with all of Australia to improve our well-being and our nation.
Bev Munro is the Co-Chair of the Bass Coast Reconciliation Network and has Wiradjuri Heritage. Derrick Harrison was born in Yorkshire and migrated to Australia as a child.
The simple facts are that the Uluru Statement from the Heart did not ask for reparations; it asked for a Voice, to be heard. It was a plea for hope from a people who have been dispossessed and denied that voice for the past two hundred and fifty years, where before the arrival of colonial settlers, they had sovereignty for over 60,000 years. Six years after the Uluru statement was developed, some continue to deny that right. Voting Yes for the Voice will enable true narratives and give the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community strength to work with all of Australia to improve our well-being and our nation.
Bev Munro is the Co-Chair of the Bass Coast Reconciliation Network and has Wiradjuri Heritage. Derrick Harrison was born in Yorkshire and migrated to Australia as a child.