I wonder if the attitude of the reactionary new NZ government is a repercussion of the Voice referendum loss here. Has perhaps emboldened those wanting to ignore First Nations people.
Maori protests: Thousands march in NZ cities against plans to wind back Maori gains
In May, the #Queensland Liberal-National opposition provided bipartisan support for legislation establishing a 3-4 year #TruthTelling process, as a necessary precursor to the (extremely belated) negotiation of a treaty or #treaties with Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples. And they did so in response to the #UluruStatementFromTheHeart (that had called for #Voice, #Treaty and #Truth).
At the time, opposition leader #DavidCrisafulli had personally encouraged people in his state to "embrace this [truth-telling] wholeheartedly". On the day the legislation passed, he said: "I believe in truth-telling and to me that means telling it like it is. […] We cannot shy away from the real experiences of #Indigenous Australians throughout history. We must tell the truth about the real challenges they are facing today."
But now, five months later yet before any of the formal processes of truth-telling have begun, he's withdrawn #LNP support for the legislation, promising to tear it up should his party be voted into government at the next election.
He claims he is doing so because he is listening—to the voices of the 'No' voters, who outnumbered the 'Yes' voters at last Saturday's #referendum.
In response, #Labor Premier #AnnastaciaPalaszczuk has said that the process of truth-telling and treaty negotiation won't be pursued without #bipartisan support.
So, what lessons might be drawn from this development?
If voters say they don't want their government to listen to the voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, then voters are probably also saying they don't want to hear the truth themselves.
Supporters of the Statement from the Heart who advocated for #Voice before #Truth or #Treaty often did so explicitly on the assumption that Treaty would be the hardest, and so it is better to start with the 'easier' ask of a #VoiceToParliament in order to build momentum. Yet in Queensland, the failure of this 'easier' step at a federal level now means the process of truth-telling (which had been moving forward and could have helped build lasting community consensus) has been thoroughly derailed.
Ironically, the Voice referendum was defeated via the noise created by the various 'voices to parliament' that have been long established for rich corporate colonisers (Murdoch press, Minerals Council, Macquarie Bank, etc.). So now that its been confirmed that these old voices remain supreme, #DavidCrisafulli is just tidying up leftover mess.
Australia should do something similar to what the EU has done. It's too late for the #VoiceToParliament but we might save future elections.
"Last week, the European Union told TikTok, Meta (which encompasses Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads) and X (formerly Twitter) to remove misinformation and disinformation from their platforms as the issue reached boiling point with the Israel-Palestine conflict.
I suspect that's the last constitutional referendum I'll vote on in my lifetime (and possibly ever). I've voted on six questions in referendums in 1988, 1999 and 2023, and not a single proposal got up. It's not easy.
Voice referendum results: Australia the ultimate loser
Jacinta Price is damn phony and I knew it from the start.
Post her referendum wrecking mission she is now calling on the Parliament to conduct an ‘audit’ into spending on Aboriginal & Torres Straight Islander peoples.
Ironically this ‘was’ one of the tasks set aside for the Voice committee to do - but of course Price opposed the Voice didn’t she.
Honestly the LNP think Australians are mugs
In Australia's Parliament this afternoon (16th Oct) there was a debate around The Water Trigger. The Bill needs to pass bc it is urgently needed to ensure that gas fracking projects don't harm local water resources and the local environment.
In NT two projects are in the final stages of authorisation. Both will poison water in the local #indigenous communities.
Precisely.
Go without water ?
In Australia 2023 ???
Saturday's referendum NO-voters need to realise that the referendum wasnt about division, bc Australia has division and inequality ALREADY .
How about some fracking in Dutton's seat?? God forbid !!!! His supporters would demand a #Voice and rightly so.
How many Australians really KNOW anything about First Nations' hardships or how the machinery of White Australia racism really works?
Truth is, like all other #FirstNations globally, they are in the way of the colonising overlords who want to seize land and resources for their own use.
And historically those overlords just needed to "wipe out" those indigenous ppls by any means possible: massacres, displacement, theft, siege, exploitation, disease, death, imprisonment...
The way Australia's First Nations are being treated nowadays is nothing new. They are unheard and invisible and 60% of voters are just fine with that.
#NewZealand is looking across the ditch to #Australia and I think many at least Pakeha New Zealanders [New Zealanders of European descent] are probably puzzled that what is in their eyes such a modest proposal is struggling to win sufficient votes.
From 1867, #maori people were granted seats in parliament and electorates where only Māori people could contest and vote. #voice#VoicetoParliament#racism#boganNation #penalcolony
"Australia now occupies a unique position globally. It is the only colonial settler society in the world that not only does not recognise in any way those dispossessed by colonialism, but whose citizens have actively rejected any such recognition.
Anyone who didn't see this coming is just willingly ignorant.
Peter Dutton has walked back his promise about constitutional recognition of First Nations people.
Anyone who sided with Dutton expecting a different type of progressive action towards Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people is nothing but a complete and utter buffoon.
I think this is the very last thing I'll share about the Voice referendum - but it's an interesting one.
This statistical analysis shows the results were very similar to the 1999 republic referendum: re regions, wealth, education, etc. Even the same electorates at the top & bottom of the Yes votes! Shows how hard it is to shift some people to a Yes vote, no matter what the question.
I suspect there are are two basic starting problems with any constitutional referendum:
a) Whatever the referendum is about, it can be characterised as "ignoring real issues";
b) There's a big chunk of people who deeply resent having to engage with politics, so forcing them to the polls outside an election will inevitably irritate them.
And that's before you even get to arguing the question! [sigh]
It's all there: Language Arts Civics Technology History.. TEN PAGES of curriculum. Every blue interactive link takes you to teaching materials, organisations and suggestions.
Not mandated in private schools of course.
And frankly a disaster in the hands of a NO voting Principal or teacher who won't ensure its taught.
I found these thoughts from Sean Kelly heartening, amid the disappointment of the referendum result:
"Not all the news is bad. Tens of thousands volunteered for Yes. Four in 10 Australians voted Yes. As Dean Parkin, of the Quandamooka peoples, said on Saturday, this was not a swing of any sort – the proposal started with zero votes. This is “the creation of a base”. Some good change has come; now it must continue. Those who are serious about a decent media must keep Indigenous stories in the news. And the prime minister must find another way of delivering what he promised: listening and acting."
Voice referendum results: If we deny the role of racism, we are a country that doesn’t know itself
Anyone in these lands now called Australia who is shocked at the outcome of the #Indigenous#VoiceToParliament referendum, saying "this isn't the Australia I thought I knew", might well have been in favour of listening to the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, but clearly wasn't actually already listening to those voices speaking about their experiences.
That a large proportion of Australian voters were all too readily mobilised by racist dogwhistles & disinformation came as a surprise to precisely zero Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people I know.
To illustrate this: did you know, in the most recent three year period for which there is (self-reported) data, 45% of all 'use of force' incidents by #NSWpolice were directed towards a First Nations person? If you're part of the 3.4% of NSW who are Indigenous I doubt this is particularly news for you. If you're not, were you aware of this? And remember that the (chronically/strategically underfunded) police watchdog LECC admits that even this data is incomplete, meaning the true figure may well be higher.
A suggestion for non-Indigenous #Auspol folk who voted Yes in the failed #VoiceReferendum - even if the government might not be constitutionally required to listen, maybe consider how you can.
Just a few years ago then Immigration Minister #PeterDutton was very keen to welcome white farmers from #SouthAfrica as potential #refugees to Australia, (despite the alleged threat they faced being more or less a complete beat-up).
But when #Palestinians are being slaughtered by the thousands in collective punishment for the #WarCrimes of #Hamas, Dutton instead calls for Foreign Minister #PennyWong to be sacked due to her briefly advocating (in a very minimal manner) for the restraint of violence against non-combatants in adherence with #InternationalLaw.
I know pointing out blatant hypocrisy and #racism from Dutton is hardly ground-breaking material, but it really does need to be repeated, because too many people still refuse to see it, despite months of his fear-mongering and #dogwhistling over an #Indigenous#VoiceToParliament. In the footsteps of #Trump, Dutton is continually testing the waters of increasingly hateful rhetoric as a way of ensuring media attention, and has not yet discovered a line that will cause a sufficiently large chunk of voters to desert him.
There is a leaked txt message from a Liberal MP that confirms the strategy of Dutton and the coalition was to totally annihilate the referendum to advance his own political objectives and enable the LNP to gain a strong starting position for the next election.
They see the resounding No result as a proxy for their support among voters.
Dutton was willing to crush Indigenous people in order to gain political advantage - a low act from this dog
At this point, I can’t help but feel like blaming the Yes campaign for the referendum result is akin to victim blaming.
To my mind, any blame should rest in the lies and misinformation peddling from the No campaign, in the media who generally superbly ineffective in their journalistic duty of combating the lies, and in particular with those in the media who were complicit in facilitating the spread of lies and misinformation. #auspol#voicetoparliament
Lots of people are understandably sad and deflated about the referendum result. But now is not the time to stop fighting. Even if the voice had succeeded it would have only been a small & largely symbolic step in the fight to decolonise Australia. Now is the time to get activated and continue the fight to decolonise "Australia", to get land back to traditional owners, to end deaths in custody and to get back sovreignty.
So if there is a rally go to it. Talk to your co workers, friends and family about this stuff. If you have a union convince your fellow members to lend a hand in this fight.