Australia wants the Voice. It’s time for the campaign to begin

Decade after decade of wrong-headed,and in some cases evil,policies by Australian governments and institutions have inflicted grave generational trauma on Indigenous peoples. Over more than 200 years many have been stripped of access to their traditional lands,cut off from their ways of life and culture,and denied them even so much as their family support structures.

At this point in Australia’s history,it is past time to make good.

To do so requires abandoning the authoritarian and patronising approaches of the past. It requires genuine co-operation and local community insights to develop the right policies that can boost health,education,economic opportunity and justice outcomes,as well as the emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Which is why so much hinges on the success of the proposed Voice to parliament. The national apology to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in February 2008 was a start,but it was never intended to be a supreme salve.

Practical change is essential. What form it takes,how it comes about,and how it is implemented are issues that First Nations people need and want to influence. That is achievable through the Voice structurepreferred by the federal government.

The Voice to parliament would be an advisory body,comprising First Nations representatives,that could make recommendations to parliament about laws and policies affecting Indigenous people and communities. While parliament would not be bound to accept the advice,it could at least no longer feign institutional deafness.

Implementing the Voice,by amending the Constitution as opposed to legislating the proposed body,was one of Labor’s top election promises. That would require a referendum,which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said would not happen before mid-2023.

As David Crowe reports today,a national Resolve Political Monitor survey commissioned byThe Sydney Morning Herald indicates almost two-thirds of Australians (64 per cent) favour at least the proposed wording of a question Albanese has proffered for the referendum.

Importantly,the survey shows a majority in every state supports the question,in theory. In NSW,support was marginally higher than the national average at 65 per cent.

But the survey also raised the possibility of shifting results in the future,with some ambivalence in the wider community about exactly how the Voice could generate practical improvements.

In regard to the detail about what the Voice could do,24 per cent of survey respondents want its advice limited to Indigenous issues;a similar number (26 per cent) suggest it should provide advice on all issues and policy areas;while 22 per cent are simply opposed to having such an entity.

There will always be doubt and some misconceptions in the wider community about changes such as this. That is because many Australians do not follow the intricacies of how governments really work,how they receive or absorb advice,or how policies are formulated. They only care about the result.

TheHerald has previously argued that bipartisan support is needed to give the Voice referendum its best chance of success. That remains the case. On Friday,however,Opposition Leader Peter Dutton hinted the government’s approach had so far been shambolic,accusing it of“making a lot of this up on the run”.

But the survey is clear:the majority of Australians want change. They support a Voice to parliament,one that brings about a better,more generous and more dignified communion of governance with the nation’s Indigenous people.

Australians want this to work.

If the Voice advisory body is to succeed via referendum,those who support change – either within or beyond parliament – need to start building campaign momentum now.

Bevan Shields sends an exclusive newsletter to subscribers each week.Sign up to receive his Note from the Editor.

Since the Herald was first published in 1831,the editorial team has believed it important to express a considered view on the issues of the day for readers,always putting the public interest first.

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