Why I will be voting yes

Tomorrow, Australia has a referendum about the recognition of the indigenous people of the nation, voting to include them in the constitution of our country and installing an advisory body to the government called The Voice.

The offical pamphlet outlining the two positions - yes and no - can be found here.

Tomorrow I’ll be voting yes.

But, initially, I wasn’t going to.

The reason was fairly simple.

The government has done a horrid job in selling the details of The Voice.

In fact, they’ve outright said that they haven’t arranged the details.

And, understandably, this leaves many unanswered questions.

There’s confusion about the nature of The Voice, the makeup of The Voice, the exact powers of The Voice, who The Voice will be able to give advice to, where The Voice will be based, how much The Voice will cost, how The Voice will be able to accurately represent an entire nation of indigenous peoples and how The Voice will effectively “close the gap” in achieving advancement for the indigenous peoples of Australia. These are only some of the questions left up in the air before polling day. 

As I said, the government has done a woeful job of selling the affirmative case.

But, they were always going to be fighting an uphill battle.

For, Australia usually rejects most referendums placed before them (only passing 8 of 44).

Unless there is bipartisan support for a referendum question, the opportunity for the opposition to air any weakness of a referendum proposal instantly get a loud sounding board and a significant portion of the population will be willing to listen.

More so, this negative message can feed into our individual and communal fear of change and aversion to “being told what to do.” Let’s face it, a government only puts forward a proposal if they want to be be passed. That, in itself, can gear some to rebuff the government’s “agenda.”

For the reasons above, I was prepared to vote no.

Until… I seriously considered the first element of the referendum question.

Should we recognise the indigenous peoples in our constitution?

In this, we must vote yes.

That we need a vote at all is embarrassing.

That the oldest surviving culture on the planet requires recognition is a disgrace.

Anyone with a sense of justice or dignity cannot let this go unamended.

In an ideal world, the questions about the recognition and the establishment of The Voice would be divorced. In fact, this is what the opposition are proposing if the negative wins tomorrow and they subsequently get into office.

The first question would canter in, just as the referendum did in 1967 to then include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the census.

The second element of the question is the major sticking point.

So, why am I going to vote yes?

Simply, because giving someone else a louder voice doesn’t lessen my voice.

Especially since I’m a part of the sector of society with the loudest voice. And, this will not change.

Do I know all the answers about The Voice? Definitely not.

Will it fix every problem for our indigenous peoples? Probably not.

But, something needs to change. 

Our indigenous peoples deserve better.

Even if The Voice is a disappointment.

It will be a disappointment which can then be tweaked and, hopefully, improved.

Unfortunately, if the polls hold true, I will be in the minority tomorrow.

And Australia will find itself on the wrong side of history. Not to mention justice.