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The 'Voice' - Try & Understand It
Sep. 16th, 2023 09:22 pmI'm writing this down to work it all out in my head... This one's all about Australian politics, so feel free to skip it if you're not from 'round here. Hell... feel free to skip it if you are!!
The 'Voice' referendum seems to be exposing the not-very-well-hidden-in-the-first-place undercurrent of racism in many Australians - not necessarily only those of Anglo descent, but many former Europeans as well - towards the Australian indigenous population, because they are being offered a Voice to the Federal Parliament, designed to make representations to the Government on matters relating to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Island people & their culture/land etc...
A good thing, you might think... & about time. Sounds perfectly reasonable to allow them to have some input, if not influence, on decisions that affect their lives & livelihood. Things like education & social policy, to the granting of mining licenses to go & dig anywhere the Miners like for whatever traces of whatever particular rock they're looking for, then leave the place looking like an impact crater on the Moon when they're done... as has been the case for about the last 100 years or so. Things that have simply been passed &/or granted by the Federal Government, usually in return for huge 'donations' by whichever consortium, or industry body wants a favour. These sorts of people are, no surprise, vehemently against the 'Voice', as it means they can't just steamroll over any indigenous opposition on their way to a tidy profit
Rampant capitalism aside, the emotive argument the 'Vote No' campaign are weaponising, is that the Indigenous peoples don't deserve a special advisory body or, if they do, why can't the rest of us have one too?! To my ears, this sounds a lot like all those men who complain about International Women's Day & demand a Men's Day equivalent, conveniently forgetting that the other 364 of any given year, are basically days for them already. The parallel here is that both ideas are designed to redress an existing & established imbalance. Frankly, it would be fantastic if there were no need for the Voice at all, but we're dealing with a socio-economic & political world that not only has a huge head-start & tactical advantage in the way things are run, it's left our indigenous peoples hobbled back at the starting line, or in some cases, not even invited to be in the race... In order to bring things to a somewhat even keel, some extra help is required for now & that's what the Voice is - an opportunity to bring people who for centuries now have been marginalised, denigrated, repressed & diminished, in from the cold, so to speak. To acknowledge their culture & beliefs & find better ways to work with them
No one complained when the Federal Government passed the National Disability Insurance Scheme about 10 years ago, as a means to give disabled people greater access to services they needed. No one said they were getting unfair special treatment. What's the problem with helping the disadvantaged then?? Ohhhh.... because they're black? And for years, they've been portrayed & seen as ungrateful, recalcitrant, refusing to integrate into 'our' society... a bunch of uneducated drunks. Hey anyone from the rest of the world still reading at this point - does this sound familiar?!?
The other tactic being employed by... well kind of by both 'Yes' & 'No' campaigners, actually... has been to make this a politically divisive 'Left' vs 'Right' issue... a battle between those who are 'woke' & those who aren't (what's the opposite of 'woke' anyway) to the point where the original purpose of the referendum has been lost in muddied water that's now close to boiling. At what point did we Australians take a look at the political turmoil in the USA & think 'That's fantastic - we should definitely get some of that!!' We should absolutely choose an ideological side & abandon critical thought. We should totally think that if you're not 100% with us, you're against us & we hate you
I know Australia has a lot of sheep... but I thought they were mostly of the 4-legged variety
The simple fact is this: Here's the proposed amendment - “Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples - 129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:
i: there shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;
ii: the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
iii: the Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”
The 'No' campaign's official objection to this is: The jurisdiction of the Voice extends beyond matters that relate only to Indigenous affairs and includes any matter that relates to Indigenous peoples. The Voice is free to involve itself in any debate that affects the broader community so long as it relates to Indigenous peoples
And, you might well ask, the problem with that is... what exactly? Well, they might start objecting to mining, land-clearing & development. They never could before & be damned if we'll let them start now!!
The key part the 'No' campaign seems to ignore, or gloss over, is the term 'make representations' to Parliament & Government. In other words, they can advise, they can petition, but they have no legislative ability - they can't introduce, let alone pass, any laws or policies... & the Government of the day is free to heed or ignore their representations as it sees fit
Personally, I've been steering well clear of any articles or reports that seem designed to further the clouding of the issue, or seek to further encourage rabid partisanship. Which has certainly irritated one long-standing friend of mine, with whom I had a Facebook comments argument yesterday, leading to him saying I was being paid to parrot the Left propaganda, then getting mightily offended when I suggested he'd been manipulated by his chosen side. When I reminded him that he'd just done the same to me, he retreated by saying he was only joking... at which point I just figuratively walked away
The possibility of losing a friendship of over 40 years standing disappoints me, but to lose it because of the global plague of Trumpian politics is actually way more upsetting to me
The 'Voice' referendum seems to be exposing the not-very-well-hidden-in-the-first-place undercurrent of racism in many Australians - not necessarily only those of Anglo descent, but many former Europeans as well - towards the Australian indigenous population, because they are being offered a Voice to the Federal Parliament, designed to make representations to the Government on matters relating to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Island people & their culture/land etc...
A good thing, you might think... & about time. Sounds perfectly reasonable to allow them to have some input, if not influence, on decisions that affect their lives & livelihood. Things like education & social policy, to the granting of mining licenses to go & dig anywhere the Miners like for whatever traces of whatever particular rock they're looking for, then leave the place looking like an impact crater on the Moon when they're done... as has been the case for about the last 100 years or so. Things that have simply been passed &/or granted by the Federal Government, usually in return for huge 'donations' by whichever consortium, or industry body wants a favour. These sorts of people are, no surprise, vehemently against the 'Voice', as it means they can't just steamroll over any indigenous opposition on their way to a tidy profit
Rampant capitalism aside, the emotive argument the 'Vote No' campaign are weaponising, is that the Indigenous peoples don't deserve a special advisory body or, if they do, why can't the rest of us have one too?! To my ears, this sounds a lot like all those men who complain about International Women's Day & demand a Men's Day equivalent, conveniently forgetting that the other 364 of any given year, are basically days for them already. The parallel here is that both ideas are designed to redress an existing & established imbalance. Frankly, it would be fantastic if there were no need for the Voice at all, but we're dealing with a socio-economic & political world that not only has a huge head-start & tactical advantage in the way things are run, it's left our indigenous peoples hobbled back at the starting line, or in some cases, not even invited to be in the race... In order to bring things to a somewhat even keel, some extra help is required for now & that's what the Voice is - an opportunity to bring people who for centuries now have been marginalised, denigrated, repressed & diminished, in from the cold, so to speak. To acknowledge their culture & beliefs & find better ways to work with them
No one complained when the Federal Government passed the National Disability Insurance Scheme about 10 years ago, as a means to give disabled people greater access to services they needed. No one said they were getting unfair special treatment. What's the problem with helping the disadvantaged then?? Ohhhh.... because they're black? And for years, they've been portrayed & seen as ungrateful, recalcitrant, refusing to integrate into 'our' society... a bunch of uneducated drunks. Hey anyone from the rest of the world still reading at this point - does this sound familiar?!?
The other tactic being employed by... well kind of by both 'Yes' & 'No' campaigners, actually... has been to make this a politically divisive 'Left' vs 'Right' issue... a battle between those who are 'woke' & those who aren't (what's the opposite of 'woke' anyway) to the point where the original purpose of the referendum has been lost in muddied water that's now close to boiling. At what point did we Australians take a look at the political turmoil in the USA & think 'That's fantastic - we should definitely get some of that!!' We should absolutely choose an ideological side & abandon critical thought. We should totally think that if you're not 100% with us, you're against us & we hate you
I know Australia has a lot of sheep... but I thought they were mostly of the 4-legged variety
The simple fact is this: Here's the proposed amendment - “Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples - 129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:
i: there shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;
ii: the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
iii: the Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”
The 'No' campaign's official objection to this is: The jurisdiction of the Voice extends beyond matters that relate only to Indigenous affairs and includes any matter that relates to Indigenous peoples. The Voice is free to involve itself in any debate that affects the broader community so long as it relates to Indigenous peoples
And, you might well ask, the problem with that is... what exactly? Well, they might start objecting to mining, land-clearing & development. They never could before & be damned if we'll let them start now!!
The key part the 'No' campaign seems to ignore, or gloss over, is the term 'make representations' to Parliament & Government. In other words, they can advise, they can petition, but they have no legislative ability - they can't introduce, let alone pass, any laws or policies... & the Government of the day is free to heed or ignore their representations as it sees fit
Personally, I've been steering well clear of any articles or reports that seem designed to further the clouding of the issue, or seek to further encourage rabid partisanship. Which has certainly irritated one long-standing friend of mine, with whom I had a Facebook comments argument yesterday, leading to him saying I was being paid to parrot the Left propaganda, then getting mightily offended when I suggested he'd been manipulated by his chosen side. When I reminded him that he'd just done the same to me, he retreated by saying he was only joking... at which point I just figuratively walked away
The possibility of losing a friendship of over 40 years standing disappoints me, but to lose it because of the global plague of Trumpian politics is actually way more upsetting to me
