Introduction by Croakey: Listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ voices on issues that affect them is core to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the referendum on the Voice to Parliament, according to researcher and Wiradjuri man James Blackwell.
Speaking on ABC TV’s Q and A program this week, Blackwell said:
The detailed questions are almost irrelevant to this. It’s about the principle of, ‘Do we want to listen to First Nations peoples on issues that affect us?’
If we do agree with that principle, then we should be listening to us on the Voice, ‘cause that is what we’ve asked for repeatedly for six years. It’s not a surprise to anybody.”
In the article below, first published in The Conversation, Blackwell – a Research Fellow in Indigenous Diplomacy at the Australian National University’s Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs and a member of the Uluru Dialogues – outlines the process involved in developing the Uluru Statement, including community-led dialogues held in 13 locations around Australia.
While most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people support the Voice, Blackwell acknowledges some have concerns – “these views are understandable; a lot of First Nations peoples’ faith in government and the Australian people is not built on strong foundations”.
Regional voices were integral to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and Blackwell argues they are equally important to the referendum, emphasising the role of community organisations, local councils and regional MPs in enabling community engagement on the topic.
Blackwell writes below:
It’s what the Voice has always been about for Indigenous peoples – ensuring our people are heard, even if we’re far away.”
James Blackwell writes:
Last Friday marked the sixth anniversary of the Uluru Statement From the Heart, and National Sorry Day.
The statement is a powerful document that speaks of the opportunity for true and meaningful change between First Nations peoples and the rest of the country that will benefit generations to come. The key document in the journey towards a First Nations Voice to Parliament, it invites Australia to “walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.”
The statement represents a coming together of First Nations peoples from across the country, through a process that focused on our communities, especially from the regions, and what matters on the ground at a local level. Regional and remote areas are where the decisions of government play out most acutely for our peoples, where decisions about funding, regulation, and rights have the most immediacy. Our communities know what issues we face, and often they know what solutions we need.
In creating the Uluru Statement, the Referendum Council in 2017 designed a process that sought the opinions of Indigenous peoples across the country, including regional and remote areas. However, dialogues in these areas are still needed in the lead-up to the Voice referendum.
Having regional voices heard was essential in designing and advancing the idea of a Voice to Parliament. These voices will be equally essential in this upcoming referendum.
Listening to regional people
Major cities often get much of the attention in national policy, and communities outside cities get left behind. As of 2022, 61 percent of Indigenous people live in regional areas, with major cities having an average Indigenous population of only 1.09 percent, with 32 percent living in remote and very remote areas.
To reflect this, the Referendum Council during 2015 and 2016 held Regional Dialogues with Indigenous peoples, to find out what we wanted to see achieved through constitutional reform. The dialogues were held in 13 locations around the country, with invited members of different communities, including traditional owners and community organisations.
This process sought to include those who may not previously have had their voices represented in government processes. Our voicelessness as Indigenous peoples, and the voicelessness of our communities, was raised at these dialogues. It has continued to be raised in the years since.
Not all Indigenous peoples, including some from regional and remote areas, support the Voice to Parliament.
There are those in our communities who believe it either goes too far, or, does not go far enough, and want to pursue things such as Treaty. Some communities, while supportive, have expressed concerns about remote and regional voices potentially being unheard, and are wanting more detail about how their voices will be represented.
These views are understandable; a lot of First Nations peoples’ faith in government and the Australian people is not built on strong foundations.
However, an overwhelming majority of Indigenous peoples support a Voice to Parliament. A Yougov poll from April this year, one of the most representative samples to date, shows 83 percent of Indigenous peoples support a Voice. The 2022 Reconciliation Barometer Report shows this number as even higher, though arguably with less representative samples.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has stated the Voice would be incapable of representing regional and rural peoples. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says supporting pre-existing bureaucracies would be more effective for local people.
Yet the Central Land Council, representing traditional owners in central Australia, has repeatedly rebuked comments from Price, stating she has been misrepresenting their views on the Voice, and that she doesn’t “speak for them” or their communities.
Indigenous people in NSW’s regional town of Orange have also expressed strong support for the Voice. While speaking to SBS, Orange’s Aboriginal Medical Service chief executive Jamie Newman stated,
It’d be remiss of us not to take this opportunity now to say we need a change in direction, if we’re going to get services on the ground, going to get outcomes for our people, if we’re ever going to close the gap.”
The Voice to Parliament is supported by major land councils and community controlled organisations, as well as other non-Indigenous regional institutions, including universities, many local Country Women’s Association (CWA) branches, and, according to the Guardian in 2022, 66 percent of regional voters.
Better engagement in regional areas needed
Much of the discussion in the referendum campaign has been focused on the major cities and their suburbs. Less attention has been put to Indigenous peoples in the regions.
Referendums are about all Australians having a say about our constitutional democracy. Failing to seek the active participation of regional and rural peoples is doing them a disservice. It is this neglect that forms much of the problems and resentments regional peoples have towards Canberra.
In addition, the Voice to Parliament is about making sure Indigenous peoples from across the continent are heard effectively. Are we truly doing politics and media differently if we don’t actively engage 30 percent of Australians and 60 percent of Indigenous peoples? The referendum could be won or lost on these voters.
As someone who lives in a small town in country NSW of less than 2,000 people, I see the problems faced out here, the lack of involvement from government, and the strong need to engage with voters from these parts of the country, not just in the cities and suburbs.
Providing enough information
Many communities are taking their own initiative to be informed. Wagga Wagga City Council has held forums on the Voice, alongside state MP Dr Joe McGirr, to inform and engage people. Independent federal MP Andrew Gee has been holding events across Calare, and campaigning on the issue of the Voice with Linda Burney.
Fellow Independent Helen Haines has begun outreach campaigns with local elders, seeking to take in the views of her community. Before taking leave for illness, Labor Senator Pat Dodson had been speaking at a number of forums for regional peoples, including one in Ballarat, where he noted,
people in the regions are really wanting to do the right thing and they want information […] if they get that, they will do the right thing and they will vote positively for this referendum.”
Local councils, regional MPs, organisations from our rural communities such as the CWA, all have roles to play in this referendum campaign. Even if they are undecided on the Voice, we must ensure regional and remote peoples are included in the nation’s dialogues about the Voice.
It’s what the Voice has always been about for Indigenous peoples – ensuring our people are heard, even if we’re far away.
About the author
Proud Wiradjuri man, James Blackwell is a research fellow in Indigenous Diplomacies at the Australian National University’s Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs. Blackwell is a member of the Uluru Dialogues at UNSW. He is also a Board Member of Croakey Health Media since 2021.
See Croakey’s archive of articles on the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
