Yes, we remember what it was and what we voted for or against in the referendum.
The Voice proposal was voted on in a referendum held on October 14, 2023, to establish a constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through the creation of a Voice to Parliament.
This body would have provided advice to the Parliament and the government on matters affecting Indigenous Australians.
The proposed amendment to the Constitution included three main elements:
- Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia.
- Establishment of a new body called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
- Empowering the Voice to make representations to Parliament and the Executive Government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The referendum asked voters if they approved of altering the Constitution to include these elements.
One of the biggest mistakes made was the wording of the alterations to the Constitution was never included in the vote, it was too open-ended.
And we as a people, said No.
The Voice to Parliament was a key recommendation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The Uluru Statement, issued in May 2017, was a consensus position from the First Nations National Constitutional Convention held at Uluru.
It called for several reforms, including:
- Voice to Parliament: A constitutionally enshrined advisory body to give Indigenous Australians a say in laws and policies that affect them.
- Treaty (Makarrata Commission): The establishment of a commission to oversee the process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and to facilitate truth-telling about Australia's history.
- Truth-telling: Acknowledgment and education about the historical and ongoing injustices faced by Indigenous Australians.
We have so far, only addressed one of those recommendations, and it failed.
In this respect, it was a huge waste of time and money, we can agree on that.
The proposal for the Voice to Parliament aimed to provide a formal mechanism for Indigenous Australians to contribute to legislative and policy decisions that impact their communities, although the decisions would ultimately be made by the elected government of the day.
The
Uluru Statement from the Heart is a single-page document. It is a concise and powerful call for constitutional recognition, a Voice to Parliament, and a Makarrata Commission for treaty and truth-telling.
The full text of the Uluru Statement can be easily accessed above.
The statement is supported by a longer report, the
Referendum Council's Final Report, which provides context, background information, and detailed recommendations.
This report is where the 26-page figure that Grap continually lies about being the Uluru statement from the heart comes from, but it is not the Uluru Statement itself. It was also fully available to the public since 2017 and wasn't hidden from the people as part of some conspiracy and then exposed
by SkyNews as they claim.
It's another interesting tell that Grap, despite claiming not to, does in fact watch SkyNews.
Grap also confuses The Voice with the wider goal of the Uluru Statement, which seems to be another obviously deliberate ploy to further paint him as the victim since we voted against the Voice yet other elements of the Uluru Statement, those around Truth Telling and Treaty, which were separate from The Voice and we did not vote on, are being considered on state levels.
So to strengthen his position, and use "debate over the voice" as a shield to continue to spout his hate, he pretends to be the victim of all this.
Then there are things that are entirely unrelated like Native Title issues that he cries about on the regular as being "The Voice" too.
It truly is the ravings of a madman.
The only common element in all of the thing he complains about being the Voice is that they are Indigenous issues, he despises Indigenous Australians receiving anything that might benefit them from the Government or private organisations, if not the people themselves.
I know it's a long read, but the truth matters.
Yes, I expect him to have another meltdown and pretend he's rattling cages or whatever he needs to tell himself to feel better, but the facts are the facts whether he likes them or not.
I don't believe he ever understood what the Voice was and is actively staying ignorant of the truth so he doesn't need to examine his own opinions on the matter and the wider scope of Indigenous issues.
It's important to keep that in mind for anyone foolish enough to engage with this well-documented bad-faith actor on this topic.