Integration into a wider society works. That is why Australia is one of the most successful countries on the planet. This nation, like no other, has managed to draw together peoples from all four corners of the globe, united by a common set of values: namely, tolerance, respect, and equality before the law.
The reasons perpetuated by proponents of the constitutional “Voice to Parliament,” including, among others, that our founding document will be “complete” by recognising that Aborigines enjoyed “sovereignty” before European settlement.
Further, they assert that what is being proposed is very modest in that Aborigines simply want to be heard in relation to matters that have a direct bearing on their lives.
At one level, in making their argument, advocates for “The Voice” are trying to walk both sides of the street. Out of one side of their mouths, they state that the proposed constitutional change is no big deal while asserting on the other side that it would make a big difference.
Equal Rights for All
There is a possibility that The Voice will simply reinforce the mistakes of the past by giving a greater voice to the architects of those mistakes.Aboriginal Australians have the same rights as all Australians, including the right to vote and stand for election.
Aborigines, and all Australians, vote for Aboriginal candidates representing major political parties.
Indeed, there are 11 members of the Commonwealth Parliament of Aboriginal descent. Aborigines are part of the wider political system and have been for several generations.
Conversely, Aboriginals do not vote for Aboriginal-linked parties.
In the 2022 federal election, the Indigenous Aboriginal Party of Australia scored less than one percent of the vote, despite the population comprising three percent of the electorate.
Further, Indigenous peoples already have a voice with 11 members of the Commonwealth Parliament being of Aboriginal descent.
It includes the Coalition of Peaks, an Indigenous organisation which has existed for decades. There are also many land councils and 3,000 Aboriginal corporations and committees for Indigenous communities in every state and local government, as well as major corporations.
Indeed, as Gary Johns notes in his book, “The Burden of Culture,” in 2015-16, total direct government expenditure on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands Australians was estimated to be $33.4 billion (US$22.3 billion). That spending can only have increased since then.
Helping Those Actually in Need
Aborigines who live in mainstream Australia do far better than those who are more likely to use Aboriginal services. The government knows that Aboriginal programs are often poorly administered, including by Aborigines, so much so that it has ordered the Productivity Commission to assist in their evaluation.Advocates for The Voice have been at pains to point out that it is not about race. The Calma-Langton Report, however, makes a clear admission that The Voice is based on race.
It declares: “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are, in practice, the only racial groups in Australia for whom laws are made exclusively.”
The key to helping the minority of Aborigines who have not adjusted to life in a liberal modern society is to end the obsession with identity, since that is what is causing the most harm.
This captive minority needs to reach out to the rest of Australia, but the politics of their leaders keep them locked where they are.
In the same way that migrants have done, to overcome hardship and disadvantage, the 80 percent of Aboriginals who are doing well have done so without a “voice,” or “recognition,” or “self-determination,” or a “treaty.” They committed their deeds and their determination to this country. This is a fundamental part of the great Australian success story.
In other words, more government-mandated constitutionally will not break the cycle of Indigenous disadvantage in remote communities. A Voice, however benevolent or sincere, will not guarantee integration, nor will it right the wrongs of the past.
