Denied a Voice: Coalition’s Voice opposition is no big surprise | Douglas Smith
Politicians voting against the Voice is merely more people telling First Nations what they think is best for us, writes Douglas Smith. That hasn’t worked.
Opinion
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If not a Voice, then what? And if not now, when?
The resounding “no” by the federal opposition to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament is no big surprise.
It is the ongoing tradition of politicians telling First Nations people that they know what is best for us.
It is clear why the proposal to enshrine a Voice in the constitution has come about the way that it has.
And that is because First Nations people have been failed by governments since they were established here.
Perhaps the biggest failure and injustice of them all was the Crown not rightfully negotiating a treaty or treaties with the first peoples of this land.
First Nations communities and leaders far and wide have lived through these failures.
This is why, in 2017, a consensus was formed by more than 250 delegates representing 100 First Nations across Australia, calling for a Voice in our own country.
All the policies, all the decisions, made by governments in the six colonies up until 1901, and beyond at the state and federal level, have transgenerationally stunted our growth.
But not just that, they have also altered our destiny.
Many of us have lost our language, our culture and, in many circumstances, our identity.
The loss of these three important values has had a profound impact on us as First Nations people.
The ripple effect of colonisation has also resulted in the ongoing cycle of First Nations peoples and communities living in poverty.
And, sadly, living in poverty has become a tradition forced upon many of us with no clear way out.
Our normals are not the same.
Growing up, I have attended more funerals of relatives than I can count, dying at younger ages from medical conditions or from circumstances as a wider result of living in poverty.
Our future, our children and young people, nationally, are still 17 times more likely to come into contact with the justice system than their non-Indigenous peers.
Governments have ignored solutions and recommendations put forward by First Nations leaders over the decades because it is an ingrained attitude in their decision-making process.
These are decisions made for us by governments and politicians who have no real understanding of who we are as a people.
I am not saying there has been no progress in the past few decades.
There is noticeably a lot more opportunity for First Nations people in Australia today.
But it does not take away the fact that the statistics are still stacked against us.
We have only seen change in recent times where we have started being more accepted as equals in Australian society.
But we are still participating on an uneven playing field because of the disadvantages we have faced through the generations.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart did not just come out of thin air in 2017.
For the opposition to dismiss it, as it has done, is proof of First Nations people being denied a Voice in our own country.
The Coalition’s opposition to the Voice now echoes an ingrained attitude in both parties when it comes to governing First Nations people.
And that is the silencing of First Nations voices because they believe they know what is best, when it is clear that they do not.
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