Voice supporters say the advisory body would ‘election proof’ youth justice programs in Alice Springs
Indigenous leaders have called out the defunding of a youth justice program that connected young offenders with country and kept them out of trouble in Alice Springs as a clear example of why they need a Voice that withstands election cycles.
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Indigenous leaders have called out the defunding of a youth justice program that connected young offenders with country and kept them out of trouble in Alice Springs as a clear example of why they need a Voice that withstands election cycles.
The boot camp began as an early intervention program for at-risk Aboriginal kids was so successful it expanded to include young people sentenced who would otherwise have ended up in a cell, but after a change of territory government in 2016 Labor defunded the service, leaving the campsite empty to this day.
In the years since Alice Springs has continued to experience waves of anti-social behaviour and youth crime, which became a flashpoint in the early Voice debate in January.
Yes23 spokeswoman Jade Ritchie said it has taken eighteen months of “listening, working with members of communities who understood their people’s needs” and develop the since-cut program.
“We got the right program by listening,” she said.
“We ran it and it worked.
“And then the government changed, a new policy was implemented and the program was axed.”
Ms Ritchie joined fellow Yes campaigners and Alice Springs local leaders on Wednesday to highlight the grassroots support for the referendum, which is just two days away.
“For me, as a mother of Aboriginal children growing up in the NT, it’s the practical impacts on my community that is why I’m imploring people to vote Yes,” she said.
“Statistics show that my son has a higher likelihood of going to prison than university.”
Aboriginal children are overrepresented in the justice system, making up 99.3 per cent of Don Dale Youth Detention Centre and the Alice Springs Youth Detention Centre.
Ms Ritchie said a Voice would help avoid the “harm” inflicted on Indigenous communities through “policy mistakes or inaction”.
“This referendum is also about … giving us the opportunity to share ownership of our collective development,” she said.
As campaigners blitzed every city, Labor Senator and widely respected “father of reconciliation” Pat Dodson delivered a powerful plea to voters in a speech to the National Press Club remotely from Western Australia, saying a Yes vote would take the nation forward.
“Are we going to go forward, or are we going to go backwards? Cop more of the same?” he said.
“Are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people going to be at the table or picking up the crumbs? As we have been for the last 200 years.”
Mr Dodson was appointed Special Envoy for the Voice last year, but has been unable to campaign due to a difficult battle with cancer.
“I think the Australian people, there’s many of them, still to vote, and I encourage them to vote Yes in this referendum,” he said.
“There’s nothing to fear here. There’s only good to come out of this.”
Meanwhile, cheers erupted and tears flowed as former Liberal MP Pat Farmer arrived at Uluru to end his epic 14,500 kilometre run around Australia supporting the Voice.
Anthony Albanese embraced Farmer at the finish line at the base of the iconic red monolith in Central Australia, and urged voters to support the referendum.
“It has been an honour of my life to be involved in this most important of campaigns, to do what John Howard spoke about almost 20 years ago to make our Constitution complete,” the Prime Minister said.
“It is incomplete while it pretends that this nation began in 1788.”
Farmer said he was proud to have used his “gifts” – running and a working knowledge of the political system – to inspire Australians to come together in support of the referendum.
“On Saturday, we have an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past, to correct those mistakes and to move forward together as one,” he said.
Soaring temperatures in the red centre meant Farmer started his run before dawn and said the final leg of his journey, which has stretched Tasmania, to far north Queensland and Western Australia, was an emotional experience.
“When I first got my glimpse of Uluru … it brought a tear to my eye and a realisation that this journey was finally coming to an end,” he said.
Yes campaigner and Cape York Indigenous leader Noel Pearson said no Australian had shown “greater love” to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during the referendum than Farmer.
“But his love is matched … by hundreds and thousands and millions of Australians,” he said.
“They’re not going to walk or run 14,500 km.
“They’re gonna walk 20 metres to the polling booth on Saturday and follow Pat’s inspiration.”
Mr Pearson said it had been a “long campaign” with many ups and downs for people like himself, but Farmer’s run had always been able to revive his belief in the Australian people.
“I just want to express my gratitude to this great man and his family for setting the pace,” he said.
“Not just the physical pace, the moral pace for all of us to reach the destination on Saturday.”
Mr Albanese said between now and polling day he hoped Australians would read the “clear proposition” on the ballot paper and “come to their own position”.
“I think when Australians read what is proposed – recognition through a body to make representations on matters affecting Indigenous people, with the parliament and government retaining its primacy – then the answer is very clear,” he said.
“The answer is Yes.”
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