Opinion: What a ‘yes’ vote will finally end for all of us

This Saturday, all Australians have the opportunity to end a sad, sorry, historical cycle and begin a story that has been long in the making, writes Leeanne Enoch.

The year before I was born, Quandamooka woman Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Aunty Kath Walker) was fully immersed in the campaign for a once in a generation opportunity – the 1967 referendum – which urged two very modest alterations to the Australian Constitution.

These alterations ensured that First Australians were included in the national census for the first time since federation, as well as the ability for the Commonwealth Parliament to make special laws pertaining to the First Peoples of this country, wherever they may live, should the Commonwealth Parliament see fit.

History tells us that over 90 per cent of Australians voted in favour of the proposed change, which made it the highest ‘yes’ vote ever recorded in a federal referendum.

Sadly, history also shows us that Commonwealth Governments of all persuasions since - and with varying levels of goodwill - have made less than satisfactory progress on the appalling gap that exists between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

Poet and activist Oodgera Noonuccal on Stradbroke Island in 1987.

In the time since that referendum, there have been numerous commissions of inquiries, reviews and reports brought about by the unacceptable treatment and marked generational disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the nation.

Each of these recommended, in one way or another, the need for a First People’s voice to help shape the policy and program responses needed to make change.

Over several decades, Commonwealth Governments of all persuasions have established and abandoned numerous representative bodies comprising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians advising on government policies affecting their lives including ATSIC, the National Indigenous Council, and the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.

This impermanent approach has actively hindered momentum and resulted in the persistence of unacceptable levels of disadvantage experienced by First Australians.

This Saturday, all Australians have the opportunity to end this sad, sorry, cycle and begin a story that has been long in the making.

We have the opportunity to begin a story about a united Australia - one that recognises its true history and permanently recognises the First Peoples of this country in its founding document, the Constitution, through a Voice to Parliament.

A story that speaks to who we are as Australians by acknowledging the unique cultural identity of our country.

That’s what this referendum begins for us.

Minister for Treaty and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships LEeanne Enoch.

As we head toward October 14, I can’t help thinking about the late Oodgeroo Noonuccal and the many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who campaigned so hard in 1967 to begin the journey toward a fairer Australia.

I think about their sense of generational responsibility and how each generation faces their own challenges seeking to make things better for the next.

I think about the conviction they maintained with every conversation - some of which would have been just as challenging as those we are having today.

I think about what the rest of the world will see as they witness Australia in the coming weeks. What will they see as we take on our generational challenge and tackle this part of the journey of who we are?

I am very optimistic that the rest of the world will see us for the true Australians that we are.

Australians that recognise every part of our history and embrace the undeniable truth of our identity. Recognising the First Australians who have known this place as home for over 65,000 years and thousands of generations; the Australians that have made this place their home over the past 250 years; and of course, the Australians who are yet to come.

That is what this referendum will do for all of us.

I am voting yes.

I am voting yes for recognition. I’m voting yes for listening. I’m voting yes for better results.

That’s what it’s all about. It’s as simple as that.

I know my fellow Queenslanders and Australians will embrace this profound opportunity, the same way that Oodgeroo Noonuccal and her generation did in 1967, the same way that I am, and many other Australians are this year.

Now is our time as Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people.

Now is our time as Queenslanders.

Now is our time as Australians.

Leeanne Enoch is the Queensland Minister for Treaty and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, a proud Quandamooka woman and the first Indigenous woman elected to Queensland Parliament.