Voice to be decided by collective wisdom of Australians

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was emotional as he revealed the question to be posed to the Australian people in a referendum on a Voice to parliament. But this debate cannot just come from the heart, writes the Editor. .

Australia has little more than six more months to deliver a verdict on the “Voice’’, and no one should underestimate the importance of how we, as a nation, approach this referendum.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was this week openly emotional, as were some of the members of the Referendum Working Group, as Albanese finally revealed the crucial question which we, the people, must answer.

Emotional reactions may be a natural part of this process for many people. But pure emotion cannot be allowed to hold dominion in a discussion which will also require a level-headed, sometimes dispassionate, rationality if we are to come up with the answer which best serves this country.

Australians are traditionally contrary when it comes to referendums involving constitutional change. Yet there are tentative signs, as outlined in a story in today’s Saturday Courier-Mail, that within Queensland, there is an openness to giving further recognition to Indigenous Australians.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was openly emotional as he revealed the question to be posed in a referendum on the Voice to parliament. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Treaty proposals are being actively progressed in states and territories including Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. A survey in today’s paper reveals a significant number of Queenslanders appear ready to support the idea of a treaty.

Around 77 per cent think a treaty will benefit all Queenslanders to some extent and around 66 per cent of Queenslanders agree that all Queenslanders should know the truth of First Nations culture and history.

It is important to note these state-based treaty proposals carry no constitutional change, which may go some way to explaining the strong levels of support for an idea which does not carry with it the legislative gravitas of the Voice.

Yet the Albanese government has far more difficult terrain to navigate than the Queensland government in the next six months before the expected vote on the Voice takes place somewhere between October and December.

The federal government has to be acutely conscious that Australians will be increasingly focused on cost-of-living pressures, including inflation and associated interest rate rises, in the months ahead.

There is also the very real danger of further banking crises globally.

These could impact heavily on an Australian stock market which, for the first three months of the year at least, has been spinning its wheels and going nowhere, leaving millions of superannuation accounts stagnating and, more worryingly, at risk of delivering a second successive year of negative returns.

Those involved in advocating for the Voice, including Albanese who has stamped this proposal with his own imprimatur, will have to sharpen their pitch if they are to cut through these more bread-and-butter issues to reach voters in a contest already complicated by disagreement inside the Australian Indigenous community itself.

That is not to say that slick marketing will win the day.

Rather, the next few months will require earnest and articulate explanations of the alleged benefits which will flow to the Indigenous people of Australia if the Voice is to be adopted.

And opponents will be obligated to point out not merely the alleged flaws in the proposal, but offer alternatives to solving the enormous problems still faced by Indigenous Australians, thousands of whom are still living marginalised and poverty-stricken lives in our own northern Queensland communities.

In the end, the future of the Voice will be decided by the collective wisdom of the Australian people, which is as it should be.

Because, in the aggregate, that collective wisdom has served us rather well these past 122 years.

George an inspiration to us all

If you reach the age of 92 and can face down a five-metre crocodile in your back yard every day of your life, you’ll know you’ve handled the ageing process in fine style.

George J. Craig, an irrepressible far north Queenslander, and his croc, Cassius, feature in today’s paper, celebrating a combined two centuries of living, with both showing no sign of calling it a day.

George’s life is a study in optimism and adventure, and his extraordinarily sharp mind and good physical health – despite some pain in the hip and memory loss – are a testament to how much enjoyment some people can extract from life, even as they enter into their 90s.

George’s love of his work on the Green Island resort which he has called home for more than 50 years keeps him energised and inspired.

He’s an inspiration to us all.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by the Editor Anna Caldwell, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details are available at www.couriermail.com.au/help/contact-us