Voice needs economic focus to create ‘generational change’

The Voice to Parliament needs to have a focus on economic development, jobs and housing to create generational change, according a far north Queensland Aboriginal Trust.

The Voice to Parliament can’t just be political but needs to have a focus on economic development, jobs and housing to create generational change, according a far north Queensland Aboriginal Trust.

They are urging the government and Yes campaign to come out to remote regions to talk to all people, Indigenous and non-indigneous, about the Voice or risk losing support.

Fred Pascoe and Mangubadijarri Yanner of the Gulf Regional Economic Aboriginal Trust (GREAT) in the Gulf of Carpentaria support the Voice, but say it needs to “hone in on economic participation” to have impact.

Gulf Regional Economic Aboriginal Trust Fred Pascoe. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“In my 30-odd years in Indigenous affairs, if you want to see change, if you want to see generational change, we have to have economic development,” Mr Pascoe said.

“People have to have a purpose in life, they have to have a job, it means their health is better, kids have a role model.

“It’s no use just screaming as a political voice, because that’s not going to solve anything.

“It needs Indigenous people who are going to sit on the Voice to keep the government accountable in that area.”

Mr Yanner said it needed to have a focus on jobs, home ownership and mental health services.

“There's a range of socio-economic issues that every black fella in the country knows about, most governments know about as well, but whether they act on it is another thing,” he said.

Mr Yanner said communities wanted to know more about the Voice so it was vital the Yes campaign went out into communities to talk about their concerns.

“We haven’t had anyone from the campaign, apart from my own involvement with it, to come out to the area to talk to the mob out here,” he said.

“The main thing is actually getting on the ground and talking to the communities, finding out what’s going on out here and how the Voice can actually improve things.

“They have to talk to everyone. Not just the Yes (supporters) as well, we have to talk to everyone. We have people on the fence, people who are against, black, white, Indigenous, non-indiginous.

Mangubadijarri Yanner with the Gulf Regional Economic Aboriginal Trust. Picture: Supplied by GREAT

“We need to see what everyone’s concerns are and how we can work together to ensure the Yes campaign is successful and hopefully overwhelmingly as well like it was in 1967.”

Mr Pascoe said he feared the level of support for this referendum was not the same as it was for 1967, which allowed Indigenous Australians to be included in population count, and urged Voice proponents to come out to places like Doomadgee, Burketown and Normanton to build support.

“There’s some people for it, some people dead against and there’s some who really don’t know,” Mr Pascoe said.

“We’re doing our best to inform them. But we know that what’s there at the moment isn’t working,” he said.

GREAT helps set up small and medium enterprise, grow businesses of Indigenous Australians and business investment.