The Voice: Teela Reid’s support for Indigenous reparations revealed

A member of Anthony Albanese’s Referendum Engagement Group on the proposed Voice to Parliament has described Australia as “a nation without a soul” and believes Australia Day should be axed.

A member of Anthony Albanese’s Referendum Engagement Group on the proposed Voice to Parliament has described Australia as “a nation without a soul” and believes our national day on January 26 should be abolished.

Teela Reid, a lawyer and academic at the University of Sydney is an Uluru Dialogue leader and member of the Referendum Engagement Group, who in January was described by the PM as part of the next generation of “remarkable” Indigenous leaders.

She is an advocate for reparations to Indigenous people and said the Voice should be “the first step in redistributing power”.

In May Ms Reid appeared on the ABC’s coronation broadcast alongside Stan Grant, which was later attacked by monarchists.

In aftermath she defended Grant, saying he had spoken “with love, truth and compassion for an Australia that has never shown it back to us as First Nations people. Ever.”

Indigenous lawyer Teela Reid has some strong thought on how the government should handle Indigenous affairs.

She also said: “Racism is synonymous with Australia. Australia wouldn’t exists without racism. Racism has nothing to do with the colour of your skin, it has everything to do with power & privilege” and: “There is no point in blackfullas trying to explain our pain to a nation without a soul”.

In January, in response to a proposal on Twitter that Australia Day be moved, Ms Reid responded: “How very Aussie is this; let’s ignore history, find a new meaningless date to celebrate, and forget that the Blaks ever declared 26 Jan a Day of Mourning” adding “It’s always been #AbolishAustraliaDay changing the date is a cop out.”

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney has repeatedly said the proposed Voice would not be giving advice on Australia Day.

In April Ms Reid tweeted: “It might be the Australian Government “preference” to keep things like Australia Day, but trying to limit the scope of what the people can advocate for to change is just stupid.”

She has also said: “It is truly disingenuous to be claiming mob won’t be demanding to #Abolish AustraliaDay. It started decades before the referendum, it’ll still be a demand after it.”

Ms Reid is also an advocate for compensation and reparations.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s support of The Voice continues to face pressure as support slips away. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

In 2020 she wrote in the Griffith Review: “The struggle for a First Nations Voice has been 250 years coming, ever since Captain Cook landed uninvited in 1770”, saying it was “about the fight for land rights, water rights and the right to save our planet from the colonial structures that have attempted to destroy it. It is about the fight for peace and justice, compensation and reparations”.

In May, at the Ethics Centre in Sydney, she doubled down saying: “You know that there does need to be reparations here, there does need to be compensation, there does need to be these tough, I think, decisions and reparations for what First Nations people have lost. That’s undeniable.”

In 2020, Ms Reid told the Search Foundation: “We have to understand, this concept of the Voice is the first step in redistributing power and enabling self-determination.”

A senior strategist inside the No case said that when soft Yes voters were presented with evidence the Voice might lead to the abolition of Australia Day or reparations to Indigenous people, significant numbers of them changed their minds.