Aboriginal people are not all marginalised, we already have plenty of seats at the table

Saying no to the Voice is standing against division and farcical idea that all Aboriginal people think the same based on our race.

This week the National Party stood for all Australians against racial division.

A core component of our free, liberal democracy is the fundamental principle that every Australian citizen is considered equal under the law.

It is deceitful to continue to peddle the racial stereotype that Aboriginal people are one homogenous group of Australians who all think the same, based on our race.

This farce denies us our right to be respected as individuals.

No other racial group of Australians is framed in this way and rightly so.

The mainstream media and the proponents of the Voice have been peddling this lie to the Australian people and it’s time to stand up to it, call it out and say no.

The National Party has declared they will not support the referendum. Picture: Gary Ramage

The basis for the Voice comes from the “Uluru Statement from the Heart” which has been sold to the Australian people on the abovementioned racial stereotype.

Further to this, the Statement – signed by 250 unelected individuals representing 0.03 per cent of Aboriginal Australia without consent of the other 99.97 per cent – does not represent ALL of Aboriginal Australia’s wishes.

The other lie the proponents of the Voice have peddled is the notion that all Australians who identify as Aboriginal or “First Nations” – as they’ve pigeonholed us – are somehow marginalised because of our heritage and currently have no voice or “seat at the table”.

We are not all marginalised as a race and we have plenty of seats at the table with many voices already.

Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth and Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney. Picture: Gary Ramage

In fact, within the Indigenous Advancement Strategy alone, we have 1100 Aboriginal organisations in this nation that are funded to advance us. We have more than 2000 programs and services nationwide through the Aboriginal Benefits Account that are funded to advance Aboriginal Australians.

We have 11 federally elected representatives with seats in parliament from across parties as the greatest representation of Aboriginal voices in our parliament in the history of our nation.

We have lived long enough under a woke divisive ideology that suggests that Australia is made up of two groups of people: “oppressors” and the “oppressed”. This ideology has also formed the basis for Labor’s Voice campaign and is the same ideology that supporters of the Voice subscribe to when they accuse those who disagree with it as racist.

Every voter in this nation has the right to vote or disagree on a proposal put by any government without being branded racist. Especially given the proposal has zero detail or is likely to be based on the former failed ATSIC model. And this time, Labor wants ATSIC 2.0 enshrined within our Constitution so that if it fails like the first ATSIC, it can never be dismantled. I don’t know about you but this is a recipe for absolute disaster and a slippery slope toward racial segregation. This is why the National Party has drawn a line in the sand and said “No” to the Voice.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is a Country Liberal Party Senator for the Northern Territory.