Former Carpentaria Shire mayor Fred Pascoe wants his communities on Indigenous Voice

A former Carpentaria Shire mayor and current economic development leader has weighed in on the Voice debate, saying his communities are lacking access to vital information.

An Indigenous leader from the Gulf of Carpentaria has conceded his communities did not have a role in the construction of the Voice to Parliament proposal, but wants to see it succeed anyway.

Fred Pascoe, former Carpentaria Shire mayor and chair of the Gulf Regional Economic Aboriginal Trust, said Gulf communities were lacking sufficient information on the Voice, but he was confident the proposed advisory body to parliament could achieve vital economic and social change for Aboriginal people.

The Voice idea was born from an Indigenous convention at Uluru in 2017 as part of a grassroots-authored road map to reconciliation.

The proposal is likely to be put to the public in a referendum later this year.

“(Our communities) don’t have enough information. We’ve got a window of opportunity between now and when Albo calls the referendum. We’ll work to get the message out there,” Mr Pascoe said.

Fred Pascoe, chair of GREAT, wants to see his Gulf communities represented on the Voice. Picture: Brian Cassey

“My advice is for the yes campaign to get out there and spread information as widely as possible. We’ll help them.”

Despite the exclusion from the Uluru dialogue process, Mr Pascoe said he was supportive of the Voice as long as it included representatives from his region.

“We weren’t at Uluru when they were considering this. My region wasn’t included, we didn’t play a part in it.

“That didn’t give me a chance to have a say (then), so I’m hoping the Voice does give my community that chance.

“We’re keen to make sure our region is represented, that our communities have a seat around the table.

“We don’t just need a Voice, we need ears to listen. If the voice allows us to get advice to government and they listen to it, we’re halfway there.”

Fred Pascoe fears future Indigenous generations will suffer if the referendum is defeated. Picture: Brian Cassey

Mr Pascoe said a potential advisory body needed to aim for change by pointing governments toward economic development opportunities led by Indigenous communities.

He cited a number of discrete community enterprises and cultural initiatives throughout his communities that could drive positive changes in health, housing and justice outcomes, but said they would continue to go unsupported unless the government was pointed towards them by Voice advisers.

“What works, in our experience, is economic development,” he said.

“Sure we can talk about health and housing, but economic development is the catalyst that drives all things.”

Mr Pascoe said his communities and fellow Indigenous Australians would suffer if the referendum was defeated.

“It would be horrific. How long do my children and grandchildren have to wait before they see change. If this doesn’t get up, it’s going to put us on the back foot for a long time,” he said.

“If thing is going to get over the line, it’s going to be the white people who get it over the line … we need the mainstream public to get behind this and push it.”

Originally published as Former Carpentaria Shire mayor Fred Pascoe wants his communities on Indigenous Voice