Charles Darwin University to support ‘yes’ vote in Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum
The Territory’s only university has made its position on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament loud and clear. Here’s why it’s urging the wider community to vote yes.
Northern Territory
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Charles Darwin University has officially thrown its “unequivocal” support behind the Australian government’s proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
On Monday, the university unveiled its position, supported unanimously by its council, that a successful referendum would be “critical for First Nations advancement”.
Vice-Chancellor Scott Bowman said CDU’s support for all three stages of the Uluru Statement from the Heart – voice, treaty, truth – was “the decent thing to do”.
“Universities Australia and many universities have taken the position not to have a position,” he said.
“I think that if you don’t take a position on this, that is a political statement in itself.
“As a university with probably the highest proportion of First Nations students in the country, we should have a position on this.”
Professor Bowman said existing reconciliation structures were clearly not working.
“Let’s try something new,” he said.
“It’s just a no-brainer – you get better results when you listen to people.”
Signatory to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and vocal advocate for the Yes campaign Thomas Mayo, who hails from Darwin, signed the university’s statement on Monday.
Mr Mayo said it was an important stance for the university to take, particularly in light of the Territory’s rich history in the Aboriginal rights movement.
“The Northern Territory here is where much of that hard work has happened,” he said.
“The Yirrkala Bark Petition in 1963, the Larrakia petitions of 1972, the Barunga Statement in 1988, the Wave Hill Walk Off – many struggles have happened right here.
“The Uluru Statement from the Heart was made right here in the Northern Territory — we are central to this campaign.”
Mr Mayo said it was important for Australians to understand issues disproportionately impacting Aboriginal people were “a legacy of failed policies and laws”.
“The most moving part of the Uluru Statement from the Heart for me is where it says proportionately, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet,” he said.
“We are not an innately criminal people, (but) our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers – they should be our hope for the future.
“What the problem is is structural and political, we as a community in Darwin, Alice Springs and all of Australia can fix this problem if we address that structural issue and give our people a voice.”
Deputy Vice-Chancellor for First Nations leadership and engagement, Reuben Bolt, said while not every CDU student necessarily supported the Voice, the statement was important to spark conversation.
“What’s critically important is making sure when we get to vote in the referendum, the votes that are made are actually informed decisions,” he said.
“We’ve got a range of activities (coming up) including a lecture, we’ll have a student debate and we’ll have a panel as well.”
The referendum will be held in the last quarter of this year.
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