The people spoke on voice, now for concrete solutions

Paul Kelly’s great article in The Weekend Australian is a useful step in Australia’s struggle to find the best way of closing the gap in Indigenous social and economic disadvantage (“Voice legacy: hope, division, paralysis”, 12-13/10). He quoted Noel Pearson’s preferred response to the referendum defeat, which was for Indigenous people to advocate for change within the principle they “belong to this nation”. This would mean issues such as aspirations for a separate Indigenous state would be abandoned.

Pearson’s comments will hopefully help temper the more extreme expectations of some Indigenous people. This is needed as expectations are a powerful determinant of happiness and harmony, both of which are essential in our society as we find ways to close the gap.

Ken Clarke, Tweed Heads, NSW

A year ago on referendum night, when the country had just said no to the voice, no to division and yes to unity, Anthony Albanese stood in front of three flags to speak (and continues to do so). Indeed, as Paul Kelly notes, “there is little sign of leadership to identify a way forward”. This is true of Albanese, where there has been no plan B. But we have seen leadership from the alternative prime minister, Peter Dutton, and opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price when they spoke on referendum night in front of one flag.

Nampijinpa Price has consistently advocated for the forensic auditing of the 1082 Indigenous-specific programs that have attracted more than $30bn a year in taxpayer funds, with the bullseye observation that as long as an industry exists to close the gap, the gap will not close.

She has called for a new era in Indigenous policy, one that steps away from grievance. Raising the leadership bar even higher, she has noted that a measure of her success in government will be the abolition of her role.

Mandy Macmillan, Singleton, NSW

As Paul Kelly writes in The Weekend Australian, the overreach of the voice referendum was a misjudgment on a mammoth scale by the Albanese government. There is now a void in public policy with respect to Indigenous affairs. As Kelly highlights, constitutional recognition should have been separated from the voice. There were just too many questions about whether the voice would provide value for money and how it would work, without worrying about the prospect of entrenching it in the Constitution.

The value for money issue has been compounded for government since senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s proposal of auditing spending on current Indigenous organisations. If the Albanese government is fair dinkum about Indigenous affairs it should embrace this sensible practical approach. This would go a long way to end division and get results in closing the gap, with accountability and transparency leading to trust. Without trust, even well-intended public policy looks likely to fail.

David Muir, Indooroopilly, Qld

Janet Albrechtsen’s important article in The Weekend Australian offered a critical analysis of Reconciliation Australia’s separatist agenda in corporate action plans, which deserves attention from chief executives as well as public (“The secret agenda CEOs may have missed in Indigenous plans”, 12-13/10). As she points out, ongoing demands for reconciliation and self-determination have set back the lives of the most disadvantaged Indigenous people. Welcomes to and acknowledgments of country do nothing to help the Indigenous child who hasn’t been to school for many days and lives in a violent family. Resources need to be put where they are most needed, not wasted on virtue signalling and elevating elite rewards.

The separatist agenda, rejected by the large vote against the voice to parliament, is still being pursued by state Labor governments, as well as the corporate sector.

Evonne Moore, Stepney, SA

The No campaign didn’t win the voice referendum, the Yes campaign lost it. They turned nearly 70 per cent approval for the concept into a 70 per cent hiding at the ballot box. It wasn’t even close. The sooner Yes leaders accept this obvious fact, take responsibility for the fiasco and analyse the realities, the sooner they’ll begin rebuilding the respect they squandered and we can all move forward constructively.

Rob Cox, Bunbury, WA