Day the hard Left ambushed the voice

Hardline Indigenous activists have used mass anti-Australia Day rallies to strike out at the voice campaign, leaving Labor and Aboriginal leaders to stop a split in the left derailing the referendum.

Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe takes part in the Invasion Day rally on Thursday. Picture: Getty Images

Hardline Indigenous activists have used mass anti-Australia Day rallies to strike out at the voice campaign, leaving Labor and Aboriginal leaders having to act to prevent a split in the left ­derailing the referendum.

Thousands of protesters in the capital cities – led by Greens senator Lidia Thorpe in Melbourne – chanted against the voice.

Speakers at the rallies accused respected Indigenous leaders, including Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney and Cape York leader Noel Pearson, of siding with “colonisers”.

But Yes campaigners and Uluru Dialogue advocates said they were confident most Indigenous Australians were in favour of the voice, despite conceding disappointment at Thursday’s harsh opposition.

The split in the left over the voice came as Peter Dutton was set to attend a meeting of Anthony Albanese’s voice referendum working group next week. Mr Pearson and other Indigenous leaders have implored the Liberal Party to support the constitutional change.

Senator Thorpe – who is set to split from her Greens colleagues and campaign against the voice – demanded a treaty between the federal government and Aboriginal people in Melbourne, saying the nation deserved better than the voice.

“This is a war. They are still killing us. They are still killing our babies. What do we have to celebrate in our country?,” she told the crowd.

“(The government) wants to put the colonial Constitution on top of the oldest constitution on the planet … we are sovereign and this is our land. And we deserve better than an advisory body.

“We have an opportunity to have a treaty … that could put 10 independent Blak seats in the ­parliament today. We want real power and we won’t settle for anything less.”

Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe takes part in the Invasion Day rally in Melbourne.

Sydney-based demonstrators marched behind banners that encouraged Australians to vote No and claimed Indigenous communities “deserve more” than a voice. The theme of the rally was “sovereignty before voice”, with protest leaders declaring a treaty must come sooner.

“Liberal, Labor … any white political system is not for black people, it’s not for sovereignty,” MC Lizzie Jarrett told the rally.

“We already had a referendum back in ’67 and it did f..k all for our rights.”

While some protesters wore black, red and yellow, and held signs that read “there’s no pride in genocide”, others wore shirts emblazoned with slogans like “treaty now” and “f..k the voice”.

Dozens of speakers addressed the crowd, with many condemning pro-voice Indigenous leaders for “exploiting their own people”.

But Uluru Youth Dialogue member Kishaya Delaney told The Australian it was unsurprising some protesters opposed the voice as “not all Indigenous people think the same”, but she was confident most Australians still wanted to “understand both sides”.

“There’s a reason we’re pushing for the sequence that we are of voice, treaty and then truth,” she said. “We can all agree we want to see a treaty but we have to follow the mandate of the Uluru Dialogue. There’s a reason why the voice comes first and that’s because we want to see structural change, and a body that will represent the views of First Nations people across the country, rather than the loudest voices.”

Ms Delaney said it was “disappointing” to see so much anti-voice sentiment at the protests, but said it was “important to start these conversations”.

As protesters in capital cities denigrated the proposed Indigenous voice as too weak, Indigenous families in the small town of Yarrabah in Far North Queensland marked the day with a unity march and support for the Indigenous ­advisory body.

Yarrabah, 52km by winding road east of Cairns, is home to approximately 4000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on the edge of the Coral Sea.

Shire of Yarrabah mayor Ross Andrews is a strong supporter of the voice because he believes big improvements will flow when Indigenous Australians – particularly those living in regional and remote areas – get a chance to advise on the policy and legislation that affects them.

People hold a banner as they take part in the annual "Invasion Day" protest march through the streets of Sydney on Australia Day.

On Thursday, locals began the day with what Mr Andrews called a “unity march”, then hundreds of people went to the beach for a fishing competition and a children’s sandcastle-making competition.

“It was a really awesome day, we do it the Yarrabah way,” Mr Andrews told The Australian.

“It is a day of mixed emotions with the dark side of history for our people and the intergenerational trauma that many of our people face, and on the other side is our resilience and we celebrate our culture and the fact that we have managed to survive 65,000 years.

“We are still strong with our ­ancient culture, our dance and music.”

Prominent First Nations activist Thomas Mayor was adamant the majority of Indigenous Australians supported the voice.

“I look forward to an opportunity when the voice is in place to do something about (issues) instead of marching in the streets,” he said.

Thousands of Brisbane protesters gathered at the Queen Victoria Gardens, where they stood in ­silence when asked one question: “Who here supports the voice to parliament?”

Prominent Indigenous activist Wayne Wharton has said the voice would put the “cart before the horse” with recognition needed first.

“Since 1978, it’s always been about constitutional inclusion, it’s always been about getting our sovereign rights included in the ­Constitution,” Mr Wharton told The Australian.

“So, when we see the exercise being proposed by Albanese and the so-called voice, we all get a little bit anxious that our sovereign rights are going to be excluded.

“We want a treaty to be enshrined in the Constitution and those rights that follow. With pressure put onto the federal government and Albanese, maybe he could add to the questions (in a referendum).”

In the country’s capital, hundreds of people descended on the Aboriginal Tent Embassy after marching from the city centre.

Members of the crowd clapped and cheered as they arrived on the lawn outside Old Parliament House, 51 years to the day since the Tent Embassy was set up in Canberra as a permanent protest occupation site.

Protesters chanted as they walked: “Too many coppers, not enough justice! No justice, no peace, no racist police! Always was, always will be Aboriginal land!”