Yes campaigner Dean Parkin on why the Voice will come up with solutions that work

With just weeks to go before the Voice referendum, one of the architects behind the Yes campaign, explains why you should vote Yes.

We are just weeks away from a defining decision in our nation’s history. The great thing is that every Australian over the age of 18 gets to have a say in it.

That decision is sometimes portrayed as being about the 3.8 per cent of Australians who are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders.

One of the things that’s most important to focus on is that this is about 100 per cent of Australians. It’s about every single one of us – a moment when we are able to come together and recognise the rich and full history of our island continent.

To do that, we are being asked if we will establish an advisory committee of Indigenous people that can share its views with the government on issues that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The reason we are voting on this is that after what is possibly the longest consultation process in any democracy in the world – one that lasted more than a decade under six prime ministers – Indigenous people said that having a say on laws would be a practical form of recognition.

GOT A QUESTION: If you’re confused about the Voice, submit your question for us to answer

Dean Parkin (Yes campaign Director of Voice) on day three of Garma Festival, on Sunday August 6. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

And we turned to the Australian people to ask for it – not the politicians, who have so often failed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The reason they failed was they just didn’t have the input from people on the ground – the people who know how to deliver positive practical changes like getting young people into jobs and kids finishing school.

Voting No will mean politicians will simply keep doing things the old way. Nobody wants this – it’s just more of the same, and everyone knows it is not good enough.

Indigenous Australians are expected to live eight years less than non-Indigenous Australians. Indigenous children are 25 per cent less likely to have the same level as their non-Indigenous peers by Year 9. Only around one in three Indigenous children have hit key developmental milestones by the time they are starting school. The list goes on.

(L-R) Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman, Yes23 Campaign Director Dean Parkin, the Hon Julie Bishop and Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong. St Georges Terrace, Perth. Picture: NCA NewsWIRE/Philip Gostelow

Having worked on constitutional recognition through a Voice for several years now, it has always been clear to me that Australians have a lot of very reasonable and important questions about the process and what the Voice will do. It’s as simple as this: the Voice would be an advisory committee of Indigenous people from all around our country that can give advice to politicians in Canberra to improve the lives of Indigenous people. When politicians want to improve outcomes for Indigenous people, they’d ask the Voice to come up with the best solutions that will actually work. The Parliament and the Government can choose to listen to that advice, or not. It’s a simple and practical way that together, we can create a better shared future.

Indigenous campaigner Dean Parkin, Cleveland. Picture: Liam Kidston

When we have this conversation with people in the community we know people see the merits in voting Yes. It has been the task of the Yes campaign – and we will spend every minute between now and when the polls close doing this – to bring this conversation to the country. Because when we turn off the digital noise and the scare campaigns, and tune out the politicians, Australians can see the opportunity for positive change that is in front of us a nation.

The coming weeks are when Australians will really focus on what is being asked. It is about the addition to the Constitution of just 92 sensible words that have been given overwhelming approval by the vast majority of legal experts.

Essentially it comes down to asking: will we recognise Australia’s first people in the Constitution by creating an advisory committee?

As Australians have the conversations, and see the opportunity for positive change, I am confident they will embrace the moment with an enthusiastic, optimistic, Australian Yes.

Originally published as Yes campaigner Dean Parkin on why the Voice will come up with solutions that work